 Tuna fish sandwich | |
| Alternative names | Tuna salad sandwich, tuna sandwich |
|---|---|
| Type | Sandwich |
| Course | Lunch |
| Place of origin | Various |
| Main ingredients | Tuna salad,mayonnaise |
| Ingredients generally used | Celery,onion,lettuce,tomato |
| Variations | Tuna boat,tuna melt |
Atuna fish sandwich, known outside the United States as atuna salad sandwich or atuna sandwich, is asandwich made fromcanned tuna—usually made into atuna salad by addingmayonnaise, and sometimes other ingredients such ascelery oronion—as well as other common fruits and vegetables used to flavour sandwiches. It is commonly served onsliced bread.
Variations include thetuna boat (served on abun orroll) and thetuna melt (served with melted cheese).
In theUnited States, 52 percent of cannedtuna is used for sandwiches.[1] The tuna sandwich has been called "the mainstay of almost everyone's American childhood."[2]
The dish's popularity started to climb in the early twentieth century, but tuna sandwiches were already being served in nineteenth-century homes. In 1893, Dell Montjoy Bradley, a New York socialite,[3] wrote a gourmet cookbook calledBeverages and Sandwiches for Your Husband's Friends. She included a recipe for a sandwich made out of imported tuna that she described using the Italian word "tonno."[4][5]
The sandwich is "emblematic of America’s working-class spirit" and its status "rests on three post–Industrial Revolution convenience foods: canned tuna, presliced wheat bread, and mayonnaise," according toJames Beard Foundation Award winner Mari Uyehara.[6] Canning of tuna began in the United States around 1904, and it was increasingly popular as a lower-cost alternative to canned salmon by the 1920s.[7] German immigrantRichard Hellmann began mass-producingmayonnaise, the other major ingredient of tuna salad, in New York City around 1905, for use by commercial food service businesses. By 1912, he was selling wide-mouthed glass jars of mayonnaise to retail customers, under the brand nameHellmann's.[8] Commercialsliced bread was introduced in the United States in 1928, was sold nationally by 1930 and accounted for the majority of U.S. bread sales by 1933.[9]
Reuben Swinburne Clymer was the grand master ofFraternitas Rosae Crucis, an AmericanRosicrucian organization from 1922 to 1966. He was an advocate of apescatarian or fish/vegetarian diet. In 1917, he co-authoredThe Rose Cross Aid Cook Book with Clara Witt. The book included a recipe for seafood sandwiches, including variations for canned salmon, canned shrimp and canned tuna. The seafood was removed from the can, placed on slices of buttered bread spread with a teaspoon of mayonnaise, and a lettuce leaf was added.[10] An institutional cookbook published in 1924 included a recipe for making a batch of 50 tuna sandwiches. The recipe included canned tuna, chopped celery andboiled dressing, an alternative to mayonnaise. The tuna salad was served between slices of buttered bread.[11]
Demand for canned tuna in the 1930s was heavier than supply could keep up with.[7] DuringWorld War II, theOffice of Price Administration required restaurants in the New York City metropolitan area to prominently post prices of 40 "basic food items". Among them was a "Tuna Fish Salad Sandwich".[12] Canned tuna became more plentiful in the United States in the late 1940s. In 1950, 8,500,000 pounds of canned tuna were produced, and theU.S. Department of Agriculture classified it as a "plentiful food".[13]
Well-known 20th century American chefs includingJames Beard,[2]Julia Child,[14]Craig Claiborne[15] andcomfort food cookbook authorSue Kreitzman[16] were advocates for the tuna sandwich. American chefDavid Rosengarten is an advocate for a very simple style of finely chopped, easily spreadable tuna salad, almost like a fishpâté, reminiscent of New York Citydelicatessen food.[17]
In 2021,Subway was sued by two California consumers who claimed that the fast-food chain had sold purported tuna sandwiches that were "completely bereft of tuna as an ingredient".[18] A representative of the company which operates over 40,000 locations worldwide, denied the allegations, saying "These claims are meritless,” adding “Tuna is one of our most popular sandwiches. Our restaurants receive 100% wild-caught tuna, mix it with mayonnaise and serve on a freshly made sandwich."[18] The investigative TV showInside Edition sent samples of Subway's tuna salad to Applied Food Technologies, a Florida company that carries out DNA testing of seafood. According to that company, "Yes, we confirmed that tuna was definitely in all three samples we received".[19]
A tuna fish sandwich is usually made with canned tuna mixed withmayonnaise and other additions, such as chopped celery, capers, pickles orpickle relish,hard-boiled eggs,[20][21] onion, cucumber,sweetcorn, and/orblack olives. Other recipes may use olive oil,Miracle Whip,salad cream,mustard, oryogurt, instead of or in addition to mayonnaise. The sandwich may be topped with lettuce, tomato, cucumbers,bean sprouts, or avocado in any combination.
Tuna is a relatively highprotein food and it is very high inomega-3 fatty acids. A sandwich made from 100 grams of tuna and two slices of toasted white bread has approximately 287 calories, 96 of which are from fat (10.5 grams fat). It also has 20 grams of protein and 27 grams ofcarbohydrates.[26][27]
A larger, commercially prepared tuna fish sandwich has more calories than noted above, based on its serving size. A 6-inchSubway tuna sub of 238 grams has 480 calories, 210 of those from fat, 600 milligrams of sodium, and 20 grams of protein.[28]
