Real Talk!

I heard a new one recently: The Sandwich Generation
& I started thinking.

Hillel the Elder, born in Babylon during the 1st century BCE has been credited with making the first sandwich. Renowned as a scholar and sage, Hillel played a pivotal role in the development of the Mishnah and the Talmud.

Hillel’s sandwich recipe:

Enwrap meat from the Paschal lam (a lamb sacraficed at Passover)with matzo and bitter herbs and eat them as one.

Sounds a little like a burrito.

Mrs. Randolph brought us the Oyster loaf sandwich in 1838, New Orleans- it was a variation of the Peace Maker sandwich which was made with a loaf of French bread, split and buttered and filled with fried oysters

The Italians from Philadelphia are credited with bringing us the “Hoagie” in the late teens or early twenties. These are thick sandwich rolls or buns- filled with meats, cheese, tomatoes, onions, lettuce, oil and vinegar- the works!

The New York State Italians lay claim to the first “submarine sandwiches”. This is a king-sized sandwich on an Italian loaf of bread approximately 12 inches long an 3 inches wide, filled with boiled ham, hard salami, cheeses, lettuce, tomatoes, onions, and sometimes flavored with garlic and oregano

The recipe, apparently created in the early 1800s calls for a long crusty roll or loaf of Italian bread, filled with cold cuts, topped with lettuce, tomatoes, peppers, onions, oil, vinegar, Italian spices, salt, and pepper. The key to this sandwich (to keep the bread from getting soggy) was that a full layer of cheese would be placed on top of the bottom slice of bread and the last layer was another full layer of cheese-before the top piece of bread.

The “Dagwood” sandwich (a variety of fillings, in multiple layers) arrived shortly after Chic Young’s 1930’s cartoon character, Dagwood Bumstead made them chic. The character was known for his late night foraging through the refrigerator for leftovers which he would precariously stack between bread.

I grew up watching Yogi Bear. He made his debut the same year that I did- 1958- as an extra on the Huckleberry Hound show. Yogi (and his little buddy Boo-Boo) had a particular taste for peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. By 1961, Yogi had his own show and had graduated to chasing after pic-a-nic baskets, while maintaining his love of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.

The US Military are said to be responsible for peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, as they were easily made by the troops from the supplies sent in their military rations.

Sandwich cookies have icing in the middle. I love the commercial where the little girl and her grandmother take the top cookie off and race; to see who can lick the icing off faster!

Then, who could forget Jared Fogel? He’s the guy who became a celebrity after 20 commercials for Subway brand sandwiches. Jared claims that Subway assisted him in losing more than half his body weight.

By reducing his intake to two subs a day (one small turkey submarine sandwich and a large veggie sub, along with some baked potato chips, and diet soft drinks) Jared shaved considerable bulk from his 425 lb frame. In fact, he attributes a 245 lb weight loss to the sandwiches.

The famous double-decker, clubhouse sandwich is said to have originated in the late 1800s at a posh, gentlemen only country club cum gambling house in Upstate New York. Apparently it was the favourite of King Edward the VIII of England and his wife, Wallis Simpson.

The Reuben, a grilled sandwich made with corned beef, Swiss cheese, sauerkraut, and Russian dressing on rye bread was first made about 1914 by Arnold Reuben (1883-1970), the founder of Reuben’s Restaurant and Delicatessen. He claimed to have created it for an actress/friend of Charlie Chaplin who had come to the restaurant being hungry enough to “eat a brick”.

I don’t think Monte Carlo sandwiches started in Monte Carlo. Apparently, they are more connected to their pan-bagnats (a round sort of tuna salad with black olives and oil).

When I was a kid, parties often included trays of colourful pinwheel and finger sandwiches. The often had olive or cherry centers and they usually looked a lot better than they tasted. The modern twist of this old standby uses coloured tortilla wraps and a lot less gooey stuff.

In high school, a lot of my friends existed on “ice cream sandwiches”.

I understand that the grilled cheese sandwich is a modern variation of the open-faced melted cheese sandwich that began in 1920’s France. Ooh La La!

Everybody knows someone that likes some sort of strange sandwich. Donna, my office administrator, keeps suggesting that I try peanut butter and school bus yellow mustard. As a child, I liked peanut butter and bologna (so I’m told). I do like peanut butter and apple or peanut butter and lettuce, still.

One of my ex-husbands was a fan of the “chip butty”, steaming hot French fries, between slices of fresh white bread, slathered in butter. He would throw up if he so much as heard the word mustard.

Weird sandwiches seem to be easier to digest if you make them yourself. Other people’s weird sandwich ideas somehow always sound a little creepy and heaven forbid that anyone hand you a sandwich without detailing the contents!

& Nobody told me that there was a whole other part of being in the sandwich generation.

The part that applies to those of us who are demographically challenged. - You know, the ones who are fighting the aches and pains of middle age while still raising children & also trying to be of help to our aging parents.

I get it. It’s that part where my daughter still needs rides everywhere for now… as does my mother, for the nonce, who is dealing with macular degeneration.

Whatever will I do when Katie completes her G1 requirements and Mom is ready to drive again?

Maybe I’ll invent some wacky new sandwich craze!