Who doesn't love a good sandwich? Especially in the summer, sat outside with a glass of wine, a cold beer or cup of tea. Personally I prefer a good crusty bread, after all that is where the flavour of the bread comes from. Give me a good baguette, focaccia, ciabatta or farmhouse loaf anytime over the mass produced, cotton wool textured sliced loaf. But if the filling is great, the company is better, I can forgive any bread ;-)
The origin of the sandwich, its name and creation is said to have come about by a staff member of the 4th Earl of Sandwich; John Montague (1718 - 1792). The Earl was a reknown gambler and often ate at the table. So a staff member put meat between bread, to keep his fingers clean (an interesting quick bio of the Earl can be found on Wikipedia), The first known use of the term, as far as I am aware was in the journals of Edward Gibbon, an English historian in the 18th century.
While it always makes for a great story, the Earl might have lent his name to the 'humble sandwich' but the serving and eating of foods with or in bread probably pre-dates this by centuries. Indeed serving food on bread was the norm in the dark ages, these plates or bowls made from bread were called tranchers, from which we derive the term 'trencherman', a person who eats and drinks to excess, a glutton or gourmand (not to be confused with a gourmet, who appreciates good food). I suppose this was a pre-cursor to the open sandwich, where foods are placed on bread, instead of between it and ate with a knife and a fork, instead of with the fingers.
This tradition is still held today, with dishes like the South African bunny chow; a hollowed out loaf fiulled with curried meat. In San Fransisco I have also had a type of seafood chowder served in a hollowed out brioche, the name of which escapes me at time of typing
There are of course many types of sandwich, and I don't just mean fillings, but the way they are served. That is of course if you think of a sandwich as foods served in or on bread and not just 'sandwiched' between two slices. These include (and that does not include the colloquial terms, like sarnie, butty, sanger etc)
the Italian pizza
the Italian muffuletta
the Spanish bocadillo
the American Sloppy Joe
the American hamburger
the S.A. bunny chow - see above
the Scandanavian open sandwich
the Mexican buriitos, quesadillas etc
the sub or hoagie - which we all know these days from the american subway franchise
the po' boy, one of my favourites on visits to New Orleans - deep fried, breadcrumbed oysters served in a baguette
panini - which literally translates from Italian as 'small bread'
doner kebab
wraps
afternoon tea sandwiches
pinwheels
doorstops
In the coming weeks I will be sharing recipes for my top 20 sandwiches, for you to enjoy this summer and here are a few you might like to enjoy over the weekend in the meantime ..............
