Sandwich

Sandwich, Edward Montagu, 1st earl of, 1625-72, English admiral. He fought in the parliamentary army during the civil war, became (1653) a member of the council of state of the Commonwealth, and was appointed (1656) general at sea. After the collapse of the Protectorate, however, he assisted in the Restoration (1660) of Charles II and escorted the king home from Holland. Created (1660) earl of Sandwich and admiral of the narrow seas, he negotiated (1661) the marriage between Charles and Catherine of Braganza, secured English possession of Tangier as part of her dowry, and brought Catherine to England. He fought with distinction at the battle of Lowestoft (1665) in the second Dutch War and was killed in the battle of Southwold Bay in the third war. Samuel Pepys, his cousin's son, was his secretary at the admiralty.

Sandwich, John Montagu, 4th earl of, 1718-92, British politician. He served variously as secretary of state (1763-65, 1770-71) and first lord of the admiralty (1748-51, 1763, 1771-82). He earned (1763) great unpopularity for his charges of obscenity against John Wilkes, because not only had he been Wilkes's friend but he was himself notoriously dissolute. His reputation has suffered chiefly, however, and somewhat unjustly, because he presided at the admiralty over the British defeats of the American Revolution. In fact, he was an able, if corrupt, administrator, and his naval policy was apparently sound. He was shackled, however, by the stringent economies of Lord North and unable to expand the navy as needed. The Sandwich (Hawaiian) Islands were named after him by Capt. James Cook. The sandwich was also named after him; he supposedly ate food in that form rather than leave the gaming table.

Sandwich, Ont., Canada, part (since 1935) of the city of Windsor.

Sandwich, town (1991 pop. 4,184), Kent, SE England, on the Stour River. It is a resort and market center with some light industries. One of the Cinque Ports in the 11th cent., Sandwich flourished in the Middle Ages and became a center for fishing and trade. Silting in the 16th cent. ruined the harbor. Interesting medieval churches and buildings remain.

sandwich, a piece of meat or other food placed between two slices of bread. Although food in this form has long been used, the term sandwich originated in the 18th cent. It is named for John Montagu, the 4th earl of Sandwich, an inveterate gambler who ate informally at the gaming table rather than stopping for the set meal.

National preserve, southeastern shore of Hawaii island, U.S. Established in 1916, it occupies an area of 358 sq mi (927 sq km) and includes the active volcanoes Mauna Loa and Kilauea, 25 mi (40 km) apart. Other highlights are Kau Desert, an area of lava formations near Kilauea, and a tree-fern forest that receives nearly 100 in. (2,500 mm) of annual rainfall.

Learn more about Hawaii Volcanoes National Park with a free trial on Britannica.com.

formerly Sandwich Islands

State (pop., 2006 est.: 1,285,498), U.S., comprising a group of islands in the central Pacific Ocean that covers 6,461 sq mi (16,734 sq km). Its capital, Honolulu, lies 2,397 mi (3,857 km) west of San Francisco. The state's major islands are, from west to east, Niihau, Kauai, Oahu, Molokai, Lanai, Kahoolawe, Maui, and Hawaii; there are 124 islets. The state's active volcanoes include Mauna Loa and Kilauea. The majority of the state's residents live on Oahu. The original Hawaiians were of Polynesian origin and came from the Marquesas Islands circa 300 CE. Capt. James Cook visited the islands in 1778 and called them the Sandwich Islands. At the beginning of the 19th century, Kamehameha I united the group under his rule. American whalers began to stop there; they were followed in 1820 by New England missionaries, and Western influences changed the islands. While Kamehameha III in 1851 placed Hawaii under U.S. protection, a coup fomented by U.S. sugar interests resulted in the monarchy's overthrow and the establishment of a Republic of Hawaii (1893). In 1898 the new republic and the U.S. agreed on annexation, and in 1900 Hawaii became a U.S. territory. The bombing of Pearl Harbor by the Japanese in 1941 led to U.S. involvement in World War II, and Hawaii became a major naval station. Hawaii became the 50th U.S. state on Aug. 21, 1959. Its largest industry is tourism. It is also a world astronomy centre, with telescopes atop Mauna Kea.

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A sandwich is a food item made of two or more slices of bread with one or more layers of a filling. The bread can be used as is, or it can be coated with butter, oil, mustard or other condiments to enhance flavor and texture.

History

An early form of sandwich is attributed to the ancient Jewish sage Hillel the Elder, who is said to have wrapped meat from the Paschal lamb and bitter herbs in a matzo (or flat, unleavened bread) during Passover.

During the Middle Ages, thick slabs of coarse and usually stale bread, called "trenchers", were used as plates. After a meal, the food-soaked trencher was fed to a dog, or to unfortunate beggars, or eaten by the diner. Trenchers were as much the harbingers of open-face sandwiches as they were of disposable dishware. The immediate cultural precursor with a direct connection to the English sandwich was to be found in seventeenth-century Holland, where the naturalist John Ray observed that in the taverns beef hung from the rafters "which they cut into thin slices and eat with bread and butter laying the slices upon the butter"— explanatory specifications that reveal the Dutch belegde broodje was as yet unfamiliar in England. The first written usage of the English word appeared in Edward Gibbon's journal, in longhand, referring to "bits of cold meat" as a 'Sandwich'. It was named after John Montagu, 4th Earl of Sandwich, an 18th-century English aristocrat, although he was neither the inventor nor sustainer of the food. It is said that Lord Sandwich was fond of this form of food because it allowed him to continue playing cards, particularly cribbage, while eating without getting his cards greasy from eating meat with his bare hands.

The rumour in its familiar form appeared in Pierre-Jean Grosley's Londres (Neichatel, 1770), translated as A Tour to London 1772; Grosley's impressions had been formed during a year in London, 1765. The sober alternative is provided by Sandwich's biographer, N.A.M. Rodger, who suggests Sandwich's commitments to the navy, to politics and the arts mean the first sandwich was more likely to have been consumed at his desk.

It is also possible that Sandwich's wife's sister's husband, Jerome de Salis, who was born in the Grisons Republic of Switzerland, taught him about sandwiches.

If it was initially perceived as food men shared while gaming and drinking at night, the sandwich slowly began appearing in polite society as a late-night meal among the aristocracy. The sandwich's popularity in Spain and England increased dramatically during the 19th century, when the rise of an industrial society and the working classes made fast, portable, and inexpensive meals essential.

It was at the same time that the sandwich finally began to appear outside of Europe. In the United States, the sandwich was first promoted as an elaborate supper meal. By the early 20th century, as bread became a staple of the American diet, the sandwich became the same kind of popular, quick meal as was widespread in the Mediterranean.

Usage

Sandwiches are commonly carried to work, school or picnics to be eaten as the midday meal as part of a packed lunch. They are generally made of a combination of vegetables, meat, cheese, and/or a variety of sauces. They are widely sold in restaurants and cafes. They are popular throughout the world.

The term sandwich is occasionally used (informally) in reference to open-faced "sandwiches"; these normally consist of a single slice of bread topped with meat, vegetables, and/or various condiments. Strictly speaking, an open-faced "sandwich" is not a sandwich, as it has a single slice of bread instead of two, and thus has toppings instead of a filling. The open-faced "sandwich" also has a history differing from that of the true sandwich, having originated between the 6th and 16th centuries, with stale slices of bread used as plates called "Trenchers" (whereas its relative, the modern sandwich traces its roots to the Earl of Sandwich instead). Legally, In the United States the ruling in the case of Panera Bread Co. v. Qdoba Mexican Grill established that a sandwich must legally include at least two slices of bread. An open-faced sandwich does not satisfy this condition.

Sandwich may also be used as a verb meaning to position something between two things.

List of regional sandwich styles

• Banh Mi - Vietnam
• Barros Jarpa - Chile, melted cheese and fried ham
• Barros Luco - Chile, melted cheese and thin fried beef
• Bauru - Brazil, melted cheese and roast beef
• BLT -USA, bacon, lettuce, and tomato
• Breakfast Roll Scotland
• Bun Kabab - Pakistan
• Butterbrot - Germany, Graubrot (grey bread)
• Caprese - mozzarella, tomato, fresh basil
• Cheesesteak - Philadelphia
• Chip butty - England, chips (french fries)
• Chivito - Uruguay, steak, ham, and cheese
• Choripán - Argentina, Uruguay and Chile, grilled chorizo
• Club sandwich - USA primarily, variety of fillings
• Croque-monsieur - France, ham and cheese
• Cuban sandwich - Cuba/South Florida, ham and cheese
• Cucumber sandwich - England afternoon tea classic
• Dagwood sandwich - USA, distinguished by size more than contents
• Elvis sandwich - USA, fried sandwich containing peanut butter, bananas, and sometimes bacon
• Fluffernutter, New England variation on peanut butter and jelly
• Francesinha - Portugal, made with wet-cured ham, linguiça, other sausages and meat, covered with molten cheese and beer sauce
• Gyros-pita or Souvlaki-pita - Greece, meat in pita bread
• Hamburger - USA, ground meat patty in a round bun
• Hero sandwich - USA, similar to sub
• Hoagie - USA, similar to sub (though generally having less nutrition)
• Hotdog - sausage in an oblong bun (origins disputed)
• Kummelweck, Buffalo, NY colloquially "beef on weck", Roast Beef and Horseradish on a Kaiser roll topped with pretzel salt and caraway seeds
• Melt sandwich, Tuna melt, Patty melt, etc. - filling includes melted cheese
• Monte Cristo sandwich - USA, based on fried bread
• Mother-in-law sandwich - Chicagoland fast food staple that features a Mississippi tamale nestled in a hot dog bun and smothered with chili
• Muffuletta - New Orleans, based on Sicilian bread
• Panini - Italy/USA, refers to type of bread
• Pastrami on rye - Classic of the Jewish deli
• Peanut butter and jelly sandwich
• Po' boy (literally "poor boy") - USA/New Orleans, similar to sub
• Reuben sandwich - USA, sauerkraut with Swiss cheese and corned beef or pastrami
• Roti john - A variation of sandwich that is very popular in Singapore and Malaysia
• Sandwich loaf - looks like a cake
• Sandwiches de miga - Argentina
• Shawarma - a Middle Eastern-style sandwich usually composed of shaved lamb, goat, or chicken.
• Sloppy Joe - USA, based on ground beef and flavorings
• Smörgåstårta - Sweden, variety of "sandwich cake"
• Steamed Sandwich - USA/Kentucky
• Submarine sandwich or sub
• Tea sandwich - small sandwiches for afternoon tea
• Toasted sandwich
• Torta - Mexico
• Vada pav - India

Some of these are distinguished primarily by the bread or method of preparation, rather than the filling.

See also

• Open sandwich

References

External links

• The British Sandwich Association
• "Arguments spread thick: Is a burrito a sandwich?" regarding a 2006 United States court ruling.
• The Sandwich Project (UK) Huge collection of recipes.
• The German Sandwich Project