Cream Cheese And Olive Sandwiches Are Nauseatingly Delicious

If a child were to be left in command of a sandwich shop, the bread would likely be smeared with chocolate, stuffed with candy, or doused in sugary syrups — in any case, good old sammies would go from a simple, sophisticated snack to a mass of sweet goo. 

Though these child-run businesses may not exist, it turns out that there is an adult version of sickly sandwiches, and it contains olives and cream cheese. This is an uncomplicated creation: cream cheese and slices of olives — simply sliced or chopped and mixed with the cheese — sandwiched into soft white bread. But, other than to fans of strong smells and tastes, olive and cream cheese sandwiches are probably a controversial prospect. 

Finding the person responsible for creating the dish is difficult — probably because many sandwich connoisseurs are desperate to take the credit. One of the few places that promotes selling the delicacy is Leopold's in Savannah, Georgia, which claims to have been making such sandwiches since 1919. Before that, it may have existed as a Southern cream cheese and olive spread that could be served at any celebratory affair (provided the olives were pimiento-stuffed).

So, if cream cheese and olive sandwiches are 100 years old, why is social media getting such an appetite for them today?

Apparently forgotten within the musty confines of history, cream cheese and olive sandwiches were once a major aspect of many people's culinary upbringing, judging by the response to a photo of the dish that was uploaded to Instagram in 2023. In the comments of the photo, showing the fillings bursting out of the limits of the sandwich, people reminisced about eating the outlandish sandwich during their childhoods, with one person recalling a memory of it from 1950. Newcomers were just desperate to unleash the extreme cheesiness onto their taste buds.

The ingredients are very easy to buy, but finding the sandwich made up and ready to eat is challenging. Aside from Leopold's, cream cheese and olive sandwiches are also on the menu at S&P, a sandwich shop in New York. If you're nowhere near those places, taking a trip to an independent sandwich shop could be your best bet to satisfy your craving. Otherwise, grab a jar of olives (pitted green ones are preferred), a loaf of bread, and a block of cream cheese.