Let’s Chat: That’s all for today, yolks

By Linda Tooth on October 16, 2024.

In the last seven days, I have been to two Celebrations of Life honouring the mothers of friends who have passed away. In both cases, egg salad sandwiches were served at the luncheon following the service. Believe me when I say I cannot leave a Celebration of Life until I check to see what is on the menu.

I can remember when my parents were alive and they would come home from a funeral and my mom would call to tell me all about it. She would start by telling me who was there, and then the conversation quickly turned to letting me know if egg salad sandwiches were served.

Believe me when I say if there were no egg salad sandwiches, she was annoyed.

When we had the Celebration of Life for my parents many years ago, I made sure egg salad sandwiches were on the menu. My fondest memory is at my dad’s Celebration of Life involving my youngest stepson. We had placed the urn in the centre of the room and he went and got an egg salad sandwich and a glass of red wine and placed it near my dad. That is how much the egg salad sandwiches meant to my parents.

So I got to thinking, “Where did egg salad sandwiches come from?” Or, better yet, “What is the history of the sandwich?”

As is the norm today, I asked Google.

For those who have taken my communication classes or have listened to me in conversation, you know I bypassed Wikipedia and went to a website called TastingTable. Their section on culture tells me that you either love egg salad or you do not.

Egg salad to them is a ‘bound’ salad. I had never heard that term used before. It means bound in a heavy dressing, like mayonnaise. Sign me up!

So, how do you make a proper egg salad? For me, it is hard-boiled eggs, mayonnaise, and green onions. That is all it takes and you mix that up and slap it between two slices of bread and you have got the best sandwich ever.

Who exactly is credited with this creation of gooey loveliness? That is up for debate, but I am going to give credit to the English for the egg salad sandwich, or as they call it, egg mayo. I am also giving credit to John Montague, the 4th Earl of Sandwich for his demand of a slab of roast beef between two pieces of bread in the 18th century to create what we know today as a sandwich.

From this foodie, I leave you with this thought, “What is yellow and white and flies at 500 miles per hour? A pilot’s egg sandwich?”

Have an Eggtastic Day!

Linda Tooth is the positive culture co-ordinator at the Sanare Centre

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