I'll always remember this classic show for introducing me to the term "Watercress sandwiches" eaten by Milton Armitage. Who'd have ever suspected that he would move-on to become a great actor? Sadly, I've never tasted a watercress sandwich. Is it any good? Does the aristocracy really eat this?
share... a watercress sandwich. Is it any good? Does the aristocracy really eat this?I've eaten them before and they aren't especially tasty. The snob appeal is that watercress is one of the most expensive greens you can buy.
Warren Beatty as a 'great actor' is definitely debatable. I've always felt he was phenomenally out of touch, pretty much throughout his entire career.
As for the watercress sandwich, I've always felt it was much more memorable on the Elsa Lanchester episode of Lucy when that was all she had for them to eat and she wouldn't stop anywhere for lunch.
Lucy compared it to buttered grass. I've always thought she had a line about liking it, "sure if you're a cow," but it seems I fabricated it.
Apparently the aristocracy also eats cucumber sandwiches. I've never eaten either kind, but they sound like a "tea-time" item to me, so perhaps they're more common in the UK. American snobs are famous for adopting UK traditions (e.g., spelling color with a "u"), and sometimes perhaps even things that they merely think are UK traditions.