The Buffums’ chicken salad sandwich

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Courtesy Pomona Public Library Special Collections

Each week, author Charles Phoenix sends out an e-mail with his “Slide of the Week,” featuring a vintage, and usually silly, photo rescued from someone’s collection of slides. (Sign up for his e-mails on his website.) The accompanying message describes the photo and sometimes goes off on an entertaining tangent.

Such was the case recently when Phoenix, a native of Ontario, shared a photo of a man eating a chicken sandwich in front of chicken-patterened wallpaper (!). Phoenix passed along a recipe:

“My recipe is inspired by the chicken salad sandwich that I devoured many times as a teenager lunching with friends at the oh-so-elegant Palomares Room Restaurant at Buffums’ department store in Pomona, CA.

“Their special nutty-fruity version of the Americana lunchtime classic is quite memorable. It was served on raisin bread and it had nuts I it. I would have it for lunch every time we ditched our fifth and sixth period classes to go thrift shopping in Pomona. Lunch at Buffums’ was always our first stop. And yes, the thrift shopping was always a learning experience.

“I will be using Miracle Whip to bind and enhance the flavor of all the chopped bits that make this sandwich so delicious. Miracle Whip is an Americana condiment of the highest order. Kraft Foods first introduced the mayonnaise wannabe at the 1933 Chicago Century of Progress Fair. According the legend the tangy-fatty, emulsified mystery matter is seasoned with 20 different spices. All the better to make your chicken salad sandwiches taste their best!”

His recipe, which apparently is an approximation of the Buffums’ sandwich rather than being the exact version, goes like this, in his words:

Fruity-Nutty Chicken Salad Sandwiches

8 chicken breasts baked the night before

1 cup finely chopped celery

I cup declumped raisins

I cup finely chopped walnuts meats

2 cups Miracle Whip

16 pieces of fresh buttered white bread (toasted or not)

Chop the breasts into small bite size pieces. (Careful not to make them too large because no one wants to choke on a chicken sandwich!) Mix in other ingredients and bind it together with Miracle Whip. (And NO the lo-cal version won’t ever do!) Salt and pepper and generously spread between two slices of bread. Press the palm of your hand down firmly over the sandwich to ‘glue’ it together. Slice diagonally and serve with chilled long sliced curled carrot strips and your favorite pickles.

Makes 8 sandwiches

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