BS: 250 yr old sandwich

Subject: BS: 250 yr old sandwich
From: EBarnacle
Date: 13 May 12 - 12:29 AM

For your amusement. I am am,azed that some of our friends from across the pond did not do this first.

Sandwich celebrates 250th anniversary of the sandwich
The fourth earl is said to be the man after whom the sandwich is named
When John Montagu, the fourth Earl of Sandwich, ordered beef served between slices of bread about 250 years ago he probably did not think his request would become a global convenience meal.

The story goes that the Earl asked for the particular serving so that he could eat while continuing to play cards and his friends asked "to have the same as Sandwich", according to the British Sandwich Association.

The first written record of the sandwich was in 1762 and the Kent town of Sandwich, which is the earldom of the Montagu family, is celebrating the 250th anniversary of the meal.

Sir Edward Montagu, a prominent naval commander, became the first Earl of Sandwich when he was offered a peerage in 1660.

Sandwich not Portsmouth
Steve Laslett, one of the organisers of the Sandwich Celebration Festival, said Sir Edward Montagu chose the title because "at the time Sandwich was the premiere sea port in England".

"When he was offered the earldom he could have chosen Portsmouth but he chose Sandwich - today we could be eating a Portsmouth."

Mr Laslett added: "The fourth Earl was a complex character.

"He's First Lord of the Admiralty three times but he was a bit of a lad and he did stay up all night playing cards on many occasions."

Foodsmith Sam Bompas said the Earl of Sandwich was eating with his fingers "when cutlery was de rigueur".

"He was a daring man to eat in such a way coming from his social background"
                      -- Sam Bompas
"Eating of record at the time was service á la française where all the food went on the table at the same time and there was an elaborate ritual of carving, aided by troops of servants," said Mr Bompas.

"What you have with the sandwich is the shock of informality. He was a daring man to eat in such a way coming from his social background."

Mr Bompas added that he found it odd that the sandwich did not exist before the Earl of Sandwich ordered meat between slices of bread.

"Other people were probably eating in that way anyway but they were people who weren't written about," he said.

'It's bizarre'
Over the weekend the east Kent town hosts sandwich-making competitions and re-enactments of the moment the fourth Earl of Sandwich asked for the food in bread.

The fourth Earl of Sandwich was considered "a daring man" to eat with his fingers
Sandwich Celebration Festival organiser Mandy Wilkins said it had had interest from around the world, including America, Canada, Germany, Switzerland, France and Russia.

Ms Wilkins said: "The sandwich is a global food and Sandwich, our town, is just a little town full of medieval buildings.

"It's bizarre that such an important food item should be named after us."

On Sunday the 11th Earl of Sandwich, who shares his name with the fourth Earl after which the sandwich is said to be named, hosts a lunch in Sandwich.

John Montagu said: "I am delighted to wish a happy 250th birthday to the sandwich.

"My ancestor, the 4th Earl, could never have imagined that his simple invention would spawn a multi-billion dollar industry, employing hundreds of thousands of people in this country."

According to the British Sandwich Association the industry employs more than 300,000 people in the UK and has a commercial value of over £6bn.

Mr Montagu added: "My favourite sandwich is a traditional one: roast beef and hot horseradish on freshly baked bread."

Subject: RE: BS: 250 yr old sandwich
From: DMcG
Date: 13 May 12 - 02:27 AM

Mr Bompas added that he found it odd that the sandwich did not exist before the Earl of Sandwich ordered meat between slices of bread.

"Other people were probably eating in that way anyway but they were people who weren't written about," he said.

I think we can replace that 'probably' by 'certainly'. Given bread - which has been a basic foodstuff since crop farming got underway - and any ingredient of your choice, you only have three options: eat them entirely separately, put the ingredients on top for an open sandwich, or enclose the ingredient, as like as not to stop it falling off. The idea that we weren't doing all three from more or less the first time we had bread in seems unlikely, to say the least. As to the word 'sandwich' itself, the OED has much earlier uses as a kind of cord.

Now, if you mean identifying a point in time when a particular style of eating became acceptable to one specific class of people in one specific country, that's a different matter, but its a much smaller claim than inventing the sandwich.

Subject: RE: BS: 250 yr old sandwich
From: Charley Noble
Date: 13 May 12 - 09:41 AM

Clearly the Earl of Sandwich got the credit because he was upper crust.

Cheerily,
Charley Noble

Subject: RE: BS: 250 yr old sandwich
From: Bill D
Date: 13 May 12 - 12:40 PM

He was well-bread, you say?

Subject: RE: BS: 250 yr old sandwich
From: Rapparee
Date: 13 May 12 - 01:02 PM

He apparently spread himself pretty thin.

Subject: RE: BS: 250 yr old sandwich
From: GUEST,Blind DRunk in Blind River
Date: 13 May 12 - 01:33 PM

250!!!!!!!!!! Okay...that is just, like, tooo flippin' old! I have ate 10 day old pizza that I, like, found layin' on the floor behind the couch, eh? And it made me sick as a dog! What I am advisin' you people is simple. Do NOT eat that flippin' sandwich!

- Shane

Subject: RE: BS: 250 yr old sandwich
From: gnu
Date: 13 May 12 - 02:53 PM

"British Sandwich Association"? Why didn't they call it a club?

Subject: RE: BS: 250 yr old sandwich
From: Lonesome EJ
Date: 13 May 12 - 03:03 PM

Apparently, when the Earl would enter the local brothel, it was customary for him to shout "which of you girls is hungry for a sandwich?" They would gleefully reply "we ALL are!" at which point the Earl would bust open his picnic basket.

Subject: RE: BS: 250 yr old sandwich
From: Little Hawk
Date: 13 May 12 - 06:18 PM

And pull out a lovely sausage....

Subject: RE: BS: 250 yr old sandwich
From: GUEST,Bizibod
Date: 13 May 12 - 07:06 PM

And 2 boiled eggs......

Subject: RE: BS: 250 yr old sandwich
From: Charley Noble
Date: 13 May 12 - 07:14 PM

Not his bread stick?

Subject: RE: BS: 250 yr old sandwich
From: Lonesome EJ
Date: 13 May 12 - 08:11 PM

While the legend isn't specific about the ingredients, the Earl's provendar was said to be "all of the highest quality" and "plentifully shared".

Subject: RE: BS: 250 yr old sandwich
From: olddude
Date: 14 May 12 - 01:14 AM

I wondered where I left that dang thing.

Subject: RE: BS: 250 yr old sandwich
From: David C. Carter
Date: 14 May 12 - 02:59 AM

I used to love eating a Soup sandwich.

A bit messy,but tasty.

Can't get them round here though for some reason!

Subject: RE: BS: 250 yr old sandwich
From: Lonesome EJ
Date: 14 May 12 - 05:09 PM

You should move to the US. Campbell's now has their new Tomato Soup n' Grilled Cheese Sandwich in a microwave safe container with their Handy Slip-on Feedin' Bag for those on the go. You can't beat America for innovation and convenience.
However,we don't have truffles nor truffle-sniffing swine, so you guys have that goin for ya.

Subject: RE: BS: 250 yr old sandwich
From: GUEST,Chufty
Date: 14 May 12 - 06:31 PM

..and let us also praise and commemorate The First Earl of Kebab.

Subject: RE: BS: 250 yr old sandwich
From: Bat Goddess
Date: 14 May 12 - 07:14 PM

Back in the mid-'60s Dick Summer (and, I think, Bruce Bradley) on late night radio on WBZ in Boston would claim it wasn't the Earl of Sandwich who first came up with the idea of slapping some meat in between two hunks of bread, but the Duke of Shrewsbury. Thus what we call a sandwich should actually be called a shrewsbury.

The banter between Dick and Juicy Brucy was legendary, too. I used to listen from Milwaukee 1500 miles away, but only if the weather conditions cooperated. Maybe it's one of the things that made me move to the Boston area years later.

More at http://www.wvnh.net/summer/dicksummer.htm

I still remember some of the great lines and jokes the promulgated.

Linn

Subject: RE: BS: 250 yr old sandwich
From: David C. Carter
Date: 15 May 12 - 03:31 AM

EJ,putting a truffle-sniffing swine in a sandwich.....I don't think so!

However,we do have the baguette,or bread stick,which is handy for making a spaghetti sandwich.

Our local pizza place categorically refused to make me one!
He said a couple of words,neither of which I understood,and chased me out!

David

Subject: RE: BS: 250 yr old sandwich
From: catspaw49
Date: 15 May 12 - 09:45 AM

I've had some sandwiches which I thought were 250 years old. One was some kinda' green filling which looked like very fresh lettuce but tasted like very old bacon................


Spaw

Subject: RE: BS: 250 yr old sandwich
From: Bee-dubya-ell
Date: 15 May 12 - 09:54 AM

Well, if The Fourth Earl of Sandwich didn't literally invent the sandwich, what was it called before his name was given to it? If sandwiches were being eaten by the lower castes for hundreds of years before the Earl's ordering one during a card game, they must have been called something. What was it? Has that name been wiped from our collective memory? Or were our peasant ancestors really dumb enough to eat meat-and-cheese-between-two-slices-of-bread for eons and never assign a name to the concept?

And what would have happened if, instead of the Earl having been struck with a desire for easily eaten food, he had been overtaken by a strong need to move his bowels while remainging at the card table? If he had ordered a servant to bring him a chamber pot, would we now be calling that a "sandwich"?

Subject: RE: BS: 250 yr old sandwich
From: Lonesome EJ
Date: 15 May 12 - 11:15 AM

David, I have never heard of a spaghetti sandwich and I don't blame the guy for not making you one. Try using the meat balls instead. With a little mozzarella on top.

Subject: RE: BS: 250 yr old sandwich
From: catspaw49
Date: 15 May 12 - 12:00 PM

Back in the 70's when the fashion/designer pizzas were just getting going, one of the chains decided on a spaghetti pizza. It sucked.......really sucked.........chrome off of a bumper hitch sucked........bad idea.



Spaw

Subject: RE: BS: 250 yr old sandwich
From: David C. Carter
Date: 15 May 12 - 12:22 PM

I can't stand spaghetti,pizza or bread for that matter.

Worst pizza I ever had was in Venice.Haven't touched one since!

Meat balls and mozzarella.....I'll get back to you on that one EJ.




David

Subject: RE: BS: 250 yr old sandwich
From: Rusty Dobro
Date: 15 May 12 - 01:25 PM

The first Earl was offered either the earldom of Portsmouth or that of Sandwich. He chose - well, you know which one he chose.

We could all have been eating Portsmouths.......

Subject: RE: BS: 250 yr old sandwich
From: Ed T
Date: 15 May 12 - 02:53 PM

According to some of the advertising at some of the big name fast food places, a hamburger is now also a sandwich. I suspect some of these may taste much like sand without all the condiments.

Subject: RE: BS: 250 yr old sandwich
From: Ed T
Date: 15 May 12 - 02:54 PM

Did I say sand-I meant dirt sandwiches:)

Subject: RE: BS: 250 yr old sandwich
From: Penny S.
Date: 15 May 12 - 04:41 PM

And here is a local signpost, famous in the area.

Signpost

Penny

Subject: RE: BS: 250 yr old sandwich
From: gnu
Date: 15 May 12 - 07:13 PM

Seems a bit much for a ham sandwich.

Subject: RE: BS: 250 yr old sandwich
From: DMcG
Date: 16 May 12 - 06:46 AM

I don't know, £1.7320508075688772935274463415059 is a pretty good price for a ham sandwich, if a little precise.

Subject: RE: BS: 250 yr old sandwich
From: Lonesome EJ
Date: 16 May 12 - 01:59 PM

Coincidentally, .7320508075688772935274463415059 centimeters is about the correct thickness for the ham you get in an English Pub Sandwich, from my experience. Which is why I usually ordered the Steak and Kidney Pie.

Subject: RE: BS: 250 yr old sandwich
From: EBarnacle
Date: 16 May 12 - 02:06 PM

Chufty--Sheesh!