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An open sandwich, also known as an open-face/open-faced sandwich, bread baser, bread platter or tartine, consists of a single slice of bread or toast with one or more food items on top. It has half the number of slices of bread compared to a typical Sandwich and has toppings rather than fillings.
A direct precursor to the English sandwich may be found in the Netherlands of the 17th century, where the naturalist John Ray observed that in the taverns, beef hung from the rafters "which they cut into thin slices and eat with bread and butter laying the slices upon the butter".Ray, Observations topographical, moral, & physiological; made in a journey through part of the Low Countries, Germany, Italy, and France... (vol. I, 1673) quoted in Simon Schama, (1987:152). These explanatory specifications reveal the Dutch belegde boterham, open-faced sandwich, was as yet unfamiliar in England.
Open sandwiches like this are consumed in France, Belgium, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Estonia, Austria, Germany, the Czech Republic, Hungary, the Netherlands, Poland and Bulgaria as well as other parts of Europe, and North America as a regular breakfast and supper food item. The American tongue toast was offered as an entrée for breakfast, lunch, and supper and as an hors d'œuvre for formal parties.
In former Czechoslovakia, a popular type of open sandwich is called obložené chlebíčky (pl., sg. obložený chlebíček) - slantways cut slice of veka (long narrow white bread) spread with butter or with various combinations of mayonnaise salads and hard boiled egg, cheese, ham, salami, smoked fish (salmon or European sprat or pickled herring), tomato, pickled cucumber, lettuce, raw onion or other vegetable, etc.
The open sandwich is the common, traditional sandwich type in the Nordic countries,Ida Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Belarus, Russia, Poland, Ukraine, Kazakhstan where it is typically eaten at breakfast, lunch, supper, or as a snack. In Finland the sandwich is called voileipä, and in Estonia similarly võileib, which also means "butter bread".
The Scandinavian open sandwich (, , or macka) consists of one piece of buttered bread, often whole-grain rye bread (, , ), topped with, for instance, cheese, cold steak, ham, turkey, shrimps, smoked salmon, caviar, hard boiled eggs, bacon, herring, fish fillets, liver pâté (, , ), or small meatballs. This is typically complemented by some and vegetables such as parsley, cold salad, thinly sliced cucumber, tomato wedges or pickled beets, etc. on the same slice of bread.
A condiment, such as mayonnaise, or mayonnaise-based dressing is also often included in some form. An old traditional replacement for butter on a piece of bread with herring is pig fat. There are many variations associated with the smørrebrød/smørbrød/smörgås and there are even special stores, cafés and restaurants (especially in Denmark) that specialize in them.
The Dutch and Flemish Uitsmijter consists of one or more slices of bread topped with fried eggs (one per slice of bread), and can be accompanied by slices of cheese or meat (roast beef or ham). The dish is often served as a hearty breakfast. Sweet toppings are commonly used for breakfast in the Netherlands and Belgium: e.g. sprinkles, vlokken, or muisjes, next to the more widespread peanut butter, honey, Fruit preserves, and chocolate spread.
In Great Britain, open sandwiches are rare outside of Scandinavian delicatessens. The open sandwiches found in Great Britain are the Welsh rarebitFannie Farmer, Boston Cooking-School Cook Book Boston, 1896, and other "on toast" dishes (e.g., cheese on toast), and the Scotch woodcock, an open sandwich served historically at the colleges of the University of Cambridge and University of Oxford and in the refreshment rooms of the House of Commons of the United Kingdom as late as 1949.
In North America, an open faced sandwich may also refer to a slice of bread topped with warm slices of Roasting meat and gravy. Examples include a beef Manhattan, a hot chicken sandwich in Canada, or Welsh rarebit. This is also done in Scandinavian countries, where they also eat open faced sandwiches with fried meat and fried fish.
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