{{Short description|Food made with bread and other ingredients}} {{Other uses}} {{pp-semi-indef}} {{pp-move}} {{Use dmy dates|date=September 2021}} {{Infobox food | name = Sandwich | image = Bacon, lettuce, tomato, and avocado.jpg | image_size = 250px | caption = A bacon, lettuce, avocado and tomato (BLAT) sandwich | alternate_name = | country = | region = | creator = | course = | type = | served = | main_ingredient = Bread, meat, cheese, salad vegetables and sauce or spread | variations = | calories = | other = | place_of_origin = Sandwich, England }} {{Use British English|date=May 2012}}
A '''sandwich''' is a dish typically consisting variously of meat, cheese, sauces, and vegetables used as a filling between slices of bread, or placed atop a slice of bread; or, more generally, any dish in which bread serves as a ''container'' or ''wrapper'' for another food type.<ref name="boston.com">{{cite news |last=Abelson |first=Jenn |url=http://archive.boston.com/business/articles/2006/11/10/arguments_spread_thick/ |url-access=subscription |title=Arguments spread thick |work=The Boston Globe |date=10 November 2006 |access-date=February 5, 2026 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081207062109/http://www.boston.com/business/articles/2006/11/10/arguments_spread_thick |archive-date=7 December 2008 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=sandwich|url=http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sandwich|work=Merriam-Webster|access-date=29 March 2012|archive-date=2 November 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211102183013/https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sandwich|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Foundations of Restaurant Management & Culinary Arts Level Two|year=2011|publisher=Pearson|isbn=978-0-13-138022-6|page=53}}</ref> The sandwich began as a portable, convenient food in the Western world, and over time it has become prevalent worldwide.
There has been social media debate over the precise definition of ''sandwich'', specifically whether a hot dog or open sandwich can be categorised as such. Other items, like hamburgers and burritos, were also considered. In the United States, the Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) are the responsible agencies making a regulatory definition of ''sandwich''. The USDA uses the definition, "at least 35% cooked meat and no more than 50% bread" for closed sandwiches, and "at least 50% cooked meat" for open sandwiches.<ref>{{cite book|last=Ludlow|first=Peter|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2ohgAwAAQBAJ|title=Living Words:Meaning Underdetermination and the Dynamic Lexicon|date=2014|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-871205-3|access-date=19 March 2023|archive-date=13 May 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230513095842/https://books.google.com/books?id=2ohgAwAAQBAJ|url-status=live}}</ref> However, the same USDA manual determines that burritos and fajitas are "sandwich-like" and frankfurters are "sandwich type", while stromboli is explicitly excluded. In Britain, the British Sandwich Association defines a sandwich as "any form of bread with a filling, generally assembled cold"; a definition which includes wraps and bagels, but potentially excludes dishes assembled and served hot, such as burgers.<ref>{{cite web |title=What is a Sandwich? {{!}} British Sandwich Week |url=https://www.britishsandwichweek.com/what-is-a-sandwich/ |publisher=British Sandwich & Food to Go Association |access-date=18 May 2022 |quote=The British Sandwich Association defines a sandwich as: Any form of bread with a filling, generally assembled cold – to include traditional wedge sandwiches, as well as filled rolls, baguettes, pitta, bloomers, wraps and bagels. [...] There is much debate as to what constitutes a sandwich but burgers and other associate products are not considered to be a sandwich. |archive-date=31 October 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231031193259/https://www.britishsandwichweek.com/what-is-a-sandwich/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
Sandwiches are a popular type of lunch food, taken to work, school, or picnics to be eaten as part of a packed lunch. The bread is frequently coated with condiments such as mayonnaise or mustard to enhance its flavour and texture, but may be served plain ("dry"). As well as being homemade, sandwiches are also widely sold in various retail outlets and can be served hot or cold.<ref>{{cite book|title=Foundations of Restaurant Management & Cullinary Arts Level Two|year=2011|publisher=Pearson|isbn=978-0-13-138022-6|page=53}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Becoming a Foodservice professional Year 1|year=1999|publisher=National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation|isbn=1-883904-87-0|page=306|url=https://archive.org/details/prostartschoolto0000unse|url-access=registration}}</ref> Although savoury sandwiches—such as deli meat sandwiches—are in the majority, sweet sandwiches—such as jam sandwiches and fluffernutters—form their own category.
The sandwich is named after the inventor of a certain roast-beef sandwich in 18th-century England, John Montagu, 4th Earl of Sandwich.<ref name="What's Cooking America">[http://whatscookingamerica.net/History/SandwichHistory.htm What's Cooking America] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150429050842/http://whatscookingamerica.net/History/SandwichHistory.htm |date=29 April 2015 }}, ''Sandwiches, History of Sandwiches''. 2 February 2007.</ref><ref name="BBC News Online">{{cite news | title = Sandwich celebrates 250th anniversary of the sandwich | url = https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-kent-18010424 | work = BBC News Online | date = 12 May 2012 | access-date = 18 May 2012 | archive-date = 29 December 2017 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20171229165358/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-kent-18010424 | url-status = live }}</ref> ''The Wall Street Journal'' has described it as Britain's "biggest contribution to gastronomy".<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/blt-british-lousy-and-tasteless-1261881.html |title=BLT: British, lousy and tasteless |last=Marks |first=Kathy |newspaper=The Independent |location=London |date=17 May 1997 |access-date=11 September 2017 |archive-date=10 June 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200610220145/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/blt-british-lousy-and-tasteless-1261881.html |url-status=live }}</ref>
==History and etymology== ===Early sandwiches and sandwich-like foods=== The use of some kind of bread or bread-like substance to lie under some other food, or to scoop it up and enclose or wrap it, is found in many cultures historically. Before being known as a "sandwich", this food combination seems to have been known as "bread and meat" or "bread and cheese".<ref name="What's Cooking America"/> These two phrases are found throughout English drama from the 16th and 17th centuries.<ref name="What's Cooking America"/>
In the first century BC the Jewish sage Hillel the Elder is said to have wrapped meat from the Paschal lamb and bitter herbs in a soft matzah—flat, unleavened bread—during Passover in the manner of a modern wrap made with flatbread.<ref>''Bavli'' ''Pesachim'' 115a;<!-- verse? --> See also Passover Hagadah <!-- which one? --></ref>
During the Middle Ages in Europe, thick slabs of coarse and usually stale bread, called "trenchers," were used as plates.<ref>{{cite book|title=Banquets set forth: banqueting in English Renaissance drama|first=Chris|last=Meads|publisher=Manchester University Press|year=2001|page=47|isbn=0-7190-5567-9}}</ref> After a meal, the food-soaked trencher was fed to a dog or to beggars at the tables of the wealthy, and eaten by diners in more modest circumstances. The immediate culinary precursor with a direct connection to the English sandwich was to be found in the Netherlands of the seventeenth century, where the naturalist John Ray observed<ref>{{cite book |last1=Ray |first1=John |title=Observations topographical, moral, & physiological; made in a journey through part of the Low Countries, Germany, Italy, and France … |date=1673 |publisher=John Martyn |location=London, England |page=[https://archive.org/details/observationstopo00rayj/page/51 51] |url=https://archive.org/details/observationstopo00rayj}}</ref><ref>Ray, ''Observations topographical, moral, & physiological; made in a journey through part of the Low Countries, Germany, Italy, and France …'' (vol. I, 1673) quoted in Simon Schama, ''The Embarrassment of Riches'' (1987:152).</ref> 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'', open-faced sandwich, was as yet unfamiliar in England. The word "sandwich" appears, referring to a certain roast beef sandwich in England. [[File:John Montagu, 4th Earl of Sandwich.jpg|thumb|upright|''Portrait of the Earl of Sandwich'' by Thomas Gainsborough, 1783, after whom the sandwich is named]] Initially perceived as food that 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 is named after John Montagu, 4th Earl of Sandwich, an eighteenth-century English aristocrat.<ref name="What's Cooking America"/><ref name="BBC News Online"/> It is commonly said that Lord Sandwich, during long sessions of cribbage and other card games at public gambling houses, would order his valet to bring him roast beef between two pieces of toasted bread.<ref name="BBC News Online"/> He was fond of this form of food because it allowed him to continue gambling while eating, without the need for a fork, and without getting his cards greasy from eating meat with his bare hands. The dish then grew in popularity in London, and Sandwich's name became associated with it.<ref name="What's Cooking America"/> The rumour in its familiar form appeared in Pierre-Jean Grosley's ''Londres'' (Neuchâtel, 1770), translated as ''A Tour to London'' in 1772;<ref>Grosley, ''Londres'' (Neuchatel, 1770) and ''A Tour to London, or, New observations on England and its inhabitants, translated from the French by Thomas Nugent'' (London: Printed for Lockyer Davis) 1772; [http://www.faktoider.nu/sandwich.html Hexmasters Faktoider: Sandwich] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230219225326/https://faktoider.nu/sandwich.html |date=19 February 2023 }}: English quotes from Grosley 1772</ref> Grosley's impressions had been formed during a year in London in 1765. An alternative is provided by Sandwich's biographer Nicholas A. M. Rodger, who suggests Sandwich's commitments to the Royal Navy, politics and the arts mean the first sandwich was more likely to have been consumed at his desk.
[[File:Johann Zoffany (1733-1810) - The Porter and the Hare - VA.1955.0563 - Herbert Art Gallery and Museum.jpg|thumb|''The Porter and the Hare'' by Johann Zoffany, 1768, features an early depiction of the sandwich.]]
The sandwich's popularity in England increased dramatically during the nineteenth century, when the rise of industrial society and the working classes made fast, portable, and inexpensive meals essential.<ref name=encyc>''Encyclopedia of Food and Culture'', Solomon H. Katz, editor (Charles Scribner's Sons: New York) 2003</ref> In London, for example, at least seventy street vendors were selling ham sandwiches by 1850; during that decade sandwich bars also became an important form of eating establishment in western Holland, typically serving liver and salt beef sandwiches.<ref>{{cite book|title=The Oxford Companion to Food|author=Alan Davidson and Tom Jaine|year=2014|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0199677337|page=712|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RL6LAwAAQBAJ|access-date=15 December 2016|archive-date=9 February 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240209191109/https://books.google.com/books?id=RL6LAwAAQBAJ|url-status=live}}</ref>
In the United States, the sandwich was first promoted as an elaborate meal at supper. By the early 20th century, as bread became a staple food of the American diet, the sandwich became the same kind of popular, quick meal as was already widespread in the Mediterranean.<ref name=encyc/>
==Language== In the US, a Massachusetts court in ruled in 2006 that a sandwich includes at least two slices of bread<ref name="boston.com" /> and "under this definition, this court finds that the term 'sandwich' is not commonly understood to include burritos, tacos, and quesadillas, which are typically made with a single tortilla and stuffed with a choice filling of meat, rice, and beans."<ref>White City Shopping Ctr., LP v. PR Rests., LLC, 21 Mass. L. Rep. 565 (Mass. Super. Ct. 2006)</ref> The issue stemmed from the question of whether a restaurant that sold burritos could move into a shopping centre where another restaurant had a no-compete clause in its lease prohibiting other "sandwich" shops. Also in the US, a court in Indiana ruled in 2024 that tacos and burritos are sandwiches, specifically that "The Court agrees with Quintana that tacos and burritos are Mexican-style sandwiches". The court further ruled that such a definition of sandwich would also apply to a "restaurant that serves made-to-order Greek gyros, Indian naan wraps, or Vietnamese banh mi".<ref>Martin Quintana v. Fort Wayne Planning Commission, Allen Superior Court, 02D02-2212-PL-000414, https://www.wishtv.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Order-Issued-1.pdf {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240703164529/https://www.wishtv.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Order-Issued-1.pdf |date=3 July 2024 }}</ref> The US state of New York has a definition of "sandwich" that explicitly includes burritos, gyros, hot dogs, and wraps and pita sandwiches.<ref>Tax Bulletin ST-835 (TB-ST-835), https://www.tax.ny.gov/pubs_and_bulls/tg_bulletins/st/sandwiches.htm</ref>
In Spain, where the word ''sandwich'' is borrowed from the English language,<ref>{{cite book | title=Hostelería, curso completo de servicios |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QPfyzc6FPOsC&q=diferencia+sandwich++bocadillo&pg=PA89 |trans-title=Hospitality. Complete course of services |access-date=11 July 2010 |language=es | isbn=978-84-283-2035-1 | first1=Asunción |last1=López Collado | date=31 December 1994| publisher=Ediciones Paraninfo, S.A }}</ref> it refers to a food item made with English sandwich bread.<ref>{{cite web | title=Consultorio gastronómico | url=http://servicios.laverdad.es/gastronomia/consultorio/preguntas_total.php?pag=3 | work=La Verdad Digital S.L. | access-date=21 July 2010 | language=es | archive-date=27 August 2007 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070827203313/http://servicios.laverdad.es/gastronomia/consultorio/preguntas_total.php?pag=3 | url-status=dead }}</ref> It is otherwise known as a ''bocadillo''. Similar usage applies in other Spanish-speaking cultures, such as Mexico, where the word ''torta'' is also used for a popular variety of roll-type sandwiches.
In Britain and Australia, the term ''sandwich'' is more narrowly defined than in the US: it usually refers to an item that uses sliced bread from a loaf.<ref name="Murphy2018">{{Cite book|last=Murphy|first=Lynne|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uh69DwAAQBAJ&pg=PT209|title=The Prodigal Tongue: The Love–Hate Relationship Between British and American English|date=2018-03-29|publisher=Oneworld Publications|isbn=978-1-78607-270-2|pages=211|language=en|quote=...the British are so particular about sandwiches that they use the word ''less'' than Americans do. In Britain, a '''''sandwich''''' is some filing between two ''slices of bread''. Not a roll. Not a bagel. Not a baguette. Without sliced bread, it's not a sandwich. The American ''sandwich'' prototype is much like the British: savoury filings within two slices of bread. But American sandwiches are allowed to wander further from the prototype because they interpret the 'bread' requirement more loosely. An American sandwich can be on a roll, on a bagel, on a bun, on a croissant, and at breakfast time, on an English muffin...|access-date=6 February 2022|archive-date=4 July 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230704202502/https://books.google.com/books?id=uh69DwAAQBAJ&pg=PT209|url-status=live}}</ref> An item with similar fillings but using an entire bread roll cut horizontally in half, is generally referred to as a ''roll'', or with certain hot fillings, a ''burger''. However, in Australia hot sliced (not ground) beef between two slices of toasted bread is referred to as a ''steak sandwich'': the sliced loaf bread distinguishes the steak sandwich from a burger.{{citation needed|date=November 2016}}
The verb ''to sandwich'' has the meaning "to position anything between two other things of a different character, or to place different elements alternately,"<ref>''The Oxford English Dictionary''{{nonspecific|date=November 2021}}</ref> and the noun ''sandwich'' has related meanings derived from this more general definition. For example, an ice cream sandwich consists of a layer of ice cream between two layers of cake or biscuit.<ref>Taste Taste: Ice Cream Sandwiches, [http://nymag.com/restaurants/features/19384/ NYmag.com] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101016054506/http://nymag.com/restaurants/features/19384/ |date=16 October 2010 }}</ref> Similarly, Oreos and Custard creams are described as sandwich biscuits (UK/Commonwealth) or sandwich cookies (US) because they consist of a soft filling between the baked layers.<ref>Oreo Sandwich Biscuits, [http://www.nabiscoworld.com/Brands/brandlist.aspx?SiteId=1&CatalogType=1&BrandKey=oreo&BrandLink=/oreo/memories/&BrandId=78&PageNo=1 Nabiscoworld.com] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130122091130/http://www.nabiscoworld.com/Brands/brandlist.aspx?SiteId=1&CatalogType=1&BrandKey=oreo&BrandLink=%2Foreo%2Fmemories%2F&BrandId=78&PageNo=1 |date=22 January 2013 }}</ref> In corporate finance, Dutch Sandwich and Double Irish with a Dutch sandwich refer to schemes for tax evasion.
The word ''butty'', originally referring to a buttered slice of bread,<ref>{{Cite OED|butty|id=25458}} English regional (chiefly northern). Originally: a slice of bread spread with butter. Now: a filled sandwich; (also) an open sandwich. Frequently with modifying word denoting the filling or topping.</ref> is common in some northern and southern parts of England and Wales as a slang synonym for "sandwich," particularly to refer to certain kinds of sandwiches including the chip butty, bacon butty, or sausage butty.<ref>{{cite web |title=Butty |url=https://www.dictionary.com/browse/butty |website=dictionary.com |access-date=13 August 2019 |archive-date=28 November 2023 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231128024623/https://www.dictionary.com/browse/butty}}</ref> ''Sarnie'' is a similar colloquialism.<ref>{{cite web |title=Sarnie |url=https://www.dictionary.com/browse/sarnie |website=dictionary.com |access-date=13 August 2019 |archive-date=28 November 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231128025102/https://www.dictionary.com/browse/sarnie |url-status=live}}</ref> Likewise, the word ''sanger'' is used for sandwich in Australian slang.<ref>{{Cite OED|sanger|id=35762594}}</ref> The colloquial Scottish word ''piece'' may refer either to a sandwich or to a light meal, especially one that includes a sandwich. For example, the phrase ''jeely piece'' refers to a jam sandwich.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.rampantscotland.com/parliamo/blparliamo_food.htm |title=Parliamo Scots? – Food |work=Rampant Scotland |access-date=28 November 2016 |archive-date=28 November 2023 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231128024311/http://www.rampantscotland.com/parliamo/blparliamo_food.htm}}</ref>
The colloquial form "sammich" (alternatively, "sammidge") is used in the Southeastern United States.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.definder.net/sammich/|title="sammich"|access-date=8 April 2022 |archive-date=28 November 2023 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231128023929/https://www.definder.net/sammich/#google_vignette}}</ref> In Japanese, ''sando'' or ''sandoichi'' is used.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2020-01-08 |title=£14 for a sandwich? What are restaurants playing at? |url=http://www.theguardian.com/food/2020/jan/08/14-for-a-sandwich-what-are-restaurants-playing-at |first=Tony |last=Naylor |access-date=2022-10-17 |website=The Guardian |language=en |archive-date=28 November 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231128023751/https://www.theguardian.com/food/2020/jan/08/14-for-a-sandwich-what-are-restaurants-playing-at |url-status=live}}</ref>
==Pre-made sandwiches== thumb|Pre-packaged sandwiches Sandwiches have been widely sold in cafes, railway stations, pubs and diners since the invention of sliced bread in the 1920s.<ref name="wilson">{{cite book |last1=Wilson |first1=Bee |title=Sandwich: A Global History |date=15 October 2010 |publisher=Reaktion Books |isbn=978-1-86189-891-3 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ydR5na_9fnYC&pg=PP56 |language=en |access-date=26 September 2020 |archive-date=25 April 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240425182552/https://books.google.com/books?id=ydR5na_9fnYC&pg=PP56#v=onepage&q&f=false |url-status=live }}</ref> Sandwiches kept unwrapped, drying up and edges curling, until they were sold, were widely found in Britain until the 1970s. Cafes and buffets in railway stations and on trains were notorious, and the term "British Rail sandwich" was often used satirically.
In 1979 the British store chain Marks & Spencer introduced a small range of chilled, pre-made sandwiches sold in wedge-shaped boxes, sealed to keep them fresh.<ref name="wilson"/> As they proved popular, a small experiment involving five stores rapidly grew to cover more than one hundred stores. Within a year, the store was looking for ways to manufacture sandwiches at an industrial scale. By the end of the decade, the British sandwich industry had become worth £1 billion.<ref name=":0">{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/news/2017/nov/24/how-the-sandwich-consumed-britain|title=How the sandwich consumed Britain|last=Knight|first=Sam|date=24 November 2017|work=The Guardian|access-date=4 December 2017|language=en-GB|issn=0261-3077|archive-date=4 December 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171204222918/https://www.theguardian.com/news/2017/nov/24/how-the-sandwich-consumed-britain|url-status=live}}</ref> In 2017, the British sandwich industry made and sold £8 billion worth of sandwiches.<ref name=":0" /> {{Clear}}
==Gallery== <gallery mode="packed"> File:Sandwich Cross-section (49695872726).jpg|Cross section of a sandwich File:Sandwich-making.JPG|Sandwich making File:Chicken sandwich.jpg|Chicken breast sandwich File:Ruben sandwich.jpg|Reuben sandwich File:PBJ.png|Peanut butter and jelly sandwich File:Grilled Cheese (44069260234).jpg|Grilled cheese sandwich File:Sandwich jambon-beurre.jpg|Jambon-beurre, a French ham sandwich File:Club-sandwich.jpg|Club sandwich File:Croque monsieur.jpg|Croque-monsieur, a hot sandwich File:NCI Visuals Food Hamburger.jpg|Hamburger File:Porilainen.jpg|Porilainen, a Finnish burger-like sandwich File:Cheesesteakwhiz.png|Philadelphia-style cheesesteak (type of submarine sandwich) File:Smoked meat sandwich.jpg|Smoked meat sandwich File:Sandwich.jpg|French bread sandwich with fries File:Shawarma Sandwich.jpg|Shawarma sandwich File:Döner kebab.jpg|Doner sandwich File:Paardenrookvlees.JPG|Dutch open sandwich with smoked horse meat File:Egg and cheese breakfast sandwich.jpg|Sausage, egg and cheese sandwich File:Salmon Cream Cheese Sandwiches.jpg|Smoked salmon and cream cheese sandwiches File:Sandwich9200280.jpg|Crustless English sandwiches File:EggSandwich.JPG|Sandwich with fried egg, tomato and cucumber File:Olive and red Tomato sandwich.JPG|Sandwich filled with olives and sliced tomatoes </gallery>
==See also==
{{Div col|colwidth=22em}} * {{annotated link|Butterbrot}} * Dagwood sandwich * Finger food * List of bread dishes * List of sandwiches * List of American sandwiches * List of foods * Panini (sandwich) * {{annotated link|Sandwich cake}} * {{annotated link|Sándwich de miga}} * Sealed crustless sandwich * Soup and sandwich * {{annotated link|Tramezzino}} * {{annotated link|Vada pav}} {{div col end}}
==References== {{Reflist|2}}
==External links== {{Spoken Wikipedia|date=2022-10-27|Sandwich Wikipedia.ogg}} {{Sister project links}} *[http://www.sandwich.org.uk The British Sandwich Association]
{{Sandwiches}} {{bread}} {{hamburgers}} {{English cuisine}} {{Street food}} {{Authority control}}
Category:Sandwiches Category:British cuisine Category:American cuisine Category:Street food Category:World cuisine Category:Types of food Category:Bread dishes