Tuesday, September 4, 2018

In Search of the Perfect Tuna Fish Sandwich - #FlavoursomeTuesday

On September 3, 2013 I ate the perfect tuna fish sandwich.  Today, I repeat a blog post from September 3, 2013 about it, with some small editing updates.

St. Louis.  1968.

My uncle Henry (who will be celebrating - updated  his 94th birthday later this year!) drove me and my father to St. Louis for the day, from his then-home in Iowa.

I don't know at what point we ate, but my choice was a tuna fish sandwich.  Back when I was a child and a teen, I loved tuna and I'm surprised that I never turned into a fish.

The tuna sandwich I had was not like any restaurant-made tuna sandwich I had ever had.  No, this was sweet.  It had a taste that was absolutely wonderful.

Several years later I was back in the area and ordered a tuna sandwich at a diner and it had the same taste.  What was it? I couldn't quite place it.  My spouse, an excellent cook, went by my description and guessed it had sweet pickle relish in it.  I suspected it might also have Miracle Whip as an ingredient.

Miracle Whip is - well, it is something like American mayonnaise, but unless you live in the U.S. (or, apparently, Germany) you won't find Miracle Whip.  I've found it to be a regional taste here in the United States.  My midwestern relatives use Miracle Whip in things such as potato salad that call for "white stuff in a jar".  My New York relatives use American Mayonnaise in dishes needing "white stuff".

It's been years, over 30 years, since I was in the St. Louis area, but my spouse and I ended up staying the night of September 2, 2013, about 50 miles (80 km) west of St. Louis, Missouri.  This morning, I decided to drop in on a local cafe called the Lewis Cafe. Their menu was in our motel room and it advertised that the owners raised their own beef.  And, it had been in business since the 1930's. [2018 update, it is still in business].

And, they made their own tuna fish salad.

They were closed yesterday (due to Labor Day) so dinner there was impossible.

But, they opened today at 5am. Our motel's desk clerk called them about 8:30 am (after sharing her recipe for tuna) to make sure they made sandwiches to go that early - they did.

So, what did we find?

Just the friendliest service you would ever want.  We were offered seats, and plenty of ice water while we waited.  The young lady who waited on us even suggested we use the restrooms.

Here are a couple of pictures of the interior of the Lewis Cafe.

The young lady put together our "to go's" including a slice of pie, plenty of  napkins, forks, my husband's fried cube steak (fantastic, according to him) and this:


Heaven.  I've waited over 30 years for this sandwich. And it just wasn't the tuna.  This wasn't store bought rye bread, I'm convinced.

So how does the desk clerk at Budget Lodgings in St. Clair, Missouri make her tuna?  Sweet relish (one point for spouse).  Miracle whip (one point for me). Chopped sweet onion.  Chopped hard boiled egg.

Joining up with #FlavoursomeTuesdays (hosted by Bellybytes and Metanoia) 

6 comments:

  1. And I am sure Albacore Tuna. My college roommate was a tuna fish aficionado too. The egg is a nice touch.

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  2. Except for the egg, that is our recipe as well! I'll gladly add it if you want to come over for sandwiches! :)

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  3. This brought back memories of my youth, mom always made tuna with sweet relish in it!

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  4. Boy, if I knew that was all that it would take to make your day, I'd have you over for my tuna fish. No Miracle Whip (either Duke's or Hellman's light)- but it's good. (And, it's NOT from a can, either)

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  5. I always put weird things in my tuna fish like Kalamata olives, onions, and pickles with Trader Joe's olive oil mayo and sometimes Fage yogurt. I love freshly bakes Rye bread too.

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