AUSTRIAN SANDWICH

Ingredients

• 2 cans Boned and skinned sardines (canned) (Reserve the oil from the cans — it is used in the filling. Drain sardines into a bowl, keeping the oil separately.)
• 2 balls (approximately 1 cup each) Cottage cheese (A 'ball' of cottage cheese was a common early 20th-century measurement roughly equivalent to 1 cup or about 225g. Use standard full-fat cottage cheese.)
• 1 small onion Small onion (Peel and chop as finely as possible so it blends smoothly into the filling.)
• 2 tablespoons Fresh parsley, chopped (Flat-leaf or curly parsley both work. Chop finely.)
• 2 tablespoons Fresh mint, chopped (Chop finely. Fresh mint is preferable to dried for a brighter flavour.)
• 2 tablespoons Vinegar (White wine vinegar or malt vinegar are period-appropriate choices.)
• 0 to taste Salt (Add cautiously — sardines and their oil are naturally salty.)
• 0 a dash Red pepper (cayenne or crushed chilli flakes) (A small pinch. Adds a gentle heat to the filling.)
• 2 lemons (rind only) Lemon rind, grated (Use a fine grater or microplane to zest only the yellow outer skin, avoiding the bitter white pith.)
• 2 lemons (juice only) Lemon juice, freshly squeezed (Squeeze the same lemons after zesting. Remove any seeds.)
• 0 all reserved oil from cans Oil from the sardine cans (Use all the oil drained from the two cans. It adds flavour and helps bind the spread.)
• 0 as needed for sandwiches Rye bread or brown bread, thinly sliced (Slice as thinly as you can — thin slices are key to this style of sandwich. A pre-sliced loaf works well for beginners.)
• 0 as needed Butter (Use softened (room temperature) butter so it spreads easily without tearing the bread.)

Instructions

1. 1Before you begin, take out a large mixing bowl and a fork or hand masher. If your butter is cold, leave it out on the counter now so it softens by the time you need it. Open both cans of sardines over the mixing bowl, letting all the oil drain into the bowl. Set the sardines aside on a small plate for now — you will add them shortly. Zest both lemons using a fine grater, then cut and squeeze the juice from the same lemons. Set the zest and juice aside. Finely chop the onion, parsley, and mint if you have not already done so.
2. 2Add the drained sardines into the mixing bowl with the reserved sardine oil. Add both balls of cottage cheese, the finely chopped onion, the chopped parsley, the chopped mint, the vinegar, the grated lemon rind, and the lemon juice. Add a dash of red pepper. Do not add salt yet — you will season at the end once everything is mixed, since sardines are already quite salty.
3. 3Using a fork, beat and mash the mixture firmly and continuously until all ingredients are well combined and the sardines are broken down into fine pieces throughout the spread. The mixture should look cohesive and creamy — no large chunks of sardine or cottage cheese remaining. This will take about 2 to 3 minutes of vigorous stirring and mashing. Once combined, taste the filling and add salt if needed. Stir once more after seasoning.
4. 4Lay your thin slices of rye or brown bread out on a clean surface or large board. Using a butter knife, spread a thin, even layer of softened butter over one side of each slice. The butter acts as a barrier that keeps the bread from going soggy from the filling, and adds richness to the sandwich. Make sure the butter reaches all the way to the edges.
5. 5Spoon a generous amount of the sardine and cottage cheese filling onto the buttered side of one slice of bread. Spread it evenly across the surface using a butter knife or the back of a spoon, going all the way to the edges. Place a second buttered slice on top, buttered side facing inward toward the filling. Press the sandwich gently together. Repeat with remaining bread slices and filling. If desired, trim the crusts and cut each sandwich in half or into fingers for neat serving.