[OT] Sandwichery of the Dark Ages

[fusangite]

A huge proportion of the plants grown for food today are new world in origin; in Africa, over 50% of all food in cultivation is from the New World. Corn and potatoes have changed the world.

As to the concept of the sandwich, most medievals baked ingredients into their bread rather than slicing it and placing ingredients between the slices; medieval bread was often more crumbly and heavier than current bread styles and thus, was not especially conducive to slicing. Instead, if people wanted meat, cheese, nuts or vegetables in bread, they would bake them into the bread at the outset.

To some degree, also, the sandwich is also premised on the concept of leftovers; in earlier times, people ate bread when it was warm and yummy rather than waiting for it to age for more than a day.

Of course, many elements of the sandwich already existed -- people often spread ingredients over bread -- lard, butter, etc. Thus, one could say that the open-faced sandwich has existed since bread came into being 10000 years ago.

 

[Angcuru]

Said to be named after John Montagu, 4th Earl of Sandwich (1718-1792), who once spent twenty-four hours at the gaming-table without other refreshment than some slices of cold beef placed between slices of toast.

So the guy to make sandwiches what they are now was a gamer.

Considering the ancient Romans had hamburger like sandwiches sold at fast food like store's I would say there were unquestionably sandwiches before 1750.

HAH! Ground met mixed with pine nuts and white wine molded into a pattie, grilled, and served in a split roll. Don't even have to look a the link.

Thus, one could say that the open-faced sandwich has existed since bread came into being 10000 years ago.

But that brings to case the question: Who created bread? And was it an accident? Did some ancient dude get the thought into his head: "Perhaps if I combine the right amounts of ground, dried wheat/rye/other similar grain with water and/or milk, along with several aother various thingies, mold it into a ball and heat it in a 'brick oven' for about half an hour without burning it, I can create a new foodstuff which will be world-renowned as the staple of the human diet!"?

 

[Renaissance Man]

Re: Re: [OT] Sandwichery of the Dark Ages

(Myself, I cannot imagine life without tomato sauce. Or chocolate, for that matter.)

Reminds me of something my wife once said. I had wondered aloud what life in Europe must have been like prior to the discovery of the New World, and more specifically, chocolate. She drily remarked, "That's why they called them the Dark Ages."

 

[Anthron]

HAH! Ground met mixed with pine nuts and white wine molded into a pattie, grilled, and served in a split roll. Don't even have to look a the link.

Did you happen to see the same show I did? It is a very useful show that illustrates the fact that people in ancient times are much cleverer then we give them credit for. Its called Ancient Inventions and is hosted by Terry Jones of Monty Python fame.

 

[Angcuru]

Did you happen to see the same show I did? It is a very useful show that illustrates the fact that people in ancient times are much cleverer then we give them credit for. Its called Ancient Inventions and is hosted by Terry Jones of Monty Python fame.

Nah, I'm just a history buff.

 

[Creamsteak]

I'm seriously considering incorporating those ancient recipes into my next character concept. A Cleric of Food, with maxed out ranks in Profession (Cook).

Now I'm thinking, when did people decide to eat spicy peppers? Obviously some of the really good kinds would have seemed like poison at first, especially habaneros... but eventually they became what they are now...

 

[Scarbonac]

I'm seriously considering incorporating those ancient recipes into my next character concept. A Cleric of Food, with maxed out ranks in Profession (Cook).

Now I'm thinking, when did people decide to eat spicy peppers? Obviously some of the really good kinds would have seemed like poison at first, especially habaneros... but eventually they became what they are now...

Well, some of the basic possibilities, as I see 'em:


The ''happy accident'', where a cook, without meaning to, mistakenly added some (pehaps thinking it to be a different vegetable, perhaps it was maliciously added to the food by a prankster) to a dish of food, and once the screaming and the burning and the ''o, my god my god why hast thou forsaken me, oh the pain, the paaaiiinnnn''- stopped, decided that it wasn't half bad, actually.



The ''traditional-medicine-turned-foodstuff'', where a vegetable/herb/fruit, because it held properties that were believed to be medicinal was well-known within a particular culture and someone deliberately experimented with putting it in food under the premise that it might act as a preventative.


Volitile/aromatic foodstuffs like peppers, hot mustard (see ''mustard-plaster'') and horseradish can clear the air-passages, wake one up (hoo-boy, can it wake you up) and cause someone to break out in a sweat, possibly helping to cool the body in warm climates plus sweating has also been believed by many cultures (such as some American Indian tribes, the Romans and Scandanavians) to have a salutary effect on one's health by removing toxins, evil spirits and the like from the body), to name a few effects.


A modern example might be soda drinks; Dr. Pepper, Coke and IRRC Pepsi all started as some sort of patent medicine beverage available in drugstores (complete, in Coke's case, with coke).


Then there's the ''food of desperation'' scenario, where some poor sod , for whatever reason, was without what his culture considered food (a crop failure, bad hunt, goats all died from scrapie, lost in the wilderness, had all of his food stolen by other humans or animals), and out of sheer starvation grabs the first likely-looking thing off of a bush and stuffs in his mouth, figuring ''if it's good as food, I'll live, if it's poison, I'll die. Since starvation is the only other option, at least I'll die with a full belly...''



*shrug*

[/half-assed pedantry]

 

[Zhure]

The Frugal Gourmet did a show on "early sandwiches" about ten to fifteen years ago. He showcased sandwich-like dishes from across the world, all predating the "Earl of Sandwich." I vaguely remember some fried chinese dish, and some pita-bread concoction.

Greg

 

[Shadowdancer]

Basically the world had sandwiches, just no one called them sandwiches until that name was given to them because of the Earl of Sandwich.

 

[Buttercup]

In the middle ages, people frequently used large, stale slabs of bread as plates, which they called trenchers. The bread would soak up the juices of whatever you were eating, and become soft enough to chew, so you could then gobble up the "plate" itself. So you could say that every meal was an open-faced sandwich, just not called that.