The Unusual Bread Julia Child Used For Her Tuna Sandwiches

Julia Child's go-to lunch was a tuna salad sandwich served open-faced on an English muffin, according to a personal account from Dorie Greenspan, as captured in the New York Times. Greenspan is a cookbook author who worked with Child on her "Baking with Julia" project. While Child's preference for an English muffin may seem somewhat unusual, as more popular choices for the sandwich tend to be classic white or multigrain bread, the selection makes more sense when you consider all of the texture-heavy ingredients that she liked to mix into her tuna salad.

Child's recipe is packed with fresh ingredients and herbs. A varied textural element was obviously important to her, as chopped celery, onions, and cornichons are featured to provide plenty of crunch. With all of the ingredients used in the mix, it's no wonder the English muffin was her top choice to house it; they're made of heartier stuff than most other breads, and they are much less likely to get soggy or fall apart. It's the same reason that chef Ina Garten favors English muffins instead of buns for burgers.

Child's longtime assistant, Stephanie Hersh, said that good tuna and mayonnaise were the chef's two primary standards. The tuna had to be packed in oil, and Child famously favored Hellman's mayonnaise.

Colleague and friend Dorie Greenspan adapted the recipe shared with the New York Times from her personal experience making the sandwich with Julia Child.

To put it all together, the chef mixed an oil-packed can of tuna with Hellman's, though whipping up some homemade mayo would take this sandwich to the next level. A few chopped tablespoons of celery and Vidalia onions were also musts for Child. Exclusively grown in south Georgia, Vidalias are sweet, yellow onions with a relatively high sugar content and low sulfur content. With all of the sharp acidity in the ingredient list, their sweetness is a great compliment to the dish. 

A few chopped cornichons and capers also bring a complex, briny element to the salad. These crunchy elements work best when thinly sliced, in order to achieve a cohesive texture throughout the tuna salad. A squeeze of fresh lemon juice, some salt, and ground white pepper also help to balance out all the flavors. Finally, a good dose of minced chives or parsley brings a welcome, herby freshness.

Child liked Bays English muffins to house her tuna salad. She topped the toasted English muffins with more mayonnaise and more fresh ingredients: a leaf of soft lettuce, a slice of tomato, and a thin slice of onion (Vidalia, of course). The final product is served open-faced with the tuna salad mixture on top and one more slice of tomato and onion.