SANDWICHES

The Sandwich

What better place to start, than with the humble sandwich. Known as a sandwich to most, referred to as a butty, or buttie, in the north of England (probably a derivative of buttered bread), the sandwich is quite simply two or more pieces of bread, with one or more fillings in between. It can be hot or cold, depending on the bread, the filling and personal preference.

A History

The history of the sandwich goes back much further than the 4^th Earl of Sandwich. There is evidence of people using bread with meat and fish as far back as the early Neolithic period (9400 B.C.)

Jewish religious leader and sage Hiller the Elder (110 B.C. - 10 A.D.) is said to have eaten paschal lamb and herbs between two pieces of matzah (a Jewish unleavened bread, which is eaten during passover)

During the three periods of the Middle Ages (5th century until 15th century), there are many accounts of people using trenchers. A trencher was originally a large slab of stale bread, usually cut into a square shape, and used as a plate, where meat, fish and vegetables would be placed to be eaten. If the customer want to take the meal away, another trencher could be placed over the meal to cover.

The sandwich as we know it, like all things in today's society, came about as a fashion item, the latest fad or the 'in' thing. I refer, of coarse, to John Montague – the 4^th Earl of Sandwich, who was a man known throughout Britain. A man about town, he was well travelled, a former Patriot Whig, who rose to the position of Postmaster General, became Secretary of State for the Northern Department twice and held the title of First Lord of the Admiralty three times.

The modern sandwich is possibly named after John Montague (referred to as sandwich by his friends) but it was not invented by him. A hardened gambler, he would ask his servants to bring him slices of meat between two slices of bread during his long hours playing at the card tables. Eventually, others began to order "the same as Sandwich!"

I'm not going to teach you how to make a sandwich here, that would be insulting your intelligence, but there are many different varieties.

For instance, you could have a Ham and Cheese on white bread, or a Parma ham and Mozzarella Ciabatta, a bacon and cheddar baguette, Gammon and Stilton on Russian black bread, the list, of course, is endless.

There are, however, variations on the humble sandwich, such as the Grilled cheese sandwich, welsh rarebit, croque monsieur, the hot brown, the horseshoe and the Monte-cristo, Japanese katsusand, Peruvian butifarras, Italian Calzone, Naan's, Pitta's and spring rolls. Oh, the list goes on and the stomach rumbles.

So Let's go with something tradition to start, shall we.

Welsh Rarebit

 

If you like cheese on toast, then this dish should be right up your street, but there are so many variations to this dish that my advice would always be keep it simple. This dish is basically cheese and eggs on toast. A traditional recipe consists of:

Ingredients

120ml Milk

1 tbsp Plain Flour

250g Mature Cheddar, grated

1 tsp English mustard powder

1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce

120ml Ale or Guinness (not lager)

1 egg

2 slices crusty bread

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Preheat the grill to high. Mix together all the ingredients

Toast the bread.

Spread one side of each slice with the cheese mixture thickly on top.

Place on a baking sheet and grill until golden.

Serve with salad or on it's own

The Hot Brown

In 1926, The Brown Hotel in Louisville, Kentucky drew over 1,200 guests each evening for its dinner dance. Diners were growing rapidly bored with the traditional ham and eggs, so Chef Fred Schmidt set out to create something new to tempt his guests' palates. His unique creation was an open-faced turkey sandwich with bacon and a delicate Mornay sauce.

1 oz. Butter

1 oz. Plain Flour

½ Litre Cream

½ Cup Grated Cheese, Plus 1 Tablespoon for Garnish

Salt & Pepper

7 oz. Sliced Roasted Turkey Breast

1 large slice bread

2 slices of Crispy Bacon

1 large tomato, halved

Paprika, Parsley

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In a saucepan, melt butter and slowly whisk in flour until combined and forms a thick paste (roux). Continue to cook roux for two minutes over medium-low heat, stirring frequently. Whisk the cream into the roux and cook over medium heat until the cream begins to simmer, about 2-3 minutes. Remove sauce from heat and slowly whisk in the cheese until the Mornay sauce is smooth. Add salt and pepper to taste. Beer or Worcester sauce can be used also

For each Hot Brown, place one slice of toast on an oven safe dish and cover with 7 ounces of turkey. Take the two halves of the tomato and set them alongside the base of turkey and toast. Next, pour one half of the Mornay sauce to completely cover the dish. Sprinkle with additional cheese. Place entire dish under the grill until cheese begins to brown and bubble. Remove from grill, cross two pieces of crispy bacon on top, sprinkle with paprika and parsley, and serve immediately.

The Horseshoe

 

The horseshoe sandwich was first made by Chef Joe Schweska at the Leland Hotel in Springfield, Illinois, in 1928. The name derives from the shape of the horseshoe ham that was originally used.

The dish is basically an open sandwich, made with toasted bread, thick cut ham or burgers, although any meat can be used, such as chicken breast or pork medallions, topped with French fries and smothered in a cheesy mornay sauce.

This is an original Horseshoe

Ingredients

Handful of French fries

2 slices toasted bread

2 burgers, or slices of ham

mornay or cheese sauce (see above)

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lay the toasted bread on a plate, cook the burgers and lay on the toast, cover the meat with sauce, top the lot with the fries and drizzle last of the sauce over the fries. If you wish, you can top this with chopped peppers, bacon bits, pretty much anything.

You can also make a breakfast version of this meal with bacon, eggs and hash browns instead of burgers and fries.

The Monte-Cristo

 

The Monte-Cristo, this is a tricky one, because it's quite possibly the most diverse of all. It can contain meat, cheese, fruit, yoghurt, fish, seafood, even ice-cream.

The history of the Monte-Cristo is a divided argument, but the story that seems most plausible is that it dates back to the Monte Cristo Hotel in Everett, Washington around the early 1920's.

It is generally agreed that the basis of this sandwich is French toast, fried ham and either Emmental or Gruyère cheese. The Monte Cristo is believed to be a variation of the French croque monsieur. In the 1930s–1960s, American cookbooks had recipes for this type of sandwich under such names as French Sandwich, Toasted Ham Sandwich, and French Toasted Cheese Sandwich. Here we will do a basic Monte-Cristo. Fast and simple.

Ingredients

2 slices bread

2 eggs beaten

100 ml milk

pinch of nutmeg

2 slices ham

2 slices turkey

1 slice cheese

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Beat the eggs, milk and nutmeg to make a batter, then dip the bread into the egg batter and place in a frying pan. The batter will cook quickly so keep the heat low. Flip the bread after about a minute, to cook the other side and place the meat onto the cooking bread to heat the meat (alternatively you could flash the meat in a second pan). Place the cheese on top of one of the stacks in the pan and turn heat right down (alternately, pop under the grill until cheese melts). Take out of pan and assemble to a sandwich.

There are so many ways to cook this thing, this is just the quickest way that I have found. I've had this one done in under two mins.

The croque monsieur

 

This sandwich is basically a French ham and cheese toasted sandwich, but it is unusual in the sense that the many variants to the sandwich change not only the experience, but also the name. The list of names can be found on wikipedia, but the basic croque monsieur is first recorded on a Parisian café menu was in 1910. Croque being the French for crunch and monsieur meaning mister. The French language has always had grammatical gender placed upon it, so the original expression could simply be 'The crunchy sandwich' in the male class. If you serve this with an egg in top it becomes a croque madame

Ingredients

2 slices bread

3 slices ham

2oz grated cheese

1oz butter

1 teaspoon parmesan (mix with grated cheese)

Salt and pepper

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On one slice of the buttered bread, spread half the grated cheese, then cover that with the sliced of ham, so they fit the size of the bread. Now sprinkle the rest of the cheese on top of the ham, season, then place the other slice of bread on top of that and press it down very firmly. Now brush half the melted butter on the top side of the sandwich, sprinkle it with a little of the grated cheese and press it in. Now place under the grill for about 2 minutes. When it's golden brown, turn it over, brush the other side with the remaining melted butter, sprinkle the last of the cheese over and grill for another 2 minutes. Done

Japanese katsusand

 

Ok, the Japanese sandwich is relatively new, and basically a variation on the western sandwich. The most famous Japanese sandwich is the katsusand.

Katsusand is actually Tonkatsu sandoicchi ( Ton (katsu-sand) oicci)

Basically, this is a sandwich made from Tonkatsu, which is breaded deep-fried pork, similar to breaded chicken that you buy from the supermarket (which can be used as an alternative). To make the Tonkatsu you simply take a thin piece of pork, rub soy sauce into the meat, then dip in egg and cover with breadcrumb, then shallow or deep fry. Sprinkle some 5 spice into the breadcrumb to season.

Tonkatsu is always served with cabbage and sauce, the cabbage is finely sliced (like dry coleslaw mix) and soaked in cold water, the sauce can be made from Worcester sauce and ketchup. Simply put sliced tonkatsu and cabbage into a soft buttered roll with sauce. I personally like to use a fajita wrap

Calzone

 

I couldn't write this section without including Calzone. Calzone is pizza, sandwich, and pasty, all rolled onto one, I love them. Basically they are similar to Stromboli, but where the stromboli is a pizza that is rolled up, the cazone is a pizza that has been folded over and sealed. Different regions of Italy have different variations and different names, but this easy to eat snack has taken off in huge way in the states.

The easy and quick version of this is the American version, and like topping a pizza, there is no end of fillings for a calzone. I'm going to keep this one simple, though

Ingredients

1 pizza base (supermarket or home-made)

2 tomatoes

tomato purée

mixed herbs

1 small red onion chopped

1 small pepper chopped

1 spring onion chopped

1 large mushroom chopped

1 handful grated cheese

large pinch cracked black pepper

chicken, bacon or sausage (whatever you want to use)

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First, you'll need to warm the oven to 180C (Gas 6), then mix the chopped veg into a bowl with grated cheese, add cracked black pepper and a pinch of the mixed herbs.

Chop up the tomatoes as much as you can, (or even put the in a blender for 10 seconds) drain of the excess fluid and place them into a second bowl, with a pinch of mixed herbs, pinch of black pepper and a large teaspoon of tomato purée.

Run one hand under the tap, shake excess water off your hand, and wipe (dampen) the pizza base, then pop in microwave for about ten seconds. This will soften the base so that it will fold it without it breaking. Lay the pizza base out and coat the topside with tomato mixture, add the cheese mix filling, and any meat you wish (I use chopped bacon) then fold the base over to make a halve moon shape and fold back the very edges and pinch them together, in order to seal the whole thing. It's now time to pop it in the oven. Some people will at this stage, glaze with milk or egg, I personally don't bother, just thought I’d mention it. You need to cook this for around 10 - 15 minutes, and let it cool before you eat, or you'll burn your mouth on the hot cheese.