Recipe
Tramezzino with tuna, egg, and rocket
The tramezzino was invented in Turin in 1925, and its name was coined by a poet who was trying to purge Italian of English words.
The Caffè Mulassano, in Piazza Castello, had imported an American bread-slicing machine and begun serving soft crustless sandwiches, which were a genuine novelty. The problem was what to call them. Italy was in the middle of a campaign of linguistic purification, in which foreign loanwords were to be replaced with properly Italian ones, and sandwich was precisely the sort of thing that campaign existed to eliminate.
Gabriele D'Annunzio, poet, nationalist and enthusiastic participant, supplied tramezzino, from tramezzo, meaning something placed in between. The word stuck. It outlived the regime that wanted it, and it is now simply the Italian word for a specific kind of sandwich: soft white bread, no crust, cut into two triangles, filling generous enough to bulge visibly at the cut edge.
The fillings are traditionally moist ones bound with mayonnaise, which is unusual for Italy and is exactly why a tramezzino survives where an ordinary sandwich does not. The bread is soft and there is no crust to go stale, so the whole thing relies on being slightly damp rather than crisp. Nothing about it can deteriorate the way a crusty roll does over five hours in a bag. A tramezzino built at 20:00 and eaten at 13:00 is essentially the same object it was.
Tuna and egg is the classic pairing and it earns the position. The egg makes it substantial, the tuna makes it taste of something rather than of mayonnaise, and the rocket cuts through both.
Wrap it tightly. A tramezzino left loose in a bag dries at the edges and curls.
- Prep 10 min
- Cook 8 min
- Serves 2
- Cost €
Method
- 1
Boil the eggs for 8 minutes from boiling, then cool them under cold running water and peel. Eight minutes gives a yolk that is set but not chalky.
12 min
- 2
Mash two of the eggs roughly with the mayonnaise, capers, lemon juice, salt and pepper. Slice the third into rounds and keep it aside.
4 min
- 3
Flake in the drained tuna and fold it through without mashing it to a paste. You want to be able to see what is in it.
2 min
- 4
Spread the mixture thickly on four slices of bread, right to the edges. A tramezzino with a bare rim is a disappointment in the middle of the afternoon.
3 min
- 5
Lay the egg rounds on top, then the rocket, then close each sandwich and press gently.
2 min
- 6
Cut each in half on the diagonal and wrap tightly in cling film or greaseproof paper. Chill for at least an hour, which firms the filling and makes it behave.
2 min
Variations
The other Italian classics: prosciutto cotto with mozzarella, or artichoke hearts with olives. Swap mayonnaise for thick Greek yoghurt with a spoon of Dijon, which is lighter and sharper. Add finely diced celery for crunch. Sliced tomato needs salting and draining on paper first or it will flood the bread. Best eaten within 24 hours and it does not freeze under any circumstances.