While sandwiches are traditionally made with two breads and a filling in the center, sandwiches without the top bread can also be served. This type of sandwich is aptly called open face or open faced sandwich. Since it does not have the other bread to hold down the filling completely, the open faced sandwich is usually eaten with a knife and fork, especially those with hefty fillings and garnishing.
According to The Nibble, a specialty food magazine published online, there was a time when the open-faced sandwiches with beef, chicken and turkey were popular. Even the grilled cheese sandwich, in its original incarnation, was open-face as per The Nibble.
Perhaps the most loyal to the open-faced sandwich is the Danish who calls this type of sandwich as smorrebrod (also spelled as smørrebrød). “Smorrebrod usually use buttered rye bread as a base for any variety of creative and delicious ingredients: smoked fish, eggs, vegetables, sausage and other meats,” as described in The Nibble.
You can make almost any sandwich open face by removing the top and just working on the bottom bread. You can slap together the filling and bottom bread or be more mindful of how you arrange the elements together since there is no bread to hide what’s inside. The more pleasing your layering of the exposed fillings are, the more beautiful is your open-faced sandwich. Perhaps ultimately, aside from satisfying hunger, this type of sandwich is meant to satisfy the visual sense as well.
There are types of open faced sandwiches which are carefully designed to look like fun sandwiches with faces, flowers, animals, and the like as the shape and décor. Kids love them as a snack or for school. Other examples of open-faced sandwiches include the Italian bruschetta, the open faced pizza sub, hot brown (with mornay sauce), bread with Welsh rarebit, and fried egg with asparagus.
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