By sandwich, of course, I mean bread with filling. The bread can be a bun, slices of loaf bread or flatbread including tortilla.
Right. My definition of a sandwich is rather broad. And the inclusion of buns and flatbreads does not seem to conform with the widely held belief that the sandwich first came about when John Montagu, the 4th Earl of Sandwich, couldn’t be bothered to leave the gaming table to eat a meal so he ordered his valet to bring him beef stuffed between slices of bread.
But you see, there is a difference between the history of the word “sandwich”, on the one hand, and food that consists of bread and filling, on the other. While it is not argued that the word “sandwich” is the namesake of the gambling earl, the food itself predates the birth of Montagu by leaps and bounds.
While the Earl of Sandwich is credited with “inventing” the sandwich in 1762, the principle of bread and filling likely dates to around 9000 B.C.E., when permanent settlements were established in the Middle East, and the hunter-gatherers began to plant and harvest grain. These grains became the first breads, unleavened flatbreads that were baked over an open fire. They were also “edible plates,” holding roasted meat or fish on the journey from pot to mouth.
One of the earliest known sandwich-eaters was Hillel the Elder, a rabbi and scholar who was born in Babylon and lived in Jerusalem during the first century B.C. The Haggadah, a Jewish text read during the annual Passover Seder, recounts how Hillel made sandwiches using Paschal lamb, bitter herbs and unleavened matzoh bread.
Montague was not the inventor of the sandwich; rather, during his excursions in the Eastern Mediterranean, he saw grilled pita breads and small canapes and sandwiches served by the Greeks and Turks during their mezes, and copied the concept for its obvious convenience.
Well, that would make Montagu a copycat who, although it’s not his fault, unwittingly got historical credit for something he did not invent. But, whatever, right? Since the exact origin of bread with filling cannot be pinpointed, just so we’re sure that we’re on the same page here, let’s not quarrel with common usage of the word sandwich.
My personal acquaintance with sandwich is not good. It was the default food that my mother prepared for school recess, and the sandwich rarely varied. Two slices of loaf bread from the neighborhood bakery filled with mayo and ham. Sometimes, it was SPAM.
It wasn’t until much, much later that I learned that a sandwich could actually be pretty good. That is, IF you begin with good bread, tasty filling and condiments that provide textural contrast and color.
We’ve eaten great sandwiches in different places, and we’ve made even more here at home.
Among the best I’ve had was from Hugdog in Taipei. Steamed buns filled with sweet-salty Taiwanese sausage, pickled cabbage and crushed peanuts. There’s a sauce that’s drizzled over the filling before the sandwich is wrapped.
Another favorite is the Kobe beef sandwich from a food truck called Kitchen Ohana at The Outlets in Osaka. Just look at the photo because there are no words that can do justice to the experience of biting into that meaty goodness.
Also in Japan… if you’re a fan of egg salad sandwich, they’re everywhere in Japan. But you have to try Lawson’s egg salad sandwich to really understand why good bread (milk bread is the default) and good filling (the eggs are passed through a strainer to make it ultra smooth so just a little Japanese mayo is needed to bind the creamy eggs together) truly matter.
But if you ask my daughter, Alex, what the best sandwich is, she will tell you that Vietnamese banh mi rules. But not just any banh mi. There was a stall in front of the apartelle where we stayed in Ho Chi Minh City where she ordered banh mi in the morning for breakfast and most afternoons after we were done with cooking and coffee classes, and tours. She misses that banh mi more than the Kobe beef sandwich in Osaka, I tell you.
What about sandwiches we’ve made at home? What are our favorites?
It has to be banh mi with crispy pork belly.
A close second is what we call meat lover’s sandwich inspired by the Three Little Pigs sandwich featured in one of Anthony Bourdain’s shows.
The filling consists of poultry (chicken schnitzel), cattle (pastrami), hog (belly bacon) and dairy (cheese omelette).
And, finally, there’s chicken sandwich.
We call it cheesy fried chicken sandwich. Chicken katsu with grated Parmesan in the breading is slathered with tomato sauce and topped with cheese slices.
What about you? What’s the best sandwich you’ve ever had?
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