Image Source : CNN / Jim Nowak
Despite all of our worldly excess , the sandwich is proof that at our core , citizenry are matter-of-fact . Before the full term “ sandwich ” was coined , this portable food was simply called “ meat on gelt , ” which honestly does n’t have quite the same ring to it . Hot or stale , mouth-watering or sweet , finger - food or foot - long , this layered culinary staple fibre is n’t leaving the world ’s corporate menu anytime soon . In honor of National Sandwich day , November 3rd , here ’s a look at how the history of the sandwich stack up :
Any way you slice it , the origin of the sandwich is unmanageable to trace . There are , however , several mass throughout ancient history who have been seen with one in their hands ( and lip ) . The first record was Hillel the Elder , a prominent Judaic rabbi who live around the 1st century , BC . When not crafting the Golden Rule , Hillel is believe to have placed a miscellany of hack nut , spiciness , apples , and wine ( somehow ) between two matzos , which were to be feed with bitter herbs . It seems that he was the first person to have a sandwich constitute after him : Hillel ’s concoction became so deep-seated in the watching of Passover that the food became know as a “ Hillel sandwich . ”
Image Source: CNN/Jim Nowak
Hillel the Elder , integrating wine-coloured into sandwiches since the 1st century . Image Source : yin and yanglican
During the Middle Ages ( between the sixth and sixteenth century A.D. ) multitude ate not from plates , but blocks of stale bread know as trenchers . Among other food for thought , meats with sauce were stack on top of the trencher and eat on with the finger . The trencher would dowse up the superfluous succus due to its wooden-headed and absorbent texture , and would be eaten if the buffet car was still hungry at the ending of the meal . Otherwise , the trencher was either throw forth or commit to the pitiful .
The sandwich did n’t become thesandwichuntil the 18th one C . In the middle of a 24 - hour gambling event , the story goes that Fourth Earl of Sandwich John Montagu want to be able to stay on betting without take a luncheon break . He had previously visit the Mediterranean , where he saw the pita shekels and little canape service by the Greeks and Turks . Montagu apprise an aide to put together a similar repast for him that could be eaten with one hand , leaving him able-bodied to cover his play fling .
Hillel the Elder, integrating wine into sandwiches since the 1st century. Image Source:yin and yanglican
John Montagu , the Earl of Sandwich and play enthusiast . Image Source : Delicious account
Though the Montagu did n’t technically invent the sandwich , he gets the acknowledgment for making it pop and – in a direction – name it . In the bookSandwich : A Global History , author Bee Wilson writes that people soon began ordering “ the same as Sandwich , ” which later on was abbreviate to merely ordering a “ sandwich . ”
Who , then , put in the sandwich to America ? It was potential Englishwoman Elizabeth Leslie , who in her 1850 cookbookDirections for Cookery , In Its Various Branches , suggested * gasp * serving a jambon sandwich as a principal beauty . In her direction , Leslie write : “ write out some thin slices of bread very neatly , having slightly buttered them ; and , if you prefer , spread on a very little leaf mustard . Have ready some very thin slices of cold boiled ham , and lay one between two slice of bread . You may either roll them up , or lay them flat on the plates . They are used at supper or at luncheon . ”
John Montagu, the Earl of Sandwich and gambling enthusiast. Image Source:Delicious History
Elizabeth Leslie , cookbook generator and ham sandwich preach Image Source : Revolutionary Pie
The final layer in the history of the sandwich is thanks to Otto Rohwedder of Davenport , Iowa , who in the 1920s invented the lettuce slice motorcar . Rohwedder ’s invention made living easier for housewives the man over , finally spawning the phrase “ the bang-up thing since slit wampum . ” Even so , 23 years after this magical contraption made its debut , U.S. Food Administrator Claude Wickard banned the sales event of pre - sliced dough . Citing wartime shortages , Wickard mean it ask too much packaging . The ban did n’t last long , though : the banning was lifted three months later . formally , this had to with Wickard overvalue the nest egg such a banning would produce , but in reality it likely had much to do with rough public cry .
tight forwards to the 21st century . Now the sandwich has its official name and its pre - shredded bread . It also has some prettyodd — if not entirely unappetizing — incarnation :
Elizabeth Leslie, cookbook author and ham sandwich advocate Image Source:Revolutionary Pie
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Brits love to layer their carbs, as can be seen with a creation called the “chip butty.” Chips, being fried potatoes, are combined with “butty”, or butter, to create what the UK Food Network has described as an “alluringly bland” sandwich.
