The New England Sandwich That's Filled With A Cold Canned Staple

There are many dishes we associate with the New England region, including clam chowder, lobster rolls, and Indian pudding (which is one of the ugliest desserts imaginable). There are also baked beans of the Boston variety, and let's not forget the Fluffernutter sandwich. One regional specialty that isn't as well-known, however, seems to combine the last two concepts: beans and unusual sandwich fillings. The two come together in the baked bean sandwich, which dates back at least to 1909 when it was featured in two recipe books, one called "Cooking for Two: A Handbook for Young Housekeepers" and the other, "The Up-to-Date Sandwich Book."

The baked bean sandwich featured in the first publication consists of cold beans on brown bread supplemented with salad dressing, lettuce, and cauliflower. The second involves smushing the beans and combining them with celery, horseradish, and ketchup before spreading them on buttered brown bread — namely canned bread, which is another dish with New England roots. A later recipe dating from the early '80s dressed up the cold baked beans with piccalilli and applesauce, then added ham and cheese to make for an altogether different sandwich in which the beans took more of a backseat.

Many New Englanders who grew up eating cold baked bean sandwiches said theirs weren't quite so fancy. Some would add mayo and some mustard, while others might extend to lettuce, onions, pickles, or crumbled potato chips. Still, these seem to have been looked upon as more of a "kitchen sink"-type sandwich rather than one that would require a recipe to make.

New England and Old England (or rather, the U.K.) may have their differences, but they also have a few commonalities, and one of these seems to be a fondness for pairing beans and bread. Beans and toast is a classic British dish, although it's not an exact dupe of the New England-style baked bean sandwich. The reason is, not only is the bread toasted, but the beans, too, are heated. (Traditionally, Heinz is the only acceptable brand of canned beans.) The sandwich is generally open-faced, too, whereas the New England version has two pieces of bread.

Even Gordon Ramsay is a beans on toast fan, although he dresses up his favorite midnight snack with a few gourmet touches. To start with, he flavors the beans with crushed red pepper, garlic, and Tabasco sauce. The ever-trendy sourdough bread is the base of his sandwich, while he tops things off with a duck egg (the chicken kind are so plebeian!) The sandwich is then sprinkled with parmesan cheese and finished off under the broiler.

So what would Ramsay think of an American-style cold baked bean sandwich? We wouldn't dare ask. He couldn't sneer at the use of canned beans, since he uses them in his beans on toast, but he might have a few choice words about condiments such as mayonnaise and ketchup. He'd likely disapprove of the temperature, too, since eating cold baked beans is admittedly outside the culinary norm anywhere other than New England. Still, those who've tried it seem to like it, and Gordon Ramsay doesn't have the last word on everything. (Although don't tell him we said so.)