Many Ways with Sandwich Fillings

The concept of putting a filling between two slices of bread is hardly new, as pictures of medieval field hands eating this way attest. However, it wasn’t until the mid-eighteenth century that the term sandwich started to be used for it, initially in the context of a delicate and lightweight snack for men busy late at night with work or, more usually, gambling. It’s named for John Montagu, the fourth Earl of Sandwich, who was one such man. By the late eighteenth century, sandwiches had moved onto dinner tables, still in a very light and tasteful form, but inevitably the term expanded used to describe everything from ladylike finger food to the door step sandwiches of the modern pub. They were very practical for picnics and for shooting teas, as they could be served in a way that appeared genteel yet were easy to transport and to eat.