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A sandwich is a food item typically consisting of two pieces of leavened bread between which are laid one or more layers of meat, vegetable, cheese or jam, together with optional or traditionally provided condiments, sauces, and other accompaniments. The bread can be used as is, lightly buttered, or covered in a flavored oil to enhance flavor and texture. It is named after the 4th Earl of Sandwich.
Sandwiches are commonly carried to work or school in lunchboxes or brown paper bags (in sandwich bags) to be eaten as the midday meal, taken on picnics, hiking trips, or other outings. In some parts of the world, they are also served in many restaurants as entrées, and are sometimes eaten at home, either as a quick meal or as part of a larger meal. When eaten as part of a full meal sandwiches are traditionally accompanied with such side dishes as a serving of soup (soup-and-sandwich), a salad (salad-and-sandwich), french fries/chips, potato chips/crisps and a pickle or coleslaw. A new trend appearing is making sandwiches into wraps, in which a tortilla is substituted for the bread. According to a recent court ruling in the United States, a sandwich must have two slices of bread and not one tortilla [1]
The Sandwich—a Word with Nefarious, Blasphemous, and Corrupt Origins?
The sandwich, which is most popular with world-wide eaters, functions as a noun or a verb and usually prefers to have its name pronounced as SAND wich. Besides the more obvious occupation of being something edible between two or more slices of bread, metaphorically speaking, it also likes to squeeze in between two other people, places, things, materials, etc.; as, he is willing to sandwich an appointment in between two other meetings or her car was sandwiched between two other cars in the parking lot.
The most popular perspective regarding the origin of the word sandwich, which we use today, is that it was born in London during the very late hours one night in 1762 when an English nobleman, John Montagu, the Fourth Earl of Sandwich (1718-1792), was too busy gambling to stop for a meal even though he was hungry for some food.
The legend goes that he ordered a waiter to bring him roast-beef between two slices of bread. The Earl was able to continue his gambling while eating his snack; and from that incident, we have inherited that quick-food product that we now know as the sandwich.
The Earl apparently had the meat put on slices of bread so he wouldn’t get his fingers greasy while he was playing cards. It’s strange that the name of this "sex fiend" should have gone down in history connected to such an innocent article of diet.
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 bread) during Passover. The filling between the matzos served as a reminder to Israelites of their forced labor constructing Egyptian buildings. For this reason, Romans referred to the meal as a "cibus Hilleli," or Hillel's Snack. [2] During the Middle Ages, thick slabs of coarse 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 the harbingers of open-face sandwiches.[3]
The first written usage of the word 'sandwich' appeared in Edward Gibbon's journal, in longhand, referring to "bits of cold meat" as a 'Sandwich.' It was named after the 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 sticky from eating meat with his bare hands. An alternative theory suggests he may have spent long hours at his desk working and therefore wanted a sandwich, also to eat with his bare hands (see External links).
The Earldom refers to the English town of Sandwich in Kent — from the Old English Sandwic, meaning "sand place".
Sandwiches vary greatly both in their style—how they are put together—and in their fillings. Not every style is used with every filling.