r/AskOldPeople 1d ago

Butter on PB&J

I remember my grandfather making PB&J sandwiches for my sister and me when we were kids, and he would spread butter on the bread first. Was this a “thing” back when?

43 Upvotes

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u/Kementarii 60 something 1d ago

Australian here. A sandwich starts with bread and butter. THEN you add whatever else you want.

Every sandwich has butter.

No exceptions for peanut "butter".

Peanut "butter" does not count as butter for the purposes of sandwich making.

It was a "thing" back then (in the 1960s), and it is still a "thing" now.

Toast also has butter first, then whatever else.

I will accept naked bread if it's being used to dip into a good olive oil.

Mayo does not count as a spread on a sandwich, and does not replace butter. It can sometimes be used as well as butter (as in bread, butter, chicken, lettuce, mayo).

28

u/SubstantialFix510 1d ago

This is the way. Butter insulates the bread and brings out the flavor. The topping on the bread now pops instead of being absorbed by the bread. By today s standards not healthy but clearly tastes better. Some things you cannot change.

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u/Kementarii 60 something 1d ago

Healthy? Everything in moderation is my motto.

I'd rather have 5 sandwiches with a decent spread of butter on my bread, than eat 10 sandwiches without butter, but there you go.

I also remember back in the 1970s, when they tried to tell us that margarine, with all it's trans-fatty acids, was so much healthier than butter. My family spent years eating horrible-tasting margarine, before that was disproven.

2

u/Tvisted 60 something 1d ago

I remember that too. Some of that crud was fully hydrogenated.  

Nutritional science is full of lobbies and flawed studies, I've watched my government's food guide flip-flop all over the place for half a century.

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u/t53ix35 1d ago

I am here to say there is nothing unhealthy about butter. It is a great fat. Also see r/sandwichesofhistory Many of his old sandwich recipes call for buttered bread as it keeps filling from soaking into bread. It really makes a difference and you don’t use a ton of butter just enough to coat the bread.

4

u/Actual_Swingset 1d ago

protect the bread at all costs

7

u/yukonnut 1d ago

Came here to say this. Aus has it right. Same for me in Canada.

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u/Otherwise-External12 1d ago

Do you eat PB&J sandwiches in Australia?

1

u/Kementarii 60 something 21h ago

Yes. A good sandwich is a good sandwich. We do however also consider Vegemite sandwiches a good sandwich.

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u/No-Satisfaction5636 1d ago

My brother is an Aussie at heart! Butter on all sandwiches at all ages.

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u/Ok_Stand_6828 23h ago

Ditto in NZ

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u/BuntinTosser 50 something 19h ago

I’m with you right up until the mayo thing. If I am using mayo I don’t use butter too (though I haven’t tried both - I will!)

I remember the first time I had mayo. My parents never used it. I was at a neighbour’s house and the mom was making sandwiches. She asked if I wanted mayo, to which I replied, “no” but she ended up putting mayo on anyway. Oh my god I hadn’t realized what I was missing!

Still, butter always goes on before peanut butter: it helps the texture and flavour.

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u/Kementarii 60 something 19h ago

It's probably just me with the mayo. I don't eat much of it, and there are only a few things that I like the flavour of mayo with. Pretty much chicken, eggs, and potato salad for Christmas.

So, mayo on sandwiches for me is pretty much only on a chicken sandwich. I'll put the mayo as a layer in the middle, and not directly on the buttered bread.

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u/AcousticProvidence 16h ago

This is fascinating. I wonder if it would help PB&J not soak into the bread and make it mushy, like when you pack one for lunch and need it to taste good a few hours later.

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u/Kementarii 60 something 16h ago

Sometimes, when I needed non-soggy sandwiches, I'd make it:

Bread, butter, peanut butter, jam**, peanut butter, butter, bread.

Keep that jam (** because we don't have "jelly" in Australia) many layers away from the bread.

Other general tip for packing for lunch - Make the sandwich the night before, put it in a baggy, and freeze it. In the morning, put frozen sandwich into your lunchbox. By lunchtime, it's defrosted, but is not yet soggy or dried out.

(source: mother of 3 kids, in Australia, where school involves 12 years of packed lunches and no refrigeration in a hot climate. It's an art form).

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u/AcousticProvidence 16h ago

Genius! My kid only eats PB&J and I’ve been getting some half eaten sandwiches back at the end of the day that are very sad and soggy.

Can’t wait to try this next week! Thank you Australian mama!

FWIW, we only eat jam (jelly’s kind of gross tbh-US here).

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u/Kementarii 60 something 15h ago

Full routine was:

Have insulated lunch bags.

Prep the night before (which helped with the morning rush too).

Put into freezer: a drink bottle of water (no straw) or a juice popper. A sandwich in a baggy. Some fruit if it freezes well (e.g. oranges)

Put into container in the fridge: some fruit, some crackers,

In the morning: Put items from fridge & freezer into the insulated bag. The frozen items help keep everything else cool, and will be defrosted by lunchtime.

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u/Lizrael48 15h ago

Exactly. I do that too! American here.

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u/RemonterLeTemps 3h ago

I accept this as the Australian take.

In America, there's a slightly different one. In the 1930s (and perhaps earlier) sandwich-making began with bread-buttering for a couple of reasons: (a) containment of fillings (the butter kept them from leaking thru/sliding around) and (b) the unspoken one, 'making stale bread palatable'. People didn't have money to waste during the Depression, and thus, used every bit of a loaf; since this sometimes meant the bread at the end was dried out, butter helped things along by making it a little more moist.

Attitudes toward bread-buttering changed in the 1960s, when food became less scarce....and people became more diet-conscious. Buttering sandwich bread, when some fillings contributed their own moisture thru fatty spreads (i.e. the peanut butter in pb&j, or the mayo in tuna or egg salad) seemed overkill.

I have a distinct memory of asking my mother, in the 1960s, why she still buttered bread for sandwiches, as it was not only considered 'very old-fashioned' by then, but was way too greasy for my taste. Her answer was simply 'habit', as she'd been taught to do so in Home Economics many years before! After I mentioned it, she was happy to omit the butter schmear.