Comfort food comes in all forms, especially classic egg salad sandwiches. Not only do they bring back fond memories and provide a delicious and filling meal, but you can customize them to your heart’s delight for a different twist each time. But are they always a good choice? They are a great option for an easy-to-create meal at home (and it really isn’t that hard once you’ve mastered the trick to making egg salad with zero peeling), but when you are in a restaurant, you may want to opt for something a bit fresher, namely a fried egg sandwich.
The reasons are myriad, really. It doesn’t just boil down to the freshness of an egg salad sandwich, although that is definitely a big concern. When you order egg salad, you are getting something that has likely been pre-made, and there is no telling how long that egg and mayonnaise combination has been sitting around. The FDA estimates approximately 48 million cases of foodborne illness each year, and although no restaurant should be serving you food that isn’t safe to eat, that doesn’t mean it hasn’t been sitting around longer than you would like — and it’s always wise to take food safety in your own hands.
Egg salad should be consumed within three to four days, so unless you can guarantee that it hasn’t been sitting around past its prime, you might be better off with a fried egg. It’s freshly-cooked and is just a little gooey in the center to give you that insta-worthy golden drip when you bite into it. Fried eggs pair perfectly with cheese, and even better with bacon, so your egg salad alternative has just taken your lunch to all new levels of culinary decadence.
Food safety isn’t your only concern
If you’re worried about egg salad in a restaurant, you’ll definitely want to avoid more questionable locations, like gas stations and airports. We certainly aren’t recommending something like gas station sushi as an alternative (and there are several other food items you should never buy at gas stations), nor are we saying the egg salad is sure to be sitting there long enough to be dangerous. However, it still may not be your smartest choice. Even if that egg salad isn’t past its prime, the fact remains that it has been sitting there, pre-made with the creamy mayonnaise layered between sliced bread. The bread can get mushy, and the soggy result is less than ideal for getting the perfect mouthfeel you expect when you bite into a sandwich. Unless that egg salad is separated from the bread, grab a bag of chips to tide you over until you can get someplace for a fresh egg sandwich.
At home, be sure to remember the time limit for your egg salad, or you can take the easy way out and opt for a different option. Vintage recipes are all the rage, so you can always go for an old-school egg sandwich from 1901 that simply layers pieces of hard-boiled egg with other delicious sandwich fillings. The beauty of doing it yourself (or having a chef make it to order) is that you can explore fun recipes and let your creativity run wild — not to mention get things made just the way you like. The egg certainly doesn’t have to be fried; you can go for folded, scrambled, over hard, or even a delicately poached egg for the perfect mouthwatering sandwich.
