peanut butter problems

[baratron]

I've been meaning to post this poll for about a month, since the last time Tim & Peter came round and ate peanut butter at me...

[Poll #352174]

You see (in case it wasn't obvious from the wording of the poll), I have always treated peanut butter as butter, and put it directly onto bread. I do the same thing with almost everything I put on bread - chocolate spread and even jam (only Marmite gets put over a layer of non-dairy butterlike stuff). But Tim & Peter both put normal butter on first, then a fairly thin layer of peanut butter. I think this is strange and mutant behaviour!

Peter has an excuse in that he is Dutch, and has thus grown up calling p.butter "peanut cheese". But Tim has no excuse, and moreover thinks I am the weird one for not putting normal butter on first! So who is right? Or at least, who is more in line with what "normal" people do? ;)

Comments

[kightp.livejournal.com]

The only logical explanation I've heard for buttering the bread first is that the added fat tends to keep the peanut butter-and-bread from sticking to the roof of one's mouth.

A friend who has this habit refers to it as "peanut butter lube."

[epi-lj.livejournal.com]

I'm often confused as to why people seem to need a, "logical explanation," for this sort of thing. It both tastes totally different with butter (I use margarine, but whatever) and has a different texture. If someone prefers it that why, how is that either logical or illogical? It's not really any different than choosing to have jam or not have jam, or choosing what kind of bread one prefers, choosing to insert or leave out any other options ingredient in any other recipe, etc.

[kightp.livejournal.com]

Oh, it's not that I think people need logical explanations for their food choices. It's just that was offered as one, and made a certain sort of sense.

[epi-lj.livejournal.com]

:) I've run into that one on the peanut butter and butter thing before, though, from other people, where they'll demand to know what function the butter serves, and it becomes really hard to explain the two concepts that: a) The butter serves the function of having butter in the sandwich; b) Peanut butter does not actually contain any butter, despite the name.

[baratron.livejournal.com]

I think that's Tim's reason. I guess he can post here himself, though :)

I just drink vast quantities of water with my p.butter. I feel I need to do that anyway because p.butter is so salty, so, hmmm...

[okoshun.livejournal.com]

We buy all natural peanut butter (and/or grind our own peanut butter) which is vastly less salty, adding the butter actually adds a bit of saltiness to the mix as well (which I like, with the sweetness of the jam and the peanuttiness of the peanut butter).

[kightp.livejournal.com]

Yeah on the all-natural/low-salt stuff. I like stirring the oil into it, too.

Dutch?

[bondagewoodelf.livejournal.com]

The Dutch are tolerant, also with respect to peanut butter, I guess. alexilian puts butter under everything, including sandwich spread and peanet butter.

I eat my peanut butter usually over cheese, with ground-pepper-sauce (sambal) and soy sauce (ketjap) so that it's similar to 'sate-sauce' (Indonesian). But if there's no cheese I still eat it with the sambal and ketjap.

[baratron.livejournal.com]

Do you eat that conconction for breakfast? It all sounds hideously wrong to me. Mind you, I'm the person who finds European peanut butter too savoury, and only ever buys American, which is orders of magnitude sweeter. I buy Skippy mail order 12 jars at a time. I am not joking.

I still don't get the chocolate sprinkles on top of butter thing, either. Chocolate sprinkles on top of chocolate spread or peanut butter, yum. Chocolate sprinkles on top of ordinary butter? Eurgh - horrible sweet and savoury clash in mouth thing!

[jinian.livejournal.com]

Chocolate SPRINKLES on bread and butter?!

Oh yeah!

[bondagewoodelf.livejournal.com]

Standard Dutch covering for sandwiches! (called "Hagelslag", no idea why; literal translation 'whipped hail')

Hah!

[bondagewoodelf.livejournal.com]

<TONGUE CHEEK="IN">

If you're troubled by this, you're not ready to know what else I sometimes have for breakfast.

By the way, how can someone English ever by amazed what other people eat for breakfast?! ;-) If there's anything that has the mega-savourity-class in breakfast, then it's the classic English Breakfast (with salty sausages, sweet and salty beans in tomato sauce, even the veggie sausages are like that!)

</TONGUE>

Re: Hah!

[barakta]

Hmmm English Brekkie.....

I want a proper English Brekkie now.... Take my mind of peanut butter which I can't stand the smell of nevermind the taste *shudder*.

English Brekkie, like how my dad cooks it. I shall insist on English Brekkie next time I visit my dad :)

Natalya - now hungry

[thekumquat.livejournal.com]

Savoury? I regard bread and butter as neutral - if it's white bread and unsalted butter, sweet even.

I agree that Europeanutter is savoury, but that's how I like it. If you're going to mix peanuts and sugar, I want them caramelised from a street vendor.

[epi-lj.livejournal.com]

I actually put margarine on first, but there was no option for that, so I said that I put butter on first. Either way, it seems to me just a preference thing.

I've seen lots of people in both camps, but I think statistically it seems to be more common to omit the butter / margarine. Not by a huge margin though. (Your poll seems to indicate a rather more sizeable leaning than I've seen experientially.)

[kake]

Oh - if I'm having peanut-butter-and-Marmite, I use a thin spread of soya marge or butter first, because otherwise the Marmite bit doesn't work.

[bob]

marg then peanut butter. peanut butter doesnt soak into the bread as well. escpailly since i normally use crunchy peanut butter

[baratron.livejournal.com]

I think you might have just identified the point of disconnect for me. I am an ultra-fresh bread fetishist, and don't particularly like bog standard plain white sliced. I will basically only eat bread that is less than 12 hours old. I buy mini baguettes, petit pains, crusty and soft white rolls, and bloomers with poppy or sesame seeds on. If I get any of these as baked in-store (or part-baked finish at home) bread and it feels right on the outside, the inside is so soft and fluffy that there's no problem about the spread not soaking in.

Of course, this doesn't help with what Tim & Peter do - because they have a bread maker and only ever eat ultra-fresh bread too. Hmmm.

[baratron.livejournal.com]

And bagels! How could I have forgotten bagels? Bagels fresh from the bagel stand that were baked half an hour ago = Heaven!

[bob]

s/bread/toast/

i very rarely eat peanut butter on just bread. the only time is on the ends of fresh loaves.

I like peanuts but

[lovingboth]

Peanut butter - it's brown, sticky and tastes horrible. What's the only conclusion?

Peanut butter is poo!
Peanut butter is poo!
Peanut butter is poo!

Re: I like peanuts but

[meeping.livejournal.com]

No, the conclusion is that poo is peanut butter.

[wuluf.livejournal.com]

I prefer to eat peanut butter straight out of the jar with a tablespoon. But its got to be crunchy not smooth and better stil organic.

[36.livejournal.com]

I can't take peanut butter on its own, I have to spread on something else, be it margarine, chocolate spread or jam.

Ironically, I would never put margarine/butter on a sandwich otherwise (I might very lightly spread each slice with mayonaise if it was a salad sandwich). What I really don't understand is putting margarine on then putting runny cheese spread over that. Surely cheese spread provides all the functionality of margarine and tastes nicer? I suppose if it was butter that might be different, I've had butter sandwiches...

[judiff]

i eat peanut butter with gold low fat spread first not butter but i put the butter option in the poll becos that's the closest.
Peanut butter is the filling - so like you always put low fat spread/marge/butter in the bread before the filling becos that's like the rules of eating stuff on bread!
And sometimes i have peanut butter and marmite (and low fat spread) and other times i have peanut butter and choclate hazelnut spread (and low fat spread) but i never mix marmite and choclate hazelnut spread becos that would be wierd.

[meeping.livejournal.com]

It's a bit dry without butter or marge spread on the bread first. Someone mentioned eating spread directly on toast and I used to eat it that way. I don't eat toast much these days.

As for "English Brekkie", who actually eats that stuff for breakfast other than in Bed & Breakfast accommodation? I usually only eat breakfast cereals in the morning.

Having read the post I now think that you are even more strange for not putting butter on bread with jam. That is very wrong indeed! Peanut butter I can see might eliminate the need for butter, but jam, cheese or ham must be preceded by butter.

Chocolate sandwiches are also in my opinion wrong, either as spread or sprinkles. Chocolate is for snacks or deserts, but a sandwich is a lunch or tea food.