Type | Sandwich |
---|---|
Place of origin | United Kingdom |
Main ingredients | Two pieces of sliced bread, sliced ham |
Type | Sandwich |
---|---|
Main ingredients | Sliced bread, cheese, ham |
The ham sandwich is a common type of sandwich. [1] The bread may be fresh or toasted, and it can be made with a variety of toppings including cheese and vegetables like lettuce, tomato, onion or pickle slices. Various kinds of mustard and mayonnaise are also common.
Sliced bread, sliced cheese, and sliced cooked ham are very readily available in Western supermarkets and as a result ham sandwiches are quick and easy to prepare. They are a common component of a packed lunch.
The origin of the ham and cheese sandwich has been debated for a number of years by culinary intellectuals. The leading theory as to who first started to produce a ham, cheese and bread dish is mentioned in The Larousse Gastronomique 1961. Here it notes that Patrick Connolly, an 18th-century Irish immigrant to England, sold a bread dish which:
combined the remains of pig, cured and sliced with a topping of Leicester cheese and a kiss of egg yolk sauce (a form of mayonnaise) in a round bread roll. The dish was rather unimaginatively known as a Connolly and is still sometimes referred to as this in some parts of the Midlands in the UK.
In the UK, a common addition to a ham and cheese sandwich is pickle (a sweet, vinegary chutney originally by Branston); the snack is then known as a ham, cheese and pickle sandwich. [2] [3] [4] [5] [6]
As recalled by ballpark concessionaire Harry Stevens in a 1924 interview, in 1894 ham and cheese sandwiches were the only food sold in New York baseball parks; frankfurters were introduced in 1909. [7]
An Englishwoman, writing in 1923 of her passage through Ellis Island on a trip to the U.S., noted:
I was in fear and trembling, having heard so many tales of the abuse aliens receive there.... The attendants were very kind and not at all rough with us. It was the noon hour... in a little while porters came along with baskets of very good ham and cheese sandwiches and coffee for the grown-ups and milk for the babies. [8]
Richard E. Byrd took ham and cheese sandwiches on his 1926 polar flight as did 1927 transatlantic fliers Chamberlin and Levine. [9]
The British Sandwich Association says that the ham sandwich is the most popular sandwich in the UK, [10] and a survey they conducted in 2001 saw ham as the second favourite filling behind cheese. [11] 70% of the 1.8 billion sandwiches eaten in France in 2008 were ham sandwiches, prompting a French economic analysis firm to begin a 'jambon-beurre index', like the Big Mac Index, to compare prices across the country. [12]
The world's longest ham sandwich was created by butcher Nico Jimenez in Pamplona, Spain in 2009. [13]
In Argentinian cuisine a fosforito is a ham and cheese sandwich using puff pastry as the bread. In Uruguay the same puff pastry sandwich is called a jesuita. [14] [15] [16]
In French cuisine, a croque-monsieur is a type of ham and cheese sandwich. It is baked or fried.
In Brazilian cuisine, a toasted ham and cheese sandwich is known as a misto-quente (lit. 'hot mix'). [17] [18]
The Cuban sandwich is made with ham, cheese, and crusty Cuban bread, often toasted in a panini press. Variations of this sandwich are popular in both Cuba and South Florida.
The World Cancer Research Fund warned in 2009 against parents feeding their children too many ham sandwiches, due to the risk of bowel cancer from the processed meat. [19] [20]
A ham sandwich was suspected of causing an outbreak of swine fever in the UK in 2000. [21]
New York State chief judge Sol Wachtler was famously quoted by Tom Wolfe in The Bonfire of the Vanities that "a grand jury would 'indict a ham sandwich,' if that's what you wanted." [22] [23]
A fictional talking ham sandwich appeared in an online noir serial in the late 1990s, and the publishers sued in 1999 when a similar character appeared in a television advertisement for Florida orange juice, though the suit was withdrawn. [24] [25]
The name "ham sandwich" is sometimes used (particularly by the New Orleans Police Department) to refer to a firearm planted at a crime scene by police as false evidence. [26] [27] [28]
Singer "Mama" Cass Elliot died in 1974, and it was widely reported that she had choked on a ham sandwich. This was untrue; Elliot suffered a heart attack in her sleep. [29] [30]
Basketball star LeBron James criticized NBA officials in the league's replay center who were reviewing a ruling that James' potential game-tying shot in a 2023 game against the Minnesota Timberwolves was a 2-pointer, rather than a 3-pointer, as he and his teammates on the LA Lakers believed. After the review, the original 2-point ruling stood, and James sarcastically attributed the decision to "somebody over there eating a ham sandwich". [31]
Argentine cuisine is described as a blending of cultures, from the Indigenous peoples of Argentina who focused on ingredients such as humita, potatoes, cassava, peppers, tomatoes, beans, and yerba mate, to Mediterranean influences brought by the Spanish during the colonial period. This led to cultural blending of criollos, Indigenous, and sub-Saharan African in the cuisine. Later, this was complemented by the significant influx of Italian and Spanish immigrants to Argentina during the 19th and 20th centuries, who incorporated plenty of their food customs and dishes such as pizzas, pasta and Spanish tortillas.
A BLT is a type of sandwich, named for the initials of its primary ingredients, bacon, lettuce, and tomato. It can be made with varying recipes according to personal preference. Simple variants include using different types of lettuce or tomatoes, toasting or not, or adding mayonnaise. More pronounced variants can include using turkey bacon or tofu in place of bacon, or removing the lettuce entirely.
A club sandwich, also called a clubhouse sandwich, is a sandwich consisting of bread, sliced cooked poultry, fried bacon, lettuce, tomato, and mayonnaise. It is often cut into quarters or halves and held together by cocktail sticks. Modern versions frequently have two layers which are separated by an additional slice of bread.
Egg salad is a dish consisting of chopped hard-boiled or scrambled eggs, mustard, and mayonnaise, and vegetables often including other ingredients such as celery.
An open sandwich, also known as an open-face/open-faced sandwich, bread baser, bread platter or tartine, consists of a slice of bread or toast with one or more food items on top. It has half the amount of bread of a typical closed sandwich.
The grilled cheese is a hot cheese sandwich typically prepared by heating slices of cheese between slices of bread with a cooking fat such as butter or mayonnaise on a frying pan, griddle, or sandwich toaster, until the bread browns and the cheese melts.
A sloppy joe is a sandwich consisting of ground beef, onions, tomato sauce or ketchup, Worcestershire sauce, and other seasonings, served on a hamburger bun. There are several theories about the sandwich's origin.
Different areas of the world have local variations on the hot dog, in the type of meat used, the condiments added, and its means of preparation.
Sándwiches de miga, also called rafaelitos, are popular food items in Argentina and Uruguay, where they are often consumed at parties. Rather than making them from scratch, Argentines usually buy them at a local bakery. They can be toasted or untoasted. The toasted version is common bar food in both countries, known locally as tostados or carlitos in Argentina, and sándwiches calientes in Uruguay.
Uruguayan cuisine is a fusion of cuisines from several European countries, especially of Mediterranean foods from Spain, Italy, Portugal and France. Other influences on the cuisine resulted from immigration from countries such as Germany and Scotland. Uruguayan gastronomy is a result of immigration, rather than local Amerindian cuisine, because of late-19th and early 20th century immigration waves of, mostly, Italians. Spanish influences are abundant: desserts like churros, flan, ensaimadas yoo (Catalan sweet bread), and alfajores were all brought from Spain. There are also all kinds of stews known as guisos or estofados, arroces, and fabada. All of the guisos and traditional pucheros (stews) are also of Spanish origin. Uruguayan preparations of fish, such as dried salt cod (bacalao), calamari, and octopus, originate from the Basque and Galician regions, and also Portugal. Due to its strong Italian tradition, all of the famous Italian pasta dishes are present in Uruguay including ravioli, lasagne, tortellini, fettuccine, and the traditional gnocchi. Although the pasta can be served with many sauces, there is one special sauce that was created by Uruguayans. Caruso sauce is a pasta sauce made from double cream, meat, onions, ham and mushrooms. It is very popular with sorrentinos and agnolotti. Additionally, there is Germanic influence in Uruguayan cuisine as well, particularly in sweet dishes. The pastries known as bizcochos are Germanic in origin: croissants, known as medialunas, are the most popular of these, and can be found in two varieties: butter- and lard-based. Also German in origin are the Berlinese known as bolas de fraile, and the rolls called piononos. The facturas were re-christened with local names given the difficult German phonology, and usually Uruguayanized by the addition of a dulce de leche filling. Even dishes like chucrut (sauerkraut) have also made it into mainstream Uruguayan dishes.
Cheese on toast is made by placing sliced or grated cheese on toasted bread and melting it under a grill. It is popular in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, the Caribbean, and in African countries.
The bologna sandwich is a sandwich common in the United States and Canada. Also known as a baloney sandwich, it is traditionally made from sliced bologna sausage between slices of white bread, along with various condiments, such as mayonnaise, mustard, and ketchup.
A Jésuite is a triangular, flaky pastry filled with frangipane cream and topped with sliced almonds and powdered sugar. The pastry originated in France and the name refers to the triangular shape of a Jesuit's hat.
The bocadillo or bocata, in Spain, is a sandwich made with Spanish bread, usually a baguette or similar type of bread, cut lengthwise. Traditionally seen as a humble food, its low cost has allowed it to evolve over time into an iconic piece of cuisine. In Spain, they are often eaten in cafes and tapas bars.
The cheese dream is an open-faced version of the American grilled cheese sandwich made with bread and cheese; it is cooked with either oil, margarine, or butter. Other ingredients such as bacon, avocado, pineapple, eggs, or sliced tomato can be optionally added to the open-faced sandwich as well.
St. Louis cuisine is the culinary culture of the Greater St. Louis area, which comprises and surrounds the independent city of St. Louis and includes parts of the U.S. states of Missouri and Illinois.
A Beirute is a Brazilian sandwich influenced by Syrian-Lebanese cuisine made with pita bread, brought to Brazil in the early twentieth century by Levantine immigrants. The Beirute sandwich uses two whole pieces of bread, not inside the pocket of a single piece of bread. The contents of Beirut can vary greatly, the most found ingredients are pita bread, roast beef or sliced silverside, or ham, cheese, lettuce, tomato slices and a fried egg.
A jesuita (Uruguay) or fosforito is a baked sandwich commonly eaten in parts of South America and considered a classic of Argentinian cuisine. It consists of two pieces of puff pastry filled with thin slices of ham and cheese.