The Yummiest Invention Ever!
February 19th 2009 01:56
The Dagwood Sandwich
Being as this is a blog about vintage food, I thought I'd go on a mini-quest to discover the roots of the sandwich. I started with Wikipedia, which, let's face it, is the beginning of most journeys on the internet.
If, by definition, a sandwich is a filling of any type wrapped in a bread of any type, then according to Wikipedia, one of the earlier eaters of the sandwich was a Jewish sage named Hillel the Elder. He enjoyed a snack of Paschal Lamb and bitter herbs wrapped in matzo (flat, enleavened bread) during Passover.
Another version of the sandwich was recorded during the Middle Ages where coarse, stale bread, known as trenchers, were used as a type of throwaway plate for their food. Beggars and dogs were often the recipients of the trenchers once the food was all eaten. These were seen as the pre-cursor of the open-faced sandwich.
Shakespeare, in his play 'The Merry Wives of Windsor' is said to have mentioned the sandwich, but then it was called 'bread and cheese'.
The website 'What's cooking in America' (www.what's cookinginamerica.net) gives a detailed description of how the Earl of Sandwich came to be famous. Apparently he was a heavy gambler who refused to get up even for meals. It goes on:
It is said that [he] ordered his valet to bring him meat tucked between two pieces of bread. Because Montague also happened to be the Fourth Earl of Sandwich, others began to order "the same as Sandwich!" The original sandwich was, in fact, a piece of salt beef between two slices of toasted bread.
The Club Sandwich
Some of the most famous sandwiches that have evolved from these humble beginnings include:
club sandwich (cooked chicken, bacon, tomato between 2-3 layers of toasted bread with mayonnaise)
dagwood sandwich (a multi-layered sandwich with a variety of leftovers as fillings. Made famous by Dagwood, the husband of Blondie from the 1930s comic strip of the same name) and
BLT (bacon, lettuce and tomato)
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