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A sandwich is a dish typically consisting variously of meat, cheese, , and used as a filling between slices of bread, or placed atop a slice of bread; or, more generally, any dish in which bread serves as a container or wrapper for another food type. (2025). 9780131380226, Pearson. ISBN 9780131380226 The sandwich began as a portable, convenient food in the Western world, and over time it has become prevalent worldwide.
There has been social media debate over the precise definition of sandwich, specifically whether a hot dog or open sandwich can be categorised as such. Other items, like and , were also considered. In the United States, the Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) are the responsible agencies for protecting the definition of sandwich. The USDA uses the definition, "at least 35% cooked meat and no more than 50% bread" for closed sandwiches, and "at least 50% cooked meat" for open sandwiches. However, the same USDA manual determines that burritos and are "sandwich-like" and frankfurters are "sandwich type", while stromboli is explicitly excluded. In Britain, the British Sandwich Association defines a sandwich as "any form of bread with a filling, generally assembled cold"; a definition which includes wraps and , but potentially excludes dishes assembled and served hot, such as burgers.
Sandwiches are a popular type of lunch food, taken to work, school, or to be eaten as part of a packed lunch. The bread is frequently coated with such as mayonnaise or mustard to enhance its flavour and texture, but may be served plain ("dry"). As well as being homemade, sandwiches are also widely sold in various retail outlets and can be served hot or cold. (2025). 9780131380226, Pearson. ISBN 9780131380226 Although savoury sandwiches—such as deli meat sandwiches—are in the majority, sweet sandwiches—such as jam sandwiches and fluffernutter—form their own category.
The sandwich is named after the inventor of a certain roast-beef sandwich in 18th-century England, John Montagu, 4th Earl of Sandwich. What's Cooking America , Sandwiches, History of Sandwiches. 2 February 2007. The Wall Street Journal has described it as Britain's "biggest contribution to gastronomy".
In the first century BC the Jewish sage Hillel the Elder is said to have wrapped meat from the Korban Pesach and maror in a soft matzah—flat, unleavened bread—during Passover in the manner of a modern wrap made with flatbread. Bavli Pesachim 115a; See also Passover Hagadah Flat breads of only slightly varying kinds have long been used to scoop or wrap small amounts of food en route from platter to mouth throughout Western Asia and North Africa. From the cuisines Moroccan cuisine to Ethiopia to Indian cuisine, bread is usually baked in flat rounds, contrasting with the European loaf tradition.
During the Middle Ages in Europe, thick slabs of coarse and usually staling, called "trenchers," were used as plates. After a meal, the food-soaked trencher was fed to a dog or to beggars at the tables of the wealthy, and eaten by diners in more modest circumstances. The immediate culinary precursor with a direct connection to the English sandwich was to be found in the Netherlands of the seventeenth century, where the naturalist John Ray observedRay, Observations topographical, moral, & physiological; made in a journey through part of the Low Countries, Germany, Italy, and France … (vol. I, 1673) quoted in Simon Schama, (1987:152). that in the taverns beef hung from the rafters "which they cut into thin slices and eat with bread and butter laying the slices upon the butter"—explanatory specifications that reveal the Dutch belegde broodje, open-faced sandwich, was as yet unfamiliar in England. The word "sandwich" appears, referring to a certain roast beef sandwich in England. '' by Thomas Gainsborough, 1783, after whom the sandwich is named]] Initially perceived as food that men shared while gaming and drinking at night, the sandwich slowly began appearing in polite society as a late-night meal among the aristocracy. The sandwich is named after John Montagu, 4th Earl of Sandwich, an eighteenth-century English aristocracy. It is commonly said that Lord Sandwich, during long sessions of cribbage and other card games at public Casino, would order his valet to bring him roast beef between two pieces of toasted bread. He was fond of this form of food because it allowed him to continue gambling while eating, without the need for a fork, and without getting his cards greasy from eating meat with his bare hands. The dish then grew in popularity in London, and Sandwich's name became associated with it. The rumour in its familiar form appeared in Pierre-Jean Grosley's Londres (Neuchâtel, 1770), translated as A Tour to London in 1772;Grosley, Londres (Neuchatel, 1770) and A Tour to London, or, New observations on England and its inhabitants, translated from the French by Thomas Nugent (London: Printed for Lockyer Davis) 1772; Hexmasters Faktoider: Sandwich : English quotes from Grosley 1772 Grosley's impressions had been formed during a year in London in 1765. An alternative is provided by Sandwich's biographer Nicholas A. M. Rodger, who suggests Sandwich's commitments to the Royal Navy, politics and the arts mean the first sandwich was more likely to have been consumed at his desk.
The sandwich's popularity in Spain and England increased dramatically during the nineteenth century, when the rise of industrial society and the working classes made fast, portable, and inexpensive meals essential. Encyclopedia of Food and Culture, Solomon H. Katz, editor (Charles Scribner's Sons: New York) 2003 In London, for example, at least seventy street vendors were selling ham sandwiches by 1850; during that decade sandwich bars also became an important form of eating establishment in western Holland, typically serving liver and salt beef sandwiches.
In the United States, the sandwich was first promoted as an elaborate meal at supper. By the early 20th century, as bread became a staple food of the American diet, the sandwich became the same kind of popular, quick meal as was already widespread in the Mediterranean.
In Spain, where the word sandwich is loanword from the English language, it refers to a food item made with English sandwich bread. It is otherwise known as a bocadillo. Similar usage applies in other Spanish-speaking cultures, such as Mexico, where the word torta is also used for a popular variety of roll-type sandwiches.
In Britain and Australia, the term sandwich is more narrowly defined than in the US: it usually refers to an item that uses sliced bread from a loaf. An item with similar fillings but using an entire bread roll cut horizontally in half, is generally referred to as a roll, or with certain hot fillings, a burger. However, in Australia hot sliced (not ground) beef between two slices of toasted bread is referred to as a steak sandwich: the sliced loaf bread distinguishes the steak sandwich from a burger.
The verb to sandwich has the meaning "to position anything between two other things of a different character, or to place different elements alternately," The Oxford English Dictionary and the noun sandwich has related meanings derived from this more general definition. For example, an ice cream sandwich consists of a layer of ice cream between two layers of cake or biscuit.Taste Taste: Ice Cream Sandwiches, NYmag.com Similarly, and are described as sandwich biscuits (UK/Commonwealth) or (US) because they consist of a soft filling between the baked layers.Oreo Sandwich Biscuits, Nabiscoworld.com In corporate finance, Dutch Sandwich and Double Irish with a Dutch sandwich refer to schemes for tax evasion.
The word butty, originally referring to a buttered slice of bread, English regional (chiefly northern). Originally: a slice of bread spread with butter. Now: a filled sandwich; (also) an open sandwich. Frequently with modifying word denoting the filling or topping. is common in some northern and southern parts of England and Wales as a slang synonym for "sandwich," particularly to refer to certain kinds of sandwiches including the chip butty, bacon butty, or sausage butty. Sarnie is a similar colloquialism. Likewise, the word sanger is used for sandwich in Australian slang. The colloquial Scottish word piece may refer either to a sandwich or to a light meal, especially one that includes a sandwich. For example, the phrase jeely piece refers to a jam sandwich.
The colloquial form "sammich" (alternatively, "sammidge") is used in the Southeastern United States. In Japanese, sando or sandoichi is used.
In 1979 the British store chain Marks & Spencer introduced a small range of chilled, pre-made sandwiches sold in wedge-shaped boxes, sealed to keep them fresh. As they proved popular, a small experiment involving five stores rapidly grew to cover more than one hundred stores. Within a year, the store was looking for ways to manufacture sandwiches at an industrial scale. By the end of the decade, the British sandwich industry had become worth £1 billion. In 2017, the British sandwich industry made and sold £8 billion worth of sandwiches.
Language
In the US, a court in Boston ruled in 2006 that a sandwich includes at least two slices of bread and "under this definition, this court finds that the term 'sandwich' is not commonly understood to include , , and , which are typically made with a single tortilla and stuffed with a choice filling of meat, rice, and beans."White City Shopping Ctr., LP v. PR Rests., LLC, 21 Mass. L. Rep. 565 (Mass. Super. Ct. 2006) The issue stemmed from the question of whether a restaurant that sold burritos could move into a shopping centre where another restaurant had a no-compete clause in its lease prohibiting other "sandwich" shops. Also in the US, a court in Indiana ruled in 2024 that tacos and burritos are sandwiches, specifically that "The Court agrees with Quintana that tacos and burritos are Mexican-style sandwiches". The court further ruled that such a definition of sandwich would also apply to a "restaurant that serves made-to-order Greek gyros, Indian naan wraps, or Vietnamese banh mi"
/ref> The US state of New York has a definition of "sandwich" that explicitly includes burritos,
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Pre-made sandwiches
Sandwiches have been widely sold in cafes, railway stations, pubs and diners since the invention of sliced bread in the 1920s. Sandwiches kept unwrapped, drying up and edges curling, until they were sold, were widely found in Britain until the 1970s. Cafes and buffets in railway stations and on trains were notorious, and the term "British Rail sandwich" was often used satirically.
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