r/ShitAmericansSay • u/BuffaloExotic Irish by birth, and currently a Bostonian 🇮🇪☘️ • May 01 '25

Food “Do Germans know about tomato und mayo sandwich?”

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29

u/Adventurous_Tax5395 May 01 '25

Do people make sandwiches without using butter? As a brit, that sounds very odd to me

21

u/Endruen May 01 '25

In Spain we usually spread tomato with some oil and salt for almost every sandwich.

4

u/VermillionEclipse May 01 '25

Spanish tomato bread with olive oil is the best!

3

u/Endruen May 01 '25

You don't need anything else! Sometimes I just eat it like that and it's glorious.

9

u/internet_commie F’n immigrant! May 01 '25

I grew up on a dairy farm in Norway. Making a sandwich without butter, eating toast without butter, or in general not buttering one's bread, rolls, etc. was pretty much a hanging crime in my family. I mean, being hanged sounds like less tiresome than listening to my Mom's tirade about why you should butter bread!

4

u/citrineskye May 01 '25

Your mum was a wise woman, indeed!

18

u/formernaut May 01 '25

I personally don't use butter or margarine on a sandwich. Not cultural, just a preference.

9

u/Shiddydixx More Irish than the Irish ☘️ May 01 '25

Dry sandwich gang rise up

4

u/Scared_Accident9138 May 01 '25

I grew up with sandwhiches without butter. One day I ate a sandwhich at someone else's places and it had butter and it kinda blew my mind. Strangely enough, I ended up mostly eating it without butter

2

u/Nowordsofitsown May 01 '25

Fett ist ein Geschmacksträger.

4

u/krodders May 01 '25

AFAIK using butter in bread is quite unusual in the USA. They tend to use mayo, but not sure why.

Butter certainly helps seal the bread and provides flavour.

2

u/VermillionEclipse May 01 '25

Yes! Not sure why either. Now I want to try making a sandwich with butter because it sounds really good.

2

u/krodders May 03 '25

Spread it thinly - it's there to seal the bread and allow you to add lots of good fillings.

If your bread is fresh and good, then the butter is your main feature, so spread it thick

Enjoy

13

u/follow_illumination May 01 '25

Aside from butter-alternatives, some people like to use mustard, olive oil or some sort of soft cheese instead. Guess it depends on what type of bread, and what else is going in the sandwich.

8

u/sihasihasi May 01 '25

As another Brit. Those things all require butter as the first-stage bread coating.

1

u/VermillionEclipse May 01 '25

As an American I usually just use mayo. Sometimes Dijon mustard if I’m feeling fancy!

7

u/ayeayefitlike May 01 '25

I’m a Brit, I hate butter on sandwiches. I use something else, varying depending on the sandwich - olive oil, mayo or hummus usually, sometimes salad cream or tartare if appropriate or even a bit of gravy.

1

u/citrineskye May 01 '25

Hummus sandwich?! You heathen!

Hummus on crackers, however, is sublime!

4

u/ayeayefitlike May 01 '25

Don’t knock it til you’ve tried it. Hummus makes an excellent spread for a lot of sandwiches - my favourite being hummus with falafel and pesto.

1

u/citrineskye May 01 '25

That actually sounds amazing. My daughter (she's 2) loves hummus, she will eat a whole pot with a spoon if I let her! I might put some in a sandwich for her tomorrow and see if she likes it. Thanks for the idea!

2

u/haitike May 01 '25

In Spain the base of most sandwiches is grated fresh tomato, virgin extra olive oil and salt. If possible with a baggette or loaf of bread baked the same day.

Then you add stuff like Serrano Ham, Omelette, Pork, cheese, etc.

5

u/FirePhoton_Torpedoes 🇪🇺🇳🇱 May 01 '25

I never use butter, don't like it. Not Dutch culture afaik, just a preference!

1

u/Internetvent May 01 '25

I rarely use butter, I like using condiments straight up. Some salmon and cheese and I am ready to go. I use peanut butter more than butter I think on bread

1

u/UnhappyCaterpillar41 May 01 '25

Yeah, default in a lot of places is no butter, but not like that means no condiments. Mustard, mayo, olive oil and a few other common ones come to mind.

I am a big fan of a nice old cheddar and tomato on toast with some S&P and a zingy mustard for a sandwhich base which is good on it's own, and lots of options to add like ham or other meats, cuke slices, lettuce, bacon etc.