Celebrating British Sandwich Week
We sell a variety of sandwiches, baps and rolls as well as fresh bread, so you can make your own sandwiches at home.
British Sandwich Week
Each year May contains British Sandwich Week and we’re celebrating by looking into the history of the humble sarnie.
The fourth Earl of Sandwich
The sandwich takes its name from John Montagu, the fourth Earl of Sandwich and an 18th century aristocrat.
It is said that Montagu ordered his valet to bring him meat tucked between two pieces of bread, so others began to order ‘the same as Sandwich’ and it soon became shortened to just ‘sandwich’.
Definition of a sandwich
There has been lots of debate over the definition of a sandwich and in particular, whether a hot dog or open sandwich can be categorised as such. In the USA, the definition is ‘at least 35% cooked meat and no more than 50% bread’ for closed sandwiches, and ‘at least 50% cooked meat’ for open sandwiches.
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 bagels, but excludes dishes assembled and served hot, such as burgers.