FROM ITS VERY BEGINNING, the sandwich has been the ultimate in regular-guy food. John Montagu, the Fourth Earl of Sandwich, invented this prototypical nosh not out of culinary genius but because he was a lunatic card player. Deep into 24-hour game and reluctant to leave the table for sustenance, he instructed a servant to bring him a slab of beef between pieces of toast, and the sandwich was born. More than three centuries later, this hand-held meal remains the salvation of men reluctant to leave the card table, the sports arena or the chair in front of the TV.
Unfortunately, many of today’s sandwiches are not much more healthful than old Montagu’s. Usually we eat whatever will fit between two slices of bread, from fat- and sodium-laden cured lunch meats to artery-clogging mayonnaise.
We’d never suggest that you abandon sandwiches altogether. It wouldn’t do much good if we did. Americans love sandwiches. In fact, a survey found that sandwiches account for half of all lunches eaten in restaurants, 30 percent of all dinners and 19 percent of all breakfasts. Instead of admonishing you to quit sandwiches, we’d like to offer some advice on how to build them better.