German Sandwich Day

The last Friday of September is German Sandwich Day.

This is a German holiday and its proper name is Tag des Deutschen Butterbrotes (The Day of German Sandwiches, though "Butterbrot" literally means "Buttered Bread).

Butterbrot, or bread with butter, refers to a single slice of bread that has commonly has a single ingredient on top of the butter or margarine. This can be sweet or savoury; sweet items would be topped with such a hazelnut spread, honey, jam or marmalade for example. Savoury sandwiches would normally be topped with something like cold meat, sliced Wurst or cream cheese. The bread used tends to be firmer German breads such as sourdough.

German sandwiches do differ from the British sandwich; in other countries, this type of sandwich would be called an open sandwich, though would often have more ingredients.

Image: flickr user cervus aus Schwedt, Germany / CC BY-SA (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)

National Cuban Sandwich Day

Zeng8r / CC BY-SA (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)

August 23rd is National Cuban Sandwich Day in the US.

The Cuban sandwich is a type of ham and cheese sandwich whose precise origins are uncertain, but which is thought to have most likely originated in cafes in Key West or Tampa in Florida that catered to Cuban workers. Both locations were centred around the cigar industry. It's thought that, later, Cubans then brought the sandwich to Miami.

The ingredients may vary, but all Cuban sandwiches start with Cuban bread, a white bread similar to French and Italian bread. This is sliced lengthways, lightly buttered or brushed with olive oil and then yellow mustard. Swiss cheese, roast pork, glazed ham and sliced dill pickles are then added. There is a disagreement as to whether or not to add salami. The sandwich can then be toasted in a sandwich press called a plancha, which is similar in form to a panini press.

National Eat a Hoagie Day

National Eat a Hoagie Day is on September 14th in the United States.

The first question, for those unfamiliar with the name, is "What is a hoagie?"

A hoagie is a type of submarine sandwich, which is a long roll of either French or Italian bread that has been split open and filled with a wide range of fillings.

The hoagie originated in the Philadelphia area of the US. It's not altogether certain what the origins of the name are, but there are a few explanations.

The first is that it was a sandwich eaten by Italians working at the Philadelphia shipyard of Hog Island during World War I, and it was called the Hog Island Sandwich, which was later shortened to Hoagie. A second explanation was that it came from the slang "on the hoke" meaning someone who was destitute, and that these were given sandwiches filled with scraps. It was called a hokie, which was pronounced hoagie by the Italians.

A third explanation is that it came from the street vendors known as "hokey-pokey men" who sold a range of foods.

Whatever the origin of the name, it's a submarine sandwich.

National Sandwich Month

August is National Sandwich Month in the United States.

Although there were similar items before the modern sandwich, it is named after John Montagu, the 4th Earl of Sandwich - after his title, rather than his personal name.

The flatbread, which is used in such as the modern sandwich wrap, are believed to date back to before the Common Era.

In the Middle Ages in Europe, a common item was the trencher, which was a slice of thick, stale bread on which food was served and which served as a "plate." After the meal, this would be soaked in juices from he food, and would be given to dogs or beggars.

Thin slices of beef were apparently served on buttered bread in the Netherlands in the 17th century.

Whilst the traditional modern sandwich consists of two slices of bread with fillings between them, there are many alternatives.

The open sandwich has just one slice of bread, or similar item, on which the topping is placed.

Wraps are made from various flatbreads, including tortillas.

As an alternative to sliced bread, bread cakes and rolls may be used instead - which means even the beefburger is a sandwich.

A versatile food, sandwiches can have pretty much any filling, can be either sweet or savoury and can be served hot, cold or toasted.

National Hoagie Day

May 5th is National Hoagie Day in the United States.

Hoagies are a type of submarine sandwich; submarine sandwiches are sandwiches made from long rolls of bread, usually either French or Italian, that are split into two pieces or opened into a V.

The hoagie type of sub originated in Philadelphia, although the precise origins are uncertain. It's been linked to World War I Italian shipyard workers on Hog Island, where it was known as the Hog Island sandwich, or Hoggies, then, later, hoagies.

They have also been linked to the 19th or 20th century, when sandwiches known as hokies were given away, and the name was pronounced hoagie.

Hoagies are generally different meats, cheeses and lettuce between two slices of bread. Which does mean that there are an awful lot of possible variants that could be called hoagies.

National Grilled Cheese Sandwich Day

National Grilled Cheese Sandwich Day is on April 12th in the United States.

This is a variant on the standard cheese sandwich, which consists of cheese, of whatever type desired, between two slices of bread, possibly with the addition of a spread of some type. The difference is, in this case, the sandwich has been cooked.

The concept of cooking cheese sandwiches has been around for years, and in many different cultures. It is also known as the toasted sandwich or toastie. Once the sandwich is made, it would then be placed under the grill, so that the bread toasts and the cheese melts (some cheeses are better suited for melting than others). Alternatively, the sandwich could be heated on a griddle or in a frying pan, and would be flipped partway through cooking. Today, appliances designed to cook sandwiches like this can also be bought. The trick is to cook the sandwich evenly without burning the bread.

As well as the cheese, and possibly a spread, other ingredients may also be added to the sandwich. Ham is popular, but vegetables, especially onions, may also be included.

National Hot Pastrami Sandwich Day

January 14th is National Hot Pastrami Sandwich Day in the United States.

Pastrami is a Jewish delicatessen meat that possibly originated in the wind-dried beef of Anatolia and Byzantine dried meat. It is a type of preserved meat pre-dating the development of refrigeration and is traditionally made from beef although mutton, pork and turkey are also used.

The meat is brined - which means simply steeping it in or treating it with brine, a mixture of salt and water - then partially dried, seasoned with herbs and spices, smoked and finally steamed. The meat is now strongly associated with New York City, to which it was brought in the late 19th century.

Hot pastrami sandwiches are exactly what they sound like - sandwiches that contain pastrami, and probably other foods, that are served hot. A grilled Rachel sandwich - a variant of the Reuben using pastrami instead of corned beef - is one example.

National Sandwich Day

November 3rd is National Sandwich Day in the United States.

The sandwich is considered to be named after John Montagu, 4th Earl of Sandwich (Sandwich is a town in Kent in the UK). The concept of the sandwich is surprisingly modern, dating back to only the 18th century in Western Europe, although the idea of using bread with food does predate that by some time and is found in many cultures, wraps being one of the most common.

In general, the sandwich is a type of portable food dish in which one or more ingredients are placed between two or more slices of bread. It is a popular food for lunches, especially of the packed variety, but there are variants served as finger and party food. A court in the US defined a sandwich as using at least two slices of bread, rather than anything else that might be stuffed.

There are variants; the sandwich can be understood to only mean an item made with sliced bread, but it can also include such as submarine sandwiches, or subs, or anything else in a bread roll of any type. There are also what are referred to as "open" sandwiches, which have only one slice topped with ingredients. In these, it is more common to use a roll or a bap, rather than bread.

Sandwiches can have a whole host of different ingredients; there is no real limit to what can be put in them. The cheapest form of sandwich is a bread sandwich - that is, a slice of bread between two slices of bread! This recipe can be found in Mrs Beeton's Book of Household Management (although I think she used toast).