It is said that sandwiches were popularized by John Montagu, 4th earl of Sandwich (1718-1792). Well they were named in his honour, so presumably it’s true. It happened due to the fact that the British peer was addicted to gambling. A French travel book claimed he requested sliced meat between slices of bread to avoid leaving the gaming table over a 24 hour period. Judging by the cartoon below, Montagu accidentally discovered a penchant for ‘chips’ as well. 😎
The slang word for sandwich in Australia is ‘sanger’. It derived from a common mispronunciation, that is; ‘sang-wich’. Around the 1960s this contracted to sanger, using the first four letters and adding the suffix ‘er’ .
By the way, there is more to making decent meat sandwiches than you might imagine. Here is a recipe from an Australian newspaper in 1890;
I should just like to remind those who understand their preparation that the meat is best cut as thin as possible; that it should be carefully freed from all skin, bones, and gristle, and be pleasantly seasoned previous to being placed between the bread; and that the latter should be cut of an even thickness, then be buttered liberally, and, after being gently pressed together, the slices should be cut in small, neat-shaped pieces of equal size. Serve them neatly arranged on a napkin or fancy dish-paper, tastefully garnished with sprigs of parsley, (Glen Innes Examiner, Dec. 16 1890.)
THUMBS DOWN FOR SCOTTISH BAGGED LUNCHES
An American friend of mine wrote the following after a bird watching tour of Scotland;
We had a bagged lunch every day that consisted of a tasteless sandwich with utterly tasteless bread. Once they made tuna salad [filling] and that had some flavour. All other sandwiches made were devoid of seasoning, spices, herbs, condiments…except butter. (yes, they butter their sandwiches in the UK and New Zealand) or any flavour. By the last day, our group begged for peanut butter and jelly, which was scrounged up for us, but spread so thinly on the bread it was (you guessed it), Flavourless. Scotland, your sandwich game is NOT STRONG.
Okay, well let’s delve a little deeper into why the Americans found the bread tasteless. It’s because theirs is sweetened!
Source – www. Alice’sKitchen,com
MEANWHILE, IN ENGLAND
Somehow I doubt Lord Sandwich would have approved of the sandwiches we most associate with the English afternoon tea….cucumber. Good grief! 😨
Why did someone think this was a good idea?
And here we have cucumber and peanut butter together. Surely this represents the worst of two continents in one sandwich!
Oh the horror.
Does Australia escape mockery? Definitely not, because most people of my generation (1960s) went to school with ‘rusty nail’ sandwiches, aka Vegemite, My mother often added lettuce leaves, which were OK if you ate your lunch while waiting for the bus…. pre wilt.
When I was in grade two at Ulverstone primary school we had a class autumn party, which I somehow forgot to tell my mother about. All the other kids brought festive food, but I just had my normal old lunch. I was devastated, especially when our teacher made the rounds admiring all the goodies. Anyway, when she came to me she said, ‘Oh my goodness Pauline, chicken sandwiches…my favourite!’ I loved that lady ever after. Thank you Mrs Brooks.
In New Zealand, Marmite seems to be the choice. Do you know what? Marmite is just runny Vegemite with meat extract and is of English origin. Surely Manuka honey or whitebait would be more interesting.
Whitebait, a Kiwi delicacy (Source – Flickr)
NOTE – The best sandwiches I ever had were prawn and mayonnaise, from a cafe in the inner Sydney suburb of Ashfield. I ate them every day for several years in the 1980s, while working at the Ashfield Municipal Library.
For something a little more elegant, click here for High Tea sandwich suggestions.
