Sandwich

For other uses, see Sandwich (disambiguation).

A salami sandwich

A sandwich is a food item, typically consisting of two or more slices of bread with one or more fillings between them, or one slice of bread with a topping or toppings, commonly called an open sandwich. Sandwiches are a widely popular type of lunch food, typically taken to work or school, or picnics to be eaten as part of a packed lunch. They generally contain a combination of salad vegetables, meat, cheese, and a variety of sauces or savoury spreads. The bread can be used as it is, or it can be coated with any condiments to enhance flavor and texture. They are widely sold in restaurants and cafes.

History

English Sandwiches

Sandwich with fried egg, tomato and cucumber

Bread has been eaten with any meat or vegetables since Neolithic times. For example, the ancient Jewish sage Hillel the Elder is said to have placed meat from the Paschal lamb and bitter herbs between two pieces of matzah (or flat, unleavened bread) during Passover. 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 or to beggars, or eaten by the diner. Trenchers were the precursors of open-face sandwiches. The immediate cultural precursor with a direct connection to the English sandwich was to be found in the Netherlands of the 17th century, where the naturalist John Ray observed 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.

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.

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 meal at supper. By the early 20th century, as bread became a staple of the United States diet, the sandwich became the same kind of popular, quick meal as was widespread in the Mediterranean.

Etymology

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'. 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 he ordered his valet to bring him meat tucked between two pieces of bread, and because Montagu also happened to be the Fourth Earl of Sandwich, others began to order "the same as Sandwich!" 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.

The rumour in its familiar form appeared in Pierre-Jean Grosley's Londres (Neichatel, 1770), translated as A Tour to London 1772; 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.

In India

When the British first introduced the sandwich in India, the Indians called them double roti (डब्ल रोटी). This term has today become the broad term for all type of leavened bread even not put in a sandwich arrangement.

Usage

The term sandwich is occasionally used (informally) in reference to open-faced sandwiches; these normally consist of a single slice of bread topped with meat, salad vegetables, and various condiments. These differ from a normal sandwich in that they have a single slice of bread instead of two, with toppings instead of a filling. The open-faced sandwich also has a history differing from that of the true sandwich, having originated between the 6th and 16th centuries, with stale slices of bread used as plates called "Trenchers" (whereas its relative, the modern sandwich, traces its roots to the Earl of Sandwich instead).

In the United States, a court in Boston, Massachusetts ruled that "sandwich" includes at least two slices of bread. and "under this definition and as dictated by common sense, this court finds that the term "sandwich" is not commonly understood to include burritos, tacos, and quesadillas, which are typically made with a single tortilla and stuffed with a choice filling of meat, rice, and beans." The issue was whether a restaurant which sold burritos could move into a shopping center where another restaurant had a no-compete clause in its lease prohibiting other "sandwich" shops.

In Spain, where the word sandwich is borrowed from the English language, it refers to a food item made with English sandwich bread.

The verb to sandwich has the meaning to position anything between two other things of a different character, or to place different elements alternately, and the noun sandwich has related meanings derived from this more general definition. For example, an ice cream sandwich consists of a layer of ice cream between two layers of cake or cookie. Similarly, Oreos and Custard Creams are described as sandwich cookies because they consist of a soft filling between layers of cookie.

The word "butty" is often used in Northern areas of the United Kingdom as a synonym for "sandwich," particularly in the name of certain kinds of sandwiches such as a chip butty, bacon butty, or sausage butty. "Sarnie" is a similar colloquialism, as is the Australian English colloquialism "sanger".

List of regional sandwich styles

Some of these are distinguished primarily by the bread or method of preparation, rather than the filling.

• Bacon sandwich (UK) sandwich made from strips of bacon
• Bánh Mì (Vietnam) pickled carrots and daikon, meats and fillings on a baguette
• Barros Jarpa (Chile) melted cheese and fried ham
• Barros Luco (Chile) melted cheese and thin fried beef
• Bauru (Brazil) melted cheese and roast beef
• Beef on weck (USA, Buffalo) roast beef and horseradish on a Kaiser roll topped with pretzel salt and caraway seeds
• BLT (UK/USA/Australia) bacon, lettuce, and tomato
• Bocadillo (ES) often shortened as "bocata", sliced bread with a wide variety of ingredients
• Bombay Sandwich (India) Sliced tomatoes, onions, cucumber with spicy mint chutney
• Breakfast Roll (UK/Ireland) meats, butter and sauces on a bread roll
• Breville (UK, Australia, South Africa) A sealed toasted sandwich made in a specially designed sandwich toaster.
• Bun Kabab (Pakistan) spicy patty, onions, and chutney on a bun
• California Club sandwich (USA, California) turkey, avocado, lettuce, and tomato
• Caprese (Italy) mozzarella, tomato, fresh basil
• Cheesesteak (USA, Philadelphia) sandwich made from strips of steak and cheese, sometimes with peppers and onions
• Chimichurris (Dominican Republic) a sandwich made from pork, beef, and sometimes chicken with mayonnaise/ketchup sauce
• Chip butty (UK) chips
• Chivito (Uruguay) steak, ham, and cheese
• Choripán (Argentina/Uruguay/Chile) grilled chorizo
• Club sandwich (USA) turkey, bacon, lettuce, and tomato
• Crisp sandwich (UK) uses crisps
• Croque-monsieur (France) ham and cheese
• Cuban sandwich (Cuba/South Florida) ham, Swiss cheese, pickled peppers, and roasted pork
• Cucumber sandwich (England) cucumber between two thin slices of crustless, lightly buttered white bread
• Dagwood (USA) distinguished by size more than contents
• Denver or Western sandwich (USA and Canada) omelette based filling
• Döner kebab (Turkey) doner kebab served in pita bread or half of a loaf of bread
• Elvis sandwich (USA) fried sandwich containing peanut butter, bananas, and bacon
• Fluffernutter (USA, New England), combination of peanut butter and marshmallow
• Francesinha (Portugal) made with wet-cured ham, linguiça, other sausages and meat, covered with melted cheese and beer sauce
• French dip sandwich (USA), also known as a beef dip, is a hot sandwich consisting of thinly sliced roast beef (or, sometimes, other meats) on a "French roll" or baguette. It is most commonly served au jus.
• Grilled cheese (USA/British Commonwealth (as Cheese Toastie)) fried or broiled sandwich consisting of melted cheese between slices of buttered bread.
• Hamburger (Germany, USA) ground meat patty in a round bun, usually served with some combination of tomato, onion, lettuce, pickle, mustard, and mayonnaise
• Horseshoe (USA, Springfield, IL) an open sandwich topped with French fries and cheese sauce
• Hot Brown (USA, Kentucky) open-face sandwich of meat, Mornay sauce or cheese
• Italian beef (USA, Chicago) thin slices of seasoned roast beef, dripping with meat juices, on a dense, long Italian-style roll
• Melt sandwich, Tuna melt, Patty melt, etc.—filling includes melted cheese
• Monte Cristo (USA) a fried ham and/or turkey sandwich
• Mother-in-law (Chicago area) fast food staple that features a Mississippi tamale in a hot dog bun and smothered with chili
• Muffuletta (New Orleans) based on Sicilian bread
• Panino (Italy) salami, ham, cheese, mortadella or other food on a ciabatta
• Peanut butter and jelly (North America)
• Ploughmans (UK) sandwich compromising of cheese, pickle, tomato, lettuce and onion
• Printzesa (Bulgaria) slice of bread with ground pork/veal, kashkaval, feta or combination and broiled
• Porilainen (Finland) a bread with thick slice of sausage
• Rachel (USA) also referred to as the "Turkey Reuben"; coleslaw with Swiss cheese, 1000 Island or Russian dressing, and sliced turkey
• Reuben (USA) sauerkraut with Swiss cheese, 1000 Island or Russian dressing, and corned beef or pastrami
• Rou jia mo (China) stewed and spiced pork in a thick flat bread
• Roti john (Singapore/Malaysia) omelette sandwich
• Roast beef (USA/England) made with roast beef, tomatoes, lettuce, cheese, and mayonnaise
• Sandwich loaf (USA) a large multi-layer sandwich made to look like a cake
• Sandwiches de miga (Argentina) tea-time sandwiches on crust-less white bread
• Shawarma (Middle East) shaved lamb, goat, and/or turkey, rolled inside a taboon bread
• Sincronizada (Mexico) a tortilla-based sandwich.
• Smoked Meat (Quebec, Canada)
• Sloppy Joe (USA) based on ground beef and flavorings
• Smörgåstårta (Sweden) variety of "sandwich cake"
• Steak sandwich (Australia) containing a small fried fillet steak, lettuce, tomato, cheese, fried onion and barbecue sauce, generally toasted and sold at traditional snack bars.
• Submarine (USA) also known as sub, grinder, hero, hoagie, Italian sandwich, po' boy, wedge, zep, torpedo or roll
• Strammer Max (Germany) a hot sandwich, sometimes with side food; regionally a pub food without bread
• Tea sandwich Small sandwiches for afternoon tea
• Tramezzino (Italy) tea sandwich
• Torta (Mexico) various ingredients on a crusty roll
• Vada Pav (India) Buns smothered with mint, green chilli and tamarind chutney - stuffed with crispy mashed potato dumplings seasoned with mustard seeds and coriander.
• Vegemite (Australia) butter and vegemite often with slices of cheese
• Wurstbrot (Germany) sliced sausage on bread
• She't foul (Egypt) a native baked bread with beans and special spices.

Gallery

• 
  Club sandwich
• 
  Croque monsieur French ham and cheese.
• 
  Peanut butter and jelly sandwich
• 
  A Philly cheese steak, a type of submarine sandwich.
• 
  Reuben sandwich
• 
  Smoked meat sandwich
• 
  French bread sandwich with fries.
• Example of uncommonly large sandwich. Weight approx. 2lbs., total.
  Example of uncommonly large sandwich. Weight approx. 2lbs., total.
• 
  Sandwich making
• 
  Shawarma sandwich

External links

• The British Sandwich Association

The Church of the Astral Delicatessen