Sandwiches...

[Caroline1]

I know this is going to sound like a dumb question, but... How do you cut your sandwiches? Corner to corner or across the middle? And if you have kids, do you cut their sandwiches the same way you cut your own? Do you remove the crusts? I'm curious whether "foodies" line up on one side of the aisle or the other.

[jfood]

Oh boy jfood's family had this discussion last summer when jfood brought a platter of sandwiches out to the pool. First jfood believes in the corner to corner cut creating two triagles out of the sandwich. Second is the method of eating. Some people take their first bit line a semi-circle with all bread and no crust right in the middle. Jffod takes his first bite at the acute angled corner, not the right angle. Then his second bite is the other acute corner. The he works his way around the crust so that the last bite is all bread, no crust. then the second half the same way.

After he told the other jfoods thay also stared at him and said what many of you are saying, "are you kidding?" everyone has their indiosyncracies and this is one of jfood's.

[Davwud]

No worries jfood. I have a friend that eats corn on the cob in a very neat and methodical way. He'll eat across the length of the cob in rows. All rows are eaten completely (About 3 to 4 rows at a time). No kernels left and none damage on either side of the swath. It's really a sight to see.

DT

[jeanmarieok]

I eat corn on the cob exactly the same way - the trick is to pull the kernals 'up' with your bottom teeth, then off with your top teeth. But even my family is impressed with how clean the corn cob looks.

[Kelli2006]

I cut the sandwich corner to corner if it is made with American/Pullman style bread. I cut it perpendicular, and sometimes in 3rds, if it is made with rustic bread or a hoagie roll.

[soypower]

i like my sandwiches cut diagonally because i'm a rather visual eater. not only does the sandwich look nicer, i also get a good look at the lovely fillings, which are often hidden by the crusts which i leave on.

[nofunlatte]

My mom used to cut them in half when I was a kid. I hated that--I wanted them sliced diagonally. So now that I'm a grownup and responsible for my own sandwiches, I don't cut them (unless they're huge--then I cut them in half, because I'm unlikely to be using standard sandwich bread).

Crusts are good food.

[Cinnamom]

Depends on the filling, i.e. PBJs get cut in half. But for me it also depends on the knife- if I only used a butter knife to make the sandwich, I'll cut it in half so the dull knife won't get caught on the corners. If I sliced anything with the chef's knife, I'll use it to go for the fancy diagonal cut. Crusts on, always. My son doesn't always eat them, but I find if I can get him to linger at the table a while he'll eventually break down and just eat it. He just thinks he doesn't like them!

[nojunk]

Well...I usually cut on the diagonal but not corner to corner - I go about an inch away from the corner and cut diagionally to about an inch away from the opposite corner. I wonder what that says about me??

[Davwud]

Diagonally. If it's square bread that it.

Crust on

DT

[Lucia]

Corner to corner for square bread. I eat the crusts, but I've been known to take off the crust and eat it first.

[mojoeater]

If I'm dunking (like in soup), the sandwich must be cut diagonally. If I'm packing for work, it gets cuts into two rectangles in order to better fit the sandwich bag. Never cut the crusts off. I hate to waste food.

[AnneInMpls]

It completely depends on the sandwich.

- Tuna sandwiches MUST be eaten in small triangles. Same with club sandwiches. I slice from corner to corner, twice.

- Meatloaf sandwiches require two halves - sliced down the middle, once.

- Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches must be eaten in squares (sliced through the middle, twice).

- Grilled cheese sandwiches must be sliced diagonally, once only.

- Open-faced sandwiches are never sliced.

- For bun-based sandwiches (pulled pork, hamburgers, etc.), slicing once is optional, depending on the size and desire to stay tidy.

So, am I crazy?

Anne

[Gio]

NO.....
I'm laughing because I do the very same thing and I Know I'm not crazy.

[chocchipcookie]

I do the exact thing too! Must be the same school of thought.

[danhole]

Anne, if you are crazy I am too! I agree with all that you have posted, but I want to add one other sandwich. If I have a leftover pot roast sandwich, or anything else that is kind of sloppy, on plain bread then I don't cut the sandwich at all. I peel the crust off the top and halfway down one side and eat in the direction. Then I do the other side. My logic is that the crust helps keep the meat from falling out, but I don't want the crust on those kinds of sandwiches, so that is why I do it that way. If I have some leftover gravy, I put that on the crusts and eat them like that.

OOPS, now maybe I am crazy!

[jfood]

AIM
\no you are not crazy. see jfood's method below, he thought he was crazy as well.

[hipquest]

I cut both ways, depending on the shape of the bread.

I also cut my burgers in half, it helps me not "wear" the condiments.

I take the crust off all sandwiches except grilled cheese. It's not that I don't like the crust, rather with a nice stuffed sandwich I won't finish the whole thing so the crust must be sacrificed for the good stuff.

[k_d]

I don't care if mine are cut, but my husband has to have his corner to corner. HAS to.

On removal of crusts, I never did it for my kids. But one day, I was there when my daycare provider (a mom herself), who took care of my kids in her home, was fixing sandwiches for the kids' lunch. There she was, quickly trimming off all the breadcrusts before she got started. I teased her, saying she should "make" those kids eat those crusts, and wasn't that a lot of trouble for her?? She smiled knowingly. First, she pointed out, she is not going to make a non-crust-eater into an eater by serving crusts. Second, if she DOESN'T cut the crusts off, they waste more bread and more sandwich filling than if she DOES cut them off. Turns out, with the crustless sandwiches, they would devour the whole serving. With crust left on, they all left at least a one-inch margin of bread, PLUS the crust, and she was throwing away way more bread. (Yes, she was a thrifty Scots-American - competed in Highland Games, no less!)

Now, when I'm serving sandwiches for a semi-fancy function, I always trim crusts off. But that's for looks (not because I'm afraid of throwing bread-margins away!).

[nc213]

I definitely prefer diagonally-cut sandwiches. I never remove crusts.
My husban doesn't usually cut his sandwiches, which seems so odd to me.

[KTinNYC]

I don't cut my sandwiches and I've never been quite sure why anyone would.

[eLizard]

Not only do I cut my sandwiches, I cut my hamburgers, too. Does that make me weird? Probably!

[alkapal]

i cut burgers! esp. when they are loaded (which is 99% of the time).

and the other sammies are corner to corner, crusts on.

growing up, my mom cut pb&js and bologna (aka "baloney") sammies in half. my aunt cut crustless scrambled egg sandwiches into squares -- 9 to a sandwich. that was always a treat (made with mayo on the bread, of course).

[Pampatz]

I cut my burgers into quarters. Easier to eat and less messy.
Sandwiches corner to corner.

[jfood]

home made large burgers get cut in half at the dinner table. if smaller versions around the pool, then no cut.

[smartie]

corner to corner looks more professional that in half side to side. For kids I used to cut them twice corner to corner. No they got the crusts too unless I was making a party platter of sandwiches then the crusts came off.

[hangrygirl]

I don't cut them at all, but I always eat mine open-faced - except for grilled cheese that is... Cultural thing, I think - I'm Norwegian, and most people just eat openfaced sarnies, was surprised when I moved to Canada and hardly anyone did.

[dolores]

In half. Not a dumb question at all!

[miss_bennet]

It's totally cultural! But I think it has to do with when Canadians eat sammies. We tend to take them in bagged lunches, and I don't think an open-faced one would fare as well as closed-face. (Is that what they're called?!?) When I spent a month in Danmark, we always had liver pate and cucumber open-faced sandwiches at home, but if it was bagged, they were sandwiched.

[Fuser]

My husband and I fought this one out early in our marriage. I am an adament corner to corner slicer and he sliced his sandwiches in half, if he sliced it at all. After 20 years, his sandwiches are always sliced corner to corner -- but that's because I make them all!

[Miss Needle]

I'm corner to corner as well. It definitely tastes better. I also generally cut my long vegetables (carrots, celery) on a diagonal as well. People underestimate how the act of cutting plays a role in the taste.

[miss_bennet]

Definitely corner to corner. It's easier to eat.

[meatn3]

For regular square shaped bread: corner to corner - crazy, but it just tastes better to me!
For a long roll: in 3-4 parts for eating ease (neater - I can make a mess without trying)

[Quine]

It tastes better because those first few bites (assuming you eat point first) is a smaller bite, with more "air space" that you chew, opens up the flavors more. (Try it, eat small bits vs. a larget bit decide which tastes better)

meatn3...cut those long rolls on the bias to achieve the same "point" result.

[meatn3]

Thanks, I guess I didn't phrase it well for the rolls, I do cut on the bais. I am a small bite person - but I never put together the "air space" connection! Thanks.

[Miss Needle]

Hmmmm.... Interesting. Perhaps that explains why I eat my pizza slice in a very unorthodox way. I start at the tip. When I eat about a third, I eat half my crust, then tear my pizza in half lengthwise and then finish the two halves. I find it tastes much better.