Sand

A
sandwich is a food typically consisting of vegetables, sliced cheese or meat, placed on or between
slices of bread, or more generally any dish wherein bread serves as a container or wrapper for
another food type.[1][2][3] The sandwich began as a portable, convenient finger food in the Western
world, though over time it has become prevalent worldwide.
In the 21st century there has been considerable debate over the precise definition of sandwich, and
specifically whether a hot dog or open sandwich can be categorized as such. In the United States,
the Department of Agriculture and the Food and Drug Administration are the responsible agencies.
The USDA uses the definition, "at least 35% cooked meat and no more than 50% bread" for closed
sandwiches, and "at least 50% cooked meat" for open sandwiches.[4] In Britain, the British Sandwich
Association defines a sandwich as "any form of bread with a filling, generally assembled cold", a
definition which includes wraps and bagels, but excludes dishes assembled and served hot, such
as burgers.[5]
Sandwiches are a popular type of lunch food, taken to work, school, or picnics to be eaten as part of
a packed lunch. The bread may be plain or be coated with condiments, such
as mayonnaise or mustard, to enhance its flavour and texture. As well as being homemade,
sandwiches are also widely sold in various retail outlets and can be served hot or cold.[6][7] There are
both savoury sandwiches, such as deli meat sandwiches, and sweet sandwiches, such as a peanut
butter and jelly sandwich.
The sandwich is named after its supposed inventor, John Montagu, 4th Earl of Sandwich.[8][9] The Wall
Street Journal has described it as Britain's "biggest contribution to gastronomy".[10]
History
The modern concept of a sandwich using slices of bread as found within the West can arguably be
traced to 18th-century Europe. However, the use of some kind of bread or bread-like substance to lie
under (or under and over) some other food, or used to scoop up and enclose or wrap some other
type of food, long predates the eighteenth century, and is found in numerous much older cultures
worldwide.
The ancient Jewish sage Hillel the Elder is said to have wrapped meat from the Paschal
lamb and bitter herbs in a soft matzah—flat, unleavened bread—during Passover in the manner of a
modern wrap made with flatbread.[11] Flat breads of only slightly varying kinds have long been used to
scoop or wrap small amounts of food en route from platter to mouth throughout Western Asia and
northern Africa. From Morocco to Ethiopia to India, bread is usually baked in flat rounds, contrasting
with the European loaf tradition.
During the Middle Ages in Europe, thick slabs of coarse and usually stale bread, called "trenchers,"
were used as plates.[12] After a meal, the food-soaked trencher was fed to a dog or to beggars at the
tables of the wealthy, and eaten by diners in more modest circumstances. The immediate culinary
precursor with a direct connection to the English sandwich was to be found in the Netherlands of the
seventeenth century, where the naturalist John Ray observed[13][14] 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, open-faced sandwich, was
as yet unfamiliar in England.
Initially perceived as food that 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 is
named after John Montagu, 4th Earl of Sandwich, an eighteenth-century English aristocrat.[8][9] It is
commonly said that Lord Sandwich, during long sessions of cribbage and other card games at
public gambling houses, would order his valet to bring him salt beef between two pieces of toasted
bread. He was fond of this form of food because it allowed him to continue gambling while eating,
without the need for a fork, and without getting his cards greasy from eating meat with his bare
hands. The dish then grew in popularity in London, and Sandwich's name became associated with it.
[8]
The rumour in its familiar form appeared in Pierre-Jean Grosley's Londres (Neuchâtel, 1770),
translated as A Tour to London in 1772;[15] Grosley's impressions had been formed during a year in
London in 1765.
An alternative is provided by Sandwich's biographer, N. A. M. Rodger, who suggests Sandwich's
commitments to the Navy, and to politics and the arts, mean the first sandwich was more likely to
have been consumed at his desk.
The sandwich's popularity in Spain and England increased dramatically during the nineteenth
century, when the rise of industrial society and the working classes made fast, portable, and
inexpensive meals essential.[16] In London, for example, at least seventy street vendors were selling
ham sandwiches by 1850; during that decade sandwich bars also became an important form of
eating establishment in western Holland, typically serving liver and salt beef sandwiches.[17]
In the US, the sandwich was first promoted as an elaborate meal at supper. 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 already widespread in the Mediterranean.[16]

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