Wait. What? Americans don't put butter in their sandwiches?

[GoodOldEmmaNess]

How can this make sense? That's what butter is - the thing that goes in sandwiches. Can I take the blue pill and forget I ever read this?
https://www.theguardian.com/food/commentisfree/2023/sep/20/why-dont-americans-put-butter-on-their-sandwiches

Slathered in butter always.
UK

No brie or reblochon? The humanity!

Seriously what is thier beef with unpasturised cheese?

@Needmorelego

😁 I remember a much shorter version but don't want to completely derail the thread.

( I know my 100% peanuts peanut butter has no preservatives or any other ingredients yet can be stored anywhere and lasts for a hundred years but I like to keep it in the fridge anyway)

I found the bread in America quite sweet, kids liked it but made an odd sandwich I can’t remember if we used butter or not - for making sandwiches for a day out. I like a little french mustard though. The runny cheese is ok in small doses but in the uk I have plenty butter on any sandwich my youngest doesn’t mind you he’s currently into pastrami wraps
urgh but he likes them. World would be boring place if we all liked the same things. I tell myself that daily when the kids are coming up with weird shit they want for dinner

I don't butter sandwiches either and I'm from Southampton

They also don't drink hot tea.
They make tea and let it cool then chuck a load of sugar in.
So like an iced tea.
American waitress told us this after I had ordered a pot of tea and asked her.

I don't really eat a lot of sandwiches, but proper butter tastes lovely and is a fine addition to bread.

Just had some on my toast with scrambled eggs. Very good.

DD1 used to refuse to eat shop-bought sandwiches which had been spread with margarine, when she was quite small. 😆

I think this has just cleared something up for me! In the opening scene of Don’t Look Up you see Jennifer Lawrence spreading jam on DRY toast. DH and I were just shouting at the screen “what is she doing?!!” Does this thread mean she wasn’t being weird, that this is normal American toast behaviour??

We don't eat much lamb as a nation, either. That always seems to cause a bit of a kerfluffle on MN.

You jest, but it was quite high up on my list of negatives when a relocation to the States was on the cards. I realise that not everyone likes cheese as much as me, but I wasn't prepared to vountarily move somewhere that had made (proper) brie illegal.

I don't know why they don't have unpasteurised cheese. There's an exception where you can have it if the cheese has been aged for over 60 days (I think this is only in some states), which is fine for some types of cheese but not others. It's some sort of health concern, a bit like why they keep eggs in the fridge.

Sandwiches without butter should be against the law .

oh now we're on to the real fight! Cheese in a sandwich is an abomination unless its a toasted sandwich sand the cheese is melted.

Cold cheese on a sandwich ((Shudders))

I’m Scottish and I don’t put butter in sandwiches - makes them far too greasy.

@Fink Totally agree - I would not want to live without proper soft cheese.

My DP thinks I'm weird because I only butter one side of the bread. He thinks it's essential both bits of bread are buttered 😬

I read this article this morning and had a mad craving for a ham sandwich with salty butter and mustard. Had to go out and buy fresh bread and ham - hit the spot!

Just exaggerating for humour 😉

I often google “family meal ideas” and if I find myself on an American website I note liberal use of cheese.

I actually think it’s a photography/videography thing. An easy way to make food look good online is for it to feature melted cheese.

That must be why none of them are overweight. 😬

I will happily put butter down for every single type of sandwich, including cream cheese, and nutella (not together obvs).
I will, in fact, spread butter on pretty much anything spreadable - bread, toast, crumpets, English muffins, scones, sliced brioche, fruit cake etc. And I still maintain there is not enough butter in my life 😁

Went to an Airbnb in another country on holiday and there was no toaster - ok, didn't expect one - but also no grill either on the cooker.

While we had a great holiday, I did enjoy a lovely slice of toast and butter when we got home!

It's not tea I miss when away but Chorleywood process sliced wholemeal seeded bread- toasted.

I even missed it when I lived in France, so it's serious. Tastes ok but my gut hates white fresh bread. And wholemeal is so much nicer and tastier with eggs, cheese, and salmon and lots of other things.

I think this is more a personal preference. I put either butter or jam on toast, but not both. But lots of folks in the US, my husband and children included, use both.

No lamb either! How can you live without lamb dhansak?

Same!

It's true, Americans don't. I was travelling there for a gap year, staying in people's homes and getting a packed lunch from them for my next journey. I could not say "butter" in a way that made them understand that that's what I wanted in my sandwich (it didn't help I was travelling through different states with different accents). If they did understand, they couldn't comprehend that I wouldn't want mayo, often they tried to give me butter and mayo. Very often I ended up with cheese and ham and no butter as they didn't have any butter!

I'm shocked, I tell you, SHOCKED! Having just eaten a thick slice of wholemeal bread with butter and honey, I cannot fathom why you wouldn't have butter in the mix.

Then again, if American butter is anything like the bread (disgusting) then maybe it's understandable.