[Sca-cooks] period sandwich?

[Chris Stanifer]

--- Stefan li Rous <StefanliRous at austin.rr.com> wrote:

> We have recipes of toasting cheese on top of bread. Why nothing similar 
> which then puts another piece of bread on top? Do we have any evidence 
> of dry/moist meat served on top of trenchers? Or is it always covered 
> in sauce? No, the trencher wouldn't be considered edible by the high 
> class folks. But putting the sliced meat on top of a slice of bread is 
> halfway to a sandwich. It would seem to be an obvious step to add 
> another slice of bread. Particularly when all you had to eat with was a 
> knife and a spoon. Making a sandwich makes it easier to eat and your 
> fingers stay cleaner. We know that that the latter was often considered 
> important.


Sylvia Rector, Food Writer for the Detroit Free Press, sites this amusing little 'historical fact'
in the 2/11/03 issue:

" 1st Century B.C. -- First recorded sandwich made by rabbi Hillel; he pressed chopped nuts,
apples, spices and other ingredients between two matzohs to eat with bitter herbs during
Passover."

The next example doesn't come until after our period of interest, unfortunately:

"1762 -- Modern sandwich invented in London by John Montague, fourth Earl of Sandwich, when he
asks for bread, cheese and meat to be brought so he can continue gambling. He holds the food --
bread outside and other ingredients inside -- in one hand and keeps playing cards. Other players
are said to request "the same as Sandwich," giving the sandwich its name and Montague a place in
history. "

This particular reference has the weight of tradition, if only because it is the most widely known
'Sandwich Tale'.  

The English bread known as 'Sally Lunn' does, however, date back at least 300 years, and this
reference, though modern, may support the idea (at least) that bread may have been commonly eaten
with 'fillings' for some time:


"Sally Lunn, a young French refugee, arrived in England over 300 years ago. She began to bake a
rich round and generous bread now known as the Sally Lunn Bun. 

This bun became a very popular delicacy in Georgian England as its special taste and lightness
allowed it to be enjoyed with either sweet or savoury accompaniments."

That reference is from the official Sally Lunn website.  The modern version of the Sally Lunn is
often sliced horizontally into three layers, and filled with butter or clotted cream.  It's
actually quite good, and I make it often for parties.


And, the book 'Medieval Sandwich' by T.L. Richardson might appear at first glance to be the
definitive resource for culinary evidence...until you realize that it is a book about the village
of Sandwich, and not the food.

I do seem to recall a reference in Apicius which has a sandwich-style item in it, but I'll have to
peek at it later.  I think it has olives and cheese.

Chris



=====
Every heart to love will come... but like a refugee.


		
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