In Tory Britain Sandwich Eats You

[supergee]

How the sandwich consumed a nation.

Thanx to andrewducker

Comments

[ruthling]

that was a good read.

[weofodthignen]

How very strange. I left a country that had hardly any street food - you took your life in your hands eating Wimpy's hamburgers, so we all grew up eating fiery veggie curry, because that was available and safe - and nobody ate a British Rail sandwich, it was expensive, served slowly and with contempt, and was likely moldy - but I liked the soggy cheese and tomato sandwiches at the British Museum, I miss those. (Served in a yellow-painted basement among the pipes; now they have a fancy cafe.) And British bread was appalling, white and occasionally light brown versions of Wonder Bread, and I grew up with a loathing of the taste of beef because the beef was all gristle and I couldn't chew it; and I never encountered mayonnaise till I came to the US; just Heinz salad cream, which is abominable. I hate mayo - turns out I'm allergic to egg whites - but in general American food was a revelation, including McDonald's cheeseburgers, which don't taste of beef, so I can eat them. And all the lovely breads. I only miss some of the British cheeses. I've always thought of sandwiches to go as a US thing - I see them in places like 7-11, and when I lived in New York my local deli did a wonderful curry baguette with raisins. And hot sandwiches, of course - a normal option in the US, I thought. But maybe that comes from years in a dorm where a food truck selling reubens was parked across the street 6 days a week. Meanwhile apparently this whole sandwich thing was developing behind me in the UK. With even the US obsession with putting mayonnaise in the sandwich. (What is that about? If I want toxic waste in my food I'll specify it.) The article didn't even mention kebabs, which I thought had become the main street food in the UK after I left. Wow.

[carbonel]

That explains a minor mystery. My first visit to England was in 1979, just before the sandwich revolution. My next one was in 1987, and tasty affordable sandwiches were everywhere. I wondered why I couldn't find them the first time around. Apparently they hadn't existed yet, though just barely.