Part of the fun of making these recipes out here in East Hampton is that we get to use authentic local ingredients. And by authentic, I mean Eli’s Health Bread, as called for in the recipe…and smoked salmon hand-sliced by Eli Zabar himself! Ben and his minions hit the Amagansett Farmers Market (a/k/a Eli’s East) on foot to shop for these Smoked Salmon Tea Sandwiches, and introduced themselves to Eli, who keeps himself busy most of the summer at this great outpost at the top of our street. As the boys were trying to calculate how much salmon they’d need, Eli overheard the conversation and asked the boys what they were going to be making. When he heard it was smoked salmon tea sandwiches, he asked if it was Ina’s recipe. The boys confirmed that it was, and told Eli about our project!
The sandwiches were a smash-hit. Though the smoked-salmon was scrumptious, we decided you could probably get away with good-quality packaged salmon. What you can’t replace, however, is the amazing grainy bread. It’s perfectly coarse and nutty, and somehow, salmon on Wonder Bread just wouldn’t fly…