The hoagie. The Tuna Melt. The Roast Beef. What do these things have in common? All are sandwiches and all share a common ancestry to the Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwich. That is, the P. B. and J.

Perhaps the most common sandwich in existence, the PBJ delivers a unique taste seldom found in many meals by combining the contrasting tastes of sweet, creamy peanut butter with tart, grape jelly. The complexity behind such an ingenious meal lies hidden beneath its simplicity.

Creating You Own PBJ

Selecting the correct ingredients for you PBJ is, perhaps, the easiest and therefore most fouled up and disregarded step of the Peanut Butter and Jelly process.

The Bread

Now the sandwich itself must be first expresed through the bread which it is placed on. The type and consistency of the chosen bread is left largely up to one's own personal interpretations, but a few basic guidelines are as follows.

-No white bread. It is a common misconception that the PBJ is to be correctly constructed on a base of plain, unimaginative white bread. The first problem with white bread comes from the color scheme. The brown Peanut Butter, against the purple Jelly, on top of the pure as snow White Bread is far too contrasting of a color scheme to ever appear appetising or indeed artistic.¹ Also, most types of white bread contain an extra amount of sugar throwing off the taste scheme created by the PB and J.
-Subtlety. The bread is not the sandwich. It is made to contain the sandwich. No one ever made a PB and J on a fancy baguette or thin slice of deli bread. This only detracts from the sandwich and is usually much more expensive. Also, remain far away from Rye Bread. The sharp, sour taste has no place in the PBJ. Typically, a good loaf of the honey wheat variety serves its purpose well.

The Peanut Butter

The selection of Peanut Butter is a much simpler step in the process. For the most part, most kinds of Peanut Butter are the same. Personally, I stick with creamy, but chunky PB and J's are not unheard of. A caution, though, stay away, at all costs from the "next gen" varieties of Peanut Butter. This includes Recees, Chocolate, and nearly any other degregation which may have sprung up. These products are a sacrilege to the PB and J. And *DO NOT* ever consider, even for a moment, the prospect of buying Peanut Butter and Jelly mixed in the same jar. This causes massive consistency failures in the sandwich due to the two products differing storage temperatures. These poor attempts at higher efficiency either cause the Jelly to be too runny, or the Peanut Butter to be too hard. And whats more, often these products use lesser quality Jelly (contains too much sugar) another danger to the highly balanced taste equilibrium of the PBJ.

The Jelly

Now, the Jelly should be selected for the express purpose of creating a Peanut Butter and Jelly sandwich. Too often do people buy a poorer variation of Jelly with the intent to use it on other, non PBJ, meals, such as toast or bagels. This can lead to a compromise in the quality of Jelly and ultimately a failure of the correct PBJ. The Jelly is usually, but not restricted to, the grape variety, being stored in a cool environment after being opened and should not be too runny or watered down.

Putting it all Together

Now comes the actual creation of the PB and J sandwich. Select two peices of your bread which are of a soft feel and are preferably not moldy. Using a knife, spread your Peanut Butter on one side of both pieces of bread. Under NO circumstances can Jelly be allowed to touch the bread. This causes a massive consistency failure on multiple levels. First off, the cold Jelly, upon meeting the room temperature bread, can cause too high a temperature differential, thereby affecting the consistency of the Jelly.² Also, the bread absoarbs moisture from the Jelly, causing the Jelly to lost it's form and giving the bread a very spongy texture. Correctly done, the Peanut Butter should evenly cover both inner surfaces of the sandwich, with a solid layer of Jelly in between. Do not go too overboard with the Jelly. It has a stronger taste and is meant to be used with some restraint. Finally, combine the two slices of bread to effectively seal the union of flavor, consistency, and value.

The only step left in the Peanut Butter and Jelly process is to sit back and enjoy. Consuming a PBJ is like taking part in a little piece of history. Why, you're practically bumping elbows with the viking kings of old who, as legend holds, would burn entire villages for a good jar of Jelly.

Bon apetite!