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Sandwich

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Revision as of 02:40, 16 July 2006 by Svartalf (talk | contribs) (→Sandwich styles: delete link to a page with no relation)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff) This article is about the foodstuff. For other uses, see Sandwich (disambiguation). For the term sandwich in mathematics see the sandwich theorem or the ham sandwich theorem.
An Italian sandwich

A sandwich is a food item typically consisting of two pieces of bread between which are laid one or more layers of meat, vegetable, cheese or other fillings, together with optional or traditionally provided condiments, sauces, and other accompaniments. The bread is used as is, lightly buttered, or covered in a flavoured oil to enhance flavour and texture.

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. 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. 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), or potato chips and a pickle or coleslaw.

Variations

The term "sandwich" has been expanded—especially in the United States—to include items made with other types of bread, such as rolls and focaccia. Thus hamburgers and "subs", for example, are called "sandwiches" on the East Coast of the United States, but not in the Midwest, South or western states, or in most other English-speaking countries (since such "sandwiches" are not made with slices of bread from a loaf).

The nearest traditional Scandinavian equivalent is generally known elsewhere as an "open" or "open-face" sandwich, i.e. a single slice of bread with meat, fish, cheese, etc. as a topping, although the sandwich with two slices of bread has become more commonplace in recent times. This open-face variation is also prevalent in Russia, where it is known as a buterbrod (бутерброд, from the German word for "buttered bread"). In Norway, there is also an ice-cream called Sandwich, consisting of two square cookies with vanilla ice-cream in the middle.

In the UK, particularly in the north of England they are known, informally, as 'butties' or 'sarnies'. This is particularly the case with sandwiches including freshly-cooked bacon and butter, though other forms of 'butty' use other ingredients and mayonnaise. A sandwich filled with chips (US: french fries) is known as a 'chip butty'. In Britain roughly 1.8 billion sandwiches are purchased outside the home every year. In French countries one might see this referred to as un Belge: a Belgian (sandwich). In Scotland, sandwiches are called 'pieces'. One Australian slang term for sandwich is 'sanger' (or 'sanga'). In South Africa sandwiches are sometimes called 'sarmies'.

In the U.S., some children, and a few adults, pronounce the word sandwich as sammich, either out of difficulty pronouncing the word, or as a form of baby talk or stereotyped child's speech. Blue Collar member Larry The Cable Guy uses the pronunciation sammich in one of his bits in Blue Collar Comedy Tour: The Movie, as did Richard Pryor in a recorded routine ("God/Grandmother"). Comic strip character Dennis the Menace and his friends used the variant samwich, while comedian Dane Cook, as part of one of his routines, uses the pronunciation sangwich, most likely for gag value.

Origin

The sandwich was named after John Montagu, 4th Earl of Sandwich, an 18th-century English aristocrat, although it is unlikely to have been invented by him. Indeed a 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. However, crediting any single person with the invention of the sandwich is arguably similar to crediting someone with the invention of the wheel since they are both highly likely to have been thought of independently by different minds.

It is said that Lord Sandwich was fond of this form of food because it allowed him to continue playing cards at cribbage while eating, because he did not want to get his cards sticky, from eating meat with his bare hands. The name of the earldom comes from that of the English town of Sandwich in Kent—from the Old English Sandwic, meaning "sand place". Nowadays some types of sandwich are too unwieldy to be held in one hand, thus defeating Montagu's original purpose, and must be eaten with a knife and fork, or at least with both hands. In some countries it is considered proper to always use cutlery to eat sandwiches .

However, the generally recognised way to eat a sandwich is with one's hands. Eating a sandwich with cutlery arguably defeats the purpose of this specific food.

Examples

Sandwiches vary greatly both in their style—how they are put together—and their fillings. Not every style can be used with every filling.

Sandwich styles

Fillings

External links

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