# Butter on tuna sandwiches **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 30, 2010, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/butter-on-tuna-sandwiches/565861 "2010-12-30T19:50:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2011, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/butter-on-tuna-sandwiches/565861/41 "2011-01-01T00:56:50Z")
What? People don’t eat Vegemite sandwiches? Have cucumber sandwiches disappeared? Nobody eats a simple bread-and-butter sandwich anymore? ---
**Author:** ![Ephemera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8baadc/32.png) [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2011, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/butter-on-tuna-sandwiches/565861/42 "2011-01-01T01:54:55Z")
Most Americans don’t eat vegemite anything; cucumber sandwiches are made with cream cheese and don’t need butter in my experience; and even if it’s between two pieces of bread, butter alone does not make a sandwich. ---
**Author:** ![Invisible\_Chimp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/f05b48/32.png) [@Invisible\_Chimp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Invisible_Chimp)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2011, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/butter-on-tuna-sandwiches/565861/43 "2011-01-01T02:00:23Z")
I don’t butter any sandwiches. Mayonnaise on tuna and mustard on most everything else. ---
**Author:** ![markdash](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba8739/32.png) [@markdash](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markdash)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2011, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/butter-on-tuna-sandwiches/565861/44 "2011-01-01T02:09:48Z")
Oddly enough, butter on a tuna sandwich sounds really strange to me, yet completely normal to put butter on bread and top it with some canned sardines. ---
**Author:** ![Idle\_Thoughts](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/838e76/32.png) [@Idle\_Thoughts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Idle_Thoughts)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2011, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/butter-on-tuna-sandwiches/565861/45 "2011-01-01T02:23:32Z")
When I lived in Canada for awhile, they buttered both sides of the bread before eating any sandwich. I had never heard of this practice before so I assumed it was a Canadian thing. Everyone in the area did it, as far as I knew…making a tuna sandwich? Butter both sides first. PB and J? Butter goes on both sides. Ham? Yep, butter. They even did it with the hot dog rolls when having hot dogs. Other then that place in Canada, I still haven’t heard of anyone doing it. It wasn’t half bad, but I haven’t done it since. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2011, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/butter-on-tuna-sandwiches/565861/46 "2011-01-01T02:26:44Z")
> [@labtrash](#): > > There should be a “Hells no” option > > I would have picked that. I agree with this. Hells, no. I’m going to go against the grain of the Dope here. I’m fond of Miracle Whip. I’ll stir a little bit of the Whip into my tuna, then spread it on the bread. It can be plain or toast, doesn’t matter to me. And also a slice of some kind of cheese such as cheddar. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2011, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/butter-on-tuna-sandwiches/565861/47 "2011-01-01T02:28:25Z")
> [@Idle\_Thoughts](#): > > Other then that place in Canada, I still haven’t heard of anyone doing it. We did it in San Diego and Lancaster. It wasn’t a usual thing, but we’d have tuna on buttered bread, and ham on buttered bread. ---
**Author:** ![jackdavinci](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackdavinci/32/3259_2.png) [@jackdavinci](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackdavinci)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2011, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/butter-on-tuna-sandwiches/565861/48 "2011-01-01T03:41:48Z")
I’ve never heard of that. I put butter on toast, or sometimes lone untasted bread or other pastries. But I’ve never put butter on a sandwich. The lubricant of choice for all sandwiches is mayonnaise. Sandwiches just need lubricant, because they are flavored by their middle portion, so mayo (eggs) is preferred. Plain bread or pastry needs both lubricant _AND_ flavoring, so butter or jam/jelly (or both) is used instead of mayo unless it’s being dipped instead of spread in which case anything goes. ---
**Author:** ![StarvingButStrong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/starvingbutstrong/32/335_2.png) [@StarvingButStrong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StarvingButStrong)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2011, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/butter-on-tuna-sandwiches/565861/49 "2011-01-01T03:45:01Z")
> [@Idle\_Thoughts](#): > > When I lived in Canada for awhile, they buttered both sides of the bread before eating any sandwich. How did you eat it without getting your fingers all greasy? Or do they eat all sandwiches with knife and fork? ---
**Author:** ![jackdavinci](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackdavinci/32/3259_2.png) [@jackdavinci](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackdavinci)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2011, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/butter-on-tuna-sandwiches/565861/50 "2011-01-01T03:57:35Z")
> [@brainstall](#): > > I butter the bread so the tuna juice doesn’t soak in and make the bread soggy. Necessary only if the sandwich is going to be eaten later. For soggy-proofing I just use a layer of lettuce or other greenery. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2011, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/butter-on-tuna-sandwiches/565861/51 "2011-01-01T04:14:24Z")
> [@StarvingButStrong](#): > > How did you eat it without getting your fingers all greasy? > > Or do they eat all sandwiches with knife and fork? I assumed he meant they butter one side of both slices, rather than buttering both sides of each slice. ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2011, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/butter-on-tuna-sandwiches/565861/52 "2011-01-01T05:13:52Z")
> [@](#): > > The lubricant of choice for all sandwiches is mayonnaise. If someone serves me a corned beef and Swiss with MAYONNAISE on it, there WILL be trouble. Mayo doesn’t go with Swiss. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2011, 5:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/butter-on-tuna-sandwiches/565861/53 "2011-01-01T05:38:11Z")
> [@Lynn\_Bodoni](#): > > If someone serves me a corned beef and Swiss with MAYONNAISE on it, there WILL be trouble. Mayo doesn’t go with Swiss. Not with corned beef, certainly. But I had a swiss and tomato on wheat with mayo, and that worked. ---
**Author:** ![obfusciatrist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/4af34b/32.png) [@obfusciatrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/obfusciatrist)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2011, 6:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/butter-on-tuna-sandwiches/565861/54 "2011-01-01T06:27:20Z")
> [@Lynn\_Bodoni](#): > > Mayo doesn’t go with Swiss. It does for me. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2011, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/butter-on-tuna-sandwiches/565861/55 "2011-01-01T19:24:07Z")
> [@Idle\_Thoughts](#): > > When I lived in Canada for awhile, they buttered both sides of the bread before eating any sandwich. I had never heard of this practice before so I assumed it was a Canadian thing. When I was a sprout, my wicked stepfather used to liberally butter the bread for my PB&J’s for school. I asked him not to do this (because it is _all kinds of nasty_) and it earned me a week of plain margarine sandwiches for being ungrateful. Prick. ---
**Author:** ![kittenblue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ba8739/32.png) [@kittenblue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kittenblue)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2011, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/butter-on-tuna-sandwiches/565861/56 "2011-01-01T23:38:25Z")
I butter the outside of the bread for grilled tuna and cheese sandwiches, and I butter the inside of the bread for a very specific Amish tuna sandwich recipe that also calls for cream cheese and olives. But in general, a plain tuna salad sandwich has enough mayo or Miracle Whip in it that you don’t need butter. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/butter-on-tuna-sandwiches/565861.md?page=2)