Grilled Cubano & The Sandwich for Bleu Cheese Fans

While eating various types of food on bread has been around practically since the Stone Age, the term sandwich is more of a relatively recent appellation. Rumor has it that, in the 18th century, the fourth Earl of Sandwich liked to eat while playing cards. He didn’t like getting grease on the cards, so he started requesting that his meat, which he would normally eat with his fingers, be served between two pieces of bread. People, maybe other grease conscious card players, started to request the same, possibly saying, “I’ll have what Sandwich is having.” And a new term was born.

It wasn’t until the invention of sliced bread in 1928 that sandwiches comfortably took a seat at America’s dinner table and made their way into the country’s lunch pails. Since then, virtually everything has been tried on a sandwich, including Elvis’ infamous peanut butter, banana and bacon sandwich.

In a recent article in the New York Times Magazine, “Out of the Kitchen, Onto the Couch,” Michael Pollan laments that people are spending more time watching people cook on TV rather than actually cooking. He states, “The most popular meal in America, at both lunch and dinner, is a sandwich; the No. 1 accompanying beverage is a soda.”

While I am, of course, a big advocate of spending more time in the kitchen, I don’t see anything wrong with eating a sandwich for dinner, especially if it’s a good one and not just a piece of cheese thrown between two pieces of white bread (which I fear is what Pollan is referring to).

I bet you can whip out one of these sandwiches during the commercial breaks of Iron Chef. Be sure to trade in the soda for a seltzer with a splash of juice.

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