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13 May 12 - 12:29 AM (#3350193) Subject: BS: 250 yr old sandwich From: EBarnacle 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." |
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13 May 12 - 02:27 AM (#3350210) Subject: RE: BS: 250 yr old sandwich From: DMcG 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. |
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13 May 12 - 09:41 AM (#3350288) Subject: RE: BS: 250 yr old sandwich From: Charley Noble Clearly the Earl of Sandwich got the credit because he was upper crust. Cheerily, Charley Noble |
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13 May 12 - 12:40 PM (#3350337) Subject: RE: BS: 250 yr old sandwich From: Bill D He was well-bread, you say? |
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13 May 12 - 01:02 PM (#3350349) Subject: RE: BS: 250 yr old sandwich From: Rapparee He apparently spread himself pretty thin. |
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13 May 12 - 01:33 PM (#3350364) Subject: RE: BS: 250 yr old sandwich From: GUEST,Blind DRunk in Blind River 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 |
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13 May 12 - 02:53 PM (#3350366) Subject: RE: BS: 250 yr old sandwich From: gnu "British Sandwich Association"? Why didn't they call it a club? |
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13 May 12 - 03:03 PM (#3350370) Subject: RE: BS: 250 yr old sandwich From: Lonesome EJ 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. |
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13 May 12 - 06:18 PM (#3350433) Subject: RE: BS: 250 yr old sandwich From: Little Hawk And pull out a lovely sausage.... |
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13 May 12 - 07:06 PM (#3350446) Subject: RE: BS: 250 yr old sandwich From: GUEST,Bizibod And 2 boiled eggs...... |
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13 May 12 - 07:14 PM (#3350448) Subject: RE: BS: 250 yr old sandwich From: Charley Noble Not his bread stick? |
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13 May 12 - 08:11 PM (#3350474) Subject: RE: BS: 250 yr old sandwich From: Lonesome EJ 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". |
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14 May 12 - 01:14 AM (#3350540) Subject: RE: BS: 250 yr old sandwich From: olddude I wondered where I left that dang thing. |
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14 May 12 - 02:59 AM (#3350551) Subject: RE: BS: 250 yr old sandwich From: David C. Carter I used to love eating a Soup sandwich. A bit messy,but tasty. Can't get them round here though for some reason! |
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14 May 12 - 05:09 PM (#3350865) Subject: RE: BS: 250 yr old sandwich From: Lonesome EJ 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. |
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14 May 12 - 06:31 PM (#3350885) Subject: RE: BS: 250 yr old sandwich From: GUEST,Chufty ..and let us also praise and commemorate The First Earl of Kebab. |
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14 May 12 - 07:14 PM (#3350896) Subject: RE: BS: 250 yr old sandwich From: Bat Goddess 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 |
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15 May 12 - 03:31 AM (#3351004) Subject: RE: BS: 250 yr old sandwich From: David C. Carter 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 |
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15 May 12 - 09:45 AM (#3351115) Subject: RE: BS: 250 yr old sandwich From: catspaw49 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 |
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15 May 12 - 09:54 AM (#3351119) Subject: RE: BS: 250 yr old sandwich From: Bee-dubya-ell 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"? |
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15 May 12 - 11:15 AM (#3351139) Subject: RE: BS: 250 yr old sandwich From: Lonesome EJ 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. |
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15 May 12 - 12:00 PM (#3351149) Subject: RE: BS: 250 yr old sandwich From: catspaw49 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 |
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15 May 12 - 12:22 PM (#3351152) Subject: RE: BS: 250 yr old sandwich From: David C. Carter 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 |
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15 May 12 - 01:25 PM (#3351167) Subject: RE: BS: 250 yr old sandwich From: Rusty Dobro 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....... |
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15 May 12 - 02:53 PM (#3351202) Subject: RE: BS: 250 yr old sandwich From: Ed T 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. |
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15 May 12 - 02:54 PM (#3351203) Subject: RE: BS: 250 yr old sandwich From: Ed T Did I say sand-I meant dirt sandwiches:) |
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15 May 12 - 04:41 PM (#3351253) Subject: RE: BS: 250 yr old sandwich From: Penny S. And here is a local signpost, famous in the area. Signpost Penny |
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15 May 12 - 07:13 PM (#3351328) Subject: RE: BS: 250 yr old sandwich From: gnu Seems a bit much for a ham sandwich. |
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16 May 12 - 06:46 AM (#3351517) Subject: RE: BS: 250 yr old sandwich From: DMcG I don't know, £1.7320508075688772935274463415059 is a pretty good price for a ham sandwich, if a little precise. |
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16 May 12 - 01:59 PM (#3351664) Subject: RE: BS: 250 yr old sandwich From: Lonesome EJ 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. |
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16 May 12 - 02:06 PM (#3351666) Subject: RE: BS: 250 yr old sandwich From: EBarnacle Chufty--Sheesh! |