This 1950s Sandwich Looks Nothing Like Its Modern-Day Counterpart

Food trends can change rapidly. It's hard to imagine chicken tenders didn't exist prior to the 1970s, while the widespread use of gelatin is a 1950s cooking trend that still baffles many. Sometimes, shifts in culinary technique can even be seen through a single dish: take the frosted ribbon loaf, for example.

Glance at this mid-century American sandwich, and you might mistake it for cheesecake. Classic versions of the dish consist of sliced sandwich bread filled with spreads like pimento cheese and mayo-based salads made with egg, ham, chicken, or crab meat. Such fillings are then layered into an entire loaf, often mixed and matched in one rendition. After some chilling time, the dish is covered in cream cheese frosting, creating a savory food that could deceive those with a sweet tooth.

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Frosted ribbon loaves are no longer popular in the U.S., instead inciting a dash of bewilderment. Yet in Sweden, cooks still prepare a dish called smörgåstårta, a similar smothered sandwich dish. The recipe follows the same template as a frosted ribbon loaf, but swaps in Swedish fillings like a smoked salmon spread, vegetable dip, liver pâté, or a prawn-based skagenröra, although egg salad is still enjoyed there, too. The outside is often coated in a tangy mixture of sour cream or crème fraîche with cream cheese, then colorfully garnished, creating a more delicate rendition of a sandwich cake.

To some, a savory sandwich cake may seem unusual. Yet both the Swedish and American renditions serve a similar function: a showstopping meal designed for hosting. Rather than crafting dozens of egg or pimento cheese sandwiches for lunch, the cake enables guests to slice into one communal creation. In Sweden, the dish continues to be intertwined with special occasions, often appearing at Midsummer and birthday celebrations.

So while American ribbon loaf recipes often stick to a retro parsley garnish, smörgåstårta renditions have evolved into far more aesthetic creations. Cooks encase the cake in delicate, thin green cucumber slices, and they creatively use ingredients like arugula, radishes, carrots, tomatoes, onions, and pickles to infuse more color. Some use herbs and edible flowers as garnish, while others add more proteins like shrimp, roast beef, and smoked salmon. With the cake covered in such an appetizing array of ingredients, the dish takes on a far different character than America's pragmatic 1950s and '60s ribbon loaf. Much like the 1970s trend of bananas served with meat or fish, it's a style of cooking that disappeared in the U.S. but modernized in Swedish cuisine.