Sandwich

Egg salad sandwich with dill pickle and mandarins on the side

Go to any gathering here in Bohol and observe how the locals fill their plates with rice -- wide and high – as if the rice is all they intend to eat.  Seeing mine with only a couple of spoonsful, they would ask if I were on a diet.  Little do they know I go for a second helping or two if needed.  By the way, most Pinoys are more into rice than the viands.   I, on the other hand, tend to eat more of the served dishes than the rice.

Be that as it may, I once told a Boholano friend that I could go on for years without rice as long as I have sandwiches, which I had done while in New York City.  And my favorite sandwich filling is egg salad simply because they are so tasty and easy to make.

Indeed, hard-boiled eggs make inexpensive egg-salad sandwiches and smart, simple high-protein snacks; they add protein to green salads and make delicious appetizers like deviled eggs. 

Pastrami, ham and tuna, as well as bacon-lettuce-tomato (BLT) are the other sandwiches I love the most.  Bagel and wheat are my usual choices for bread.

Historically, the first written usage of the English word sandwich appeared in Edward Gibbon's journal, in longhand, referring to "bits of cold meat" in between two pieces of bread. It was named after John Montagu, 4th Earl of Sandwich, an 18th-century English aristocrat, although he was neither the inventor nor sustainer of the food.

According to Wikipedia, Montagu ordered his valet to bring him meat tucked between two pieces of bread, and because he also happened to be the Fourth Earl of Sandwich, others began to order "the same as Sandwich!"

Lord Sandwich was fond of this form of food because it allowed him to continue playing cards, particularly cribbage, while eating without getting his cards greasy from eating meat with his bare hands.

Before being known as sandwiches, the food seems to simply have been known as "bread and meat" or "bread and cheese."

In New York, Subway became my favorite eatery whenever I had to fulfill a craving for tasty sandwiches.  It is an American restaurant franchise that primarily sells submarine sandwiches (subs) and salads.  Sandwiches are usually served in soft hero bread (baguettes).  Subway is one of the fastest growing franchises in the world with 37,000 restaurants in 100 countries as of June 27, 2012.  They have branches in Metro Manila.

These days, however, there are many sandwich specialty restaurants that have sprung up in the States and are supposedly doing exceptionally well.  Check out this slideshow.

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Spanish omelette and bacon on mini baguette sandwich

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Suggested site:

Serious Eats: Sandwiches

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