Sandwich

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

For other uses, see Sandwich (disambiguation).
Club Sandwich
Club Sandwich
French bread sandwich with chips
French bread sandwich with chips
Sandwich making
Sandwich making
Submarine sandwich
Submarine sandwich

A sandwich is a food item made of two or more slices of leavened bread with one or more layers of filling, typically meat or cheese, with the addition of vegetables or salad. The bread can be used as is, or it can be coated with butter, oil, mustard or other condiments to enhance flavor and texture. In North American usage, sandwich may also refer to what is more commonly referred to in the rest of the world as a hamburger.

Contents

[edit] History

The first form of sandwich is attributed to the ancient Jewish sage Hillel the Elder, who is said to have put meat from the Paschal lamb and bitter herbs inside matzo (or flat,unleavened bread) during Passover. The filling between the matzos served as a reminder to Israelites of their forced labor constructing Egyptian buildings.

During the Middle Ages, thick slabs of coarse and usually stale bread, called "trenchers", were used as plates. After a meal, the food-soaked trencher was fed to a dog, less fortunate beggars, or eaten by the diner. Trenchers were as much the harbingers of open-face sandwiches[1] as they were of disposable dishware. The immediate cultural precursor with a direct connection to the English sandwich was to be found in seventeenth-century Holland, where the naturalist John Ray observed[2] that in the taverns beef hung from the rafters "which they cut into thin slices and eat with bread and butter laying the slices upon the butter"— explanatory specifications that reveal the Dutch belegde broodje was as yet unfamiliar in England.

The first written usage of the English word appeared in Edward Gibbon's journal, in longhand, referring to "bits of cold meat" as a 'Sandwich'.[3] It was named after John Montagu, 4th Earl of Sandwich, an 18th-century English aristocrat, although he was neither the inventor nor sustainer of the food. It is said that Lord Sandwich was fond of this form of food because it allowed him to continue playing cards, particularly cribbage, while eating without getting his cards greasy from eating meat with his bare hands.[4]

The rumour in its familiar form appeared in Pierre Jean Grosley's Londres (Neichatel, 1770), translated as A Tour to London 1772;[5] Grosley's impressions had been formed during a year in London, 1765. The sober alternative is provided by Sandwich's biographer, N.A.M. Rodger, who suggests Sandwich's commitments to the navy, to politics and the arts mean the first sandwich was more likely to have been consumed at his desk.

It is also possible that Sandwich's wife's sister's husband, Jerome de Salis, who was born in the Grisons Republic of Switzerland, taught him about sandwiches.

If it was initially perceived as food men shared while gaming and drinking at night, the sandwich slowly began appearing in polite society as a late-night meal among the aristocracy. The sandwich's popularity in Spain and England increased dramatically during the 19th century, when the rise of an industrial society and the working classes made fast, portable, and inexpensive meals essential.[6]

It was at the same time that the sandwich finally began to appear outside of Europe. In the United States, the sandwich was first promoted as an elaborate supper meal. By the early 20th century, as bread became a staple of the American diet, the sandwich became the same kind of popular, quick meal as was widespread in the Mediterranean.[7]

[edit] Usage

Sandwiches are commonly carried to work, school or picnics to be eaten as the midday meal as part of a packed lunch. They are generally made of a combination of vegetables, meat, and/or a variety of sauces. They are widely sold in restaurants and cafes. They are popular throughout the world.

[edit] List of regional sandwich styles

Some of these are distinguished primarily by the bread or method of preparation, rather than the filling. The list does not include single-ingredient sandwiches although there are references to many on Wikipedia.

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ What's Cooking America, Sandwiches, History of Sandwiches. February 2, 2007.
  2. ^ Ray, Observations topographical, moral, & physiological; made in a journey through part of the Low Countries, Germany, Italy, and France... (vol. I, 1673) quoted in Simon Schama, The Embarrassment of Riches (1987:152).
  3. ^ OED gives its appearance as 1762.
  4. ^ Sandwiches: History of Sandwiches
  5. ^ Grosley, Londres (Neuchatel, 1770) and A Tour to London, or, New observations on England and its inhabitants, translated from the French by Thomas Nugent (London : Printed for Lockyer Davis) 1772; Hexmasters Faktoider: Sandwich: English quotes from Grosley 1772
  6. ^ Encyclopedia of Food and Culture, Solomon H. Katz, editor (Charles Scribner's Sons: New York) 2003
  7. ^ Encyclopedia of Food and Culture, Solomon H. Katz, editor (Charles Scribner's Sons: New York) 2003

[edit] External links

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