Word: sandwich
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...Just a sandwich" may be a standard reply to the what-would-you-like-to-eat question, but clearly in America there is no "just" about a sandwich. Nowhere else in the world are sandwiches taken so seriously, and nowhere else do they make up so large and diverse a culinary discipline. Passions run high in defense of personal favorites and the proper way to make them: Should the bread that holds tuna salad be white or rye, plain or toasted? Is mayonnaise, Russian dressing, butter or mustard the correct spread for ham or turkey or roast beef? Does lettuce...
...with so many other things regarded as typically American, the origins of the sandwich lie elsewhere. Already popular in ancient Roman times, it was not officially christened until the mid-18th century, when it was named in honor of John Montagu, the fourth Earl of Sandwich. A dedicated gambler, Montagu one day slapped a slab of meat between two slices of bread so he could eat without getting greasy fingers or being distracted by a fork and knife as he concentrated on the gaming table. This sort of convenience has delighted sandwich fans ever since. Extolling Montagu's contribution...
...most important sandwich is undoubtedly the hamburger, whether the thin patty made famous by fast-food chains or the thicker chopped-steak version, epitomized by the specimen at Acorn on Oak, a bar and grill in Chicago. Most familiar among workaday sandwiches are the coffee-shop regulars: bacon, lettuce and tomato, tuna or egg salad, the classic combo of ham and Swiss cheese, grilled cheese and bacon and the lavish club, a three-slice pileup with two "decks" of filling that at its purest includes sliced chicken, bacon, tomato and lettuce. Less orthodox but currently more fashionable in New York...
...Sandwiches account for the form and popularity of packaged American sliced bread because the uniform slices permit neat, orderly results, easy to hold or wrap. Hero sandwiches, based on the box lunches carried by Italian construction workers, are exceptions to the rule of trimness and are valued for their heft. They have spawned several American variations, known as submarines, torpedoes, grinders, hoagies and, in the South, po' boys (all the ingredients a poor--and hungry--boy can fit into one sandwich). These in turn are the forerunners of the New Orleans muffuletta, a round hero full of Italian ham, salami...
...bags are tossed into the oceans every day. Commercial fishermen are also major offenders. Estimates of the plastic fishing gear lost or discarded at sea every year range as high as 150,000 tons. Boaters and beachgoers add to the marine litter with six-pack yokes, picnic utensils, sandwich bags and Styrofoam cups. Cities and industries discharging waste directly into the water or dumping it at sea are also to blame. On some East Coast beaches near sewage outlets, so many plastic tampon inserters have washed ashore that residents refer to them as "beach whistles...