Posted on 09/21/2022 3:59:20 PM PDT by mylife
During the Great Depression, people valued high-calorie combinations of protein and fat. Meat and dairy were costly, and consuming enough energy could prove challenging. Enter peanut butter and mayonnaise on white bread. The combination became a staple in Southern households in the United States and, in some regions, it was as ubiquitous as peanut butter and jelly. For the next 30 years or so, the PB&M was a favorite in many American kitchens, perhaps because adding mayonnaise to the era’s rustic, coarse nut butter may have been key for spreadability. According to Garden & Gun, newspapers from the 1940s in Salt Lake City, Utah, and Troy, New York, both advised adding mayonnaise to “moisten” or “thin” peanut butter before adding bacon or shredded American cheese.
In the 1960s, Hellman’s Mayonnaise debuted an advertisement suggesting fun ways to spice up the basic peanut butter & mayo sandwich. To make a “Double Crunch,” one simply added bacon and pickles. A “Funny Face” called for raisins and carrots (and some degree of artistic capability). The “Apple Fandango” featured sliced apples and marmalade, while the “Crazy Combo”—you’ve been warned—included salami, sliced eggs, and onions.
Today, a seemingly limitless array of sandwich ingredients are affordable, but peanut butter and mayonnaise remain a beloved combination among the many Americans who grew up eating them. It also continues to maintain standing as one of the cheapest, highest-calorie pairings out there (one tablespoon of either condiment contains about 100 calories). But while famished people struggling through the Great Depression replenished themselves with the dense snack, for 21st-century Americans, the combo of the two, gooey spreads is more likely to inspire a midday nap.
I’m not a big fan of mayo. I know some people are huge mayo lovers, not me. Certain sandwiches need it though. Like chicken, tuna and turkey. Other than that it’s a turn off for me.
I have an original copy of Uncle Meat on vinyl sole by Verve Records. The libretto is intact.
L
I’ve seen people do that with grilled cheese.
It’s not for me.
piqued my interest...
putting the mayo on the outside of a sandwich when frying it instead of butter.
nothing new there
Needs a side of Hot Rats.
L
With some Peaches en Regalia.
a desert island disc
Never heard Elvis ate pb & mayo sandwiches.
My dad grew up on a farm in rural Kentucky and he used to talk about how PB&M was one of his favorite things as a child during the Depression. I could never bring myself to try it.
Me, too. Meet me in the vomitorium.
how about a cool lettuce and mayo sanmich on a hot summers day.
Yep ! Done that!
Saw a TV ad where a sandwich was coated with parmesan cheese before frying, Sounds yummy.
As a kid, grilled cheese and canned Tomato Soup was standard lunch. Still like the thought of it.
My Mother saved all her bacon oil -— as did most people at that time. Anything cooked in it was tastier than plain oil, of course.
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