Do You Like Tuna?

Making a sandwich for lunch, my mind went on an interesting stream of consciousness.

I love tuna...mixed with mayo and usually in a sandwich but often just with sliced tomato fresh from the summer garden.

I was raised calling it 'tuna fish' i.e. "I'll have a tuna fish sandwich, please." It must be an east coast thing since I was corrected on the west coast that it is simply a 'tuna sandwich.' Saying 'fish' is redundant. [I was also informed that on the west coast, it's called a purse and not a 'pocka-book,' but that's a different story.]

My tuna fish sandwich has to be made with Chicken of the Sea tuna [yes, Jessica, it's fish not chicken] with Hellmann's mayonnaise. That's another east/west coast thing. On the west coast, the same stuff is called Best Food's mayonnaise. Even the commercials are different, "Bring out the (Hellmann's / Best Food's ) and bring out the best!" Don't believe me? Check out the label: "Known as (Hellmann's / Best Food's) (East / West) of the Rockies."

Some people add celery (absolutely not), chopped onions (depends on my mood), or pickle relish (nope, too sweet). And absolutely NO Miracle Whip! Usually on white bread, sometimes on light wheat and sometimes toasted, with iceberg lettuce but sometimes Boston bib if it's in season. Sometimes cut in half, sometimes not. Always with potato chips on the side but never with the chips in the sandwich. Dill pickles on the side, too, but their juice must not come in contact with the bread.

I recently switched from chunk light packed in oil to chunk light in water. Today, however, it's albacore. I must've bought it on sale.

I still remember going to a friend's house after school when I was about 6. Darrin's mother made us tuna fish sandwiches. I didn't like it...it just tasted funny. Looking back I think it probably had celery and Miracle Whip. I felt odd eating something that clearly wasn't 'right' but seemed oddly satisfying to everyone else. She had forgotten the lettuce, too, or maybe they couldn't afford it. Funny what goes through the mind of a young person and the things our minds choose to remember as adults.

When you think about it, a tuna fish sandwich isn't as simple as you think.

How do you enjoy your tuna?