Sandwich Day in Britain

[Т А Кузнецова]

Two stories about one sandwich.

You know that Britain is celebrating the 250th anniversary of inventing sandwich on May 12.

Here are two stories from BBC and Daily Mail, go and find more.

When John Montagu, the fourth Earl of Sandwich, ordered beef served between slices of bread about 250 years ago he probably did not think his request would become a global convenience meal.

The story goes that the Earl asked for the particular serving so that he could eat while continuing to play cards and his friends asked "to have the same as Sandwich", according to the British Sandwich Association.

The first written record of the sandwich was in 1762 and the Kent town of Sandwich, which is the earldom of the Montagu family, is celebrating the 250th anniversary of the meal.

Sir Edward Montagu, a prominent naval commander, became the first Earl of Sandwich when he was offered a peerage in 1660. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-kent-18010424

An ardent gambler, the 4th Earl of Sandwich refused to break from his games to dine formally. Instead, so legend has it, he demanded his kitchen staff bring him slabs of beef between hunks of bread, so that he might eat it without dripping gravy on his cards.

His gambling chums, all eager to emulate their esteemed host, adopted the same habit, and when the Earl ordered his snack, they would shout 'The same as Sandwich!', and thus, the story goes, the sandwich was born.

A less colourful version of the tale is expounded in the Earl of Sandwich's biography, by N.A.M. Rodger. He suggests that Sandwich, a hardworking member of the military who was heavily involved with the political world and the arts, is more likely to have eaten the sandwiches at his desk. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/food/article-2141902/Supermarket-celebrates-250-years-sandwich--Yorkshire-pudding-wrap.html#ixzz1ulaSM9Qh