the credit for inventing the sandwich probably goes back in history to the jewish sage 'hillel the elder'.however,in 1762. the earl of sandwich,john montagu, conjured up of what today has become an international food. rumoured to be a great gambler,he was loath to soiling his hands while gambling and thought of 'bits of cold meat' in between slices of bread. thus was born in the town of kent,england, the now famous sandwich.
the royal sandwich has undergone many innovations and transformations in the last 245 years.there are about 2315 types of sandwiches which you can find if you browse the net for iliveonyourvisits.com/sp.it is the webpage of the sandwich project.in india, besides the normal tomato/cucumber filling or the cheese sandwich you have the vegetable,chutney and the grilled chilly varieties too. it has become a very profitable and popular product.and you can get it in every nook and corner.
no wonder then that mcdonald's wants to own the rights to how a sandwich is made.it has applied for a patent relating to the 'method and apparatus' used to prepare the snack.the burger company from usa wants to own the 'intellectual property rights' so that its hot deli sandwiches look and taste the same all over the world in its restaurants.and also it wants to serve the sandwich in a 'jiffy'.
the patent application runs into 55 pages and it has been filed simultaneously in us and europe.it covers the 'simultaneous toasting of a bread component'.garnishes of onions,tomatoes,lettuce and salt and pepper and ketchup are inserted into a cavity in a 'sandwich delivery tool'. the bread component is then placed over the cavity. the assembly tool is now inverted to drop the contents.lastly,the filling is placed in the 'bread component'.
it is believed that mcdonald's or anyone else cannot get retrospective exclusive rights to making a sandwich. what mcdonald's hope to achieve is that no one copies their novel device.but would it not be quite easy to make a sandwich in a similar way without infringing their claims.man is ingenious and i am sure someone will come out with something that avoids getting slapped by patent infringement.
our cook gb prepares delicious sandwiches which i have for breakfast quite often.it is the typical roadside toasted and cheese/onions/tomatoes/cucumber filled sandwich which she prefers to call 'toashty-phosthy'.it is prepared in a special toaster with a handle which is kept on a flame after filling the bread with all the stuff.served sizzling hot,i love to have it also when i have a throat irritation.it goes down hot through the gullet and soothens the throat and also it is quite substantial and keeps me going till lunch time.
poor john montagu must have never imagined how popular the sandwich would become the world over.otherwise he might have even patented it then and his family would have continued to receive the 'royalties'.probably, turning in his grave,he may be regretting it today.
8 comments:
hi dad,
interesting post, dad! but guess what - i too took a picture of gb's toashty poashty and now i can't blog about that since you already have :(
lulu,i would love to see what you have to say of 'toashty poshty'.
Lulu,
I agree with your Dad. Go ahead and write about it anyway.
It's a great name - we had one of those devices when I was a kid growing up in India. The toasted sandwiches that emerged were wonderful.
And can you give me your blog link by dropping a comment on my blog at http://david-mcmahon.blogspot.com/ when you have a moment. I'll check your site for updates.
Nice one, Gopal. Look forward to more of the same.
David
hi david
it is interesting how we never forget many of our childhood memories.i lived in kolkata for the first 15 years of my life.and for the last twenty five years,i have been going there at least once a month.there are so many interesting facets of life in kolkata which i hope to post over time.
and many thanks for your comments.
Hi, gs!
I just LOVED the first couple of pictures because that's the way my mom and sis make toasted sandwiches - they even bought me that little contraption but unfortunately I have an electric stove, not gas. I long for those toasties!!! Waaaa!
hi lr
if i have brought some little joy to your life,i feel very happy.we all like to recall our past pleasant associations with people,pets and material objects.for example,i am very fond of the south indian coffee filter because it reminds me of my young days with my mom.whenever i come to kolkata,i get an entirely different feeling.because i spent my young days here.
why don't you get a picnic gas stove with a small lpg gas bottle? that would be perfect for occasional toashty-poashties!
You know, gs, you've given me a really great idea! I could get a picnic stove, but if I remember correctly, my babrbeque grill has a little flame burner attached to it, I will have to go into the patio to check it out!
Yes, I know what you mean about how childhood associations can give us that special feeling of comfort...we have several places here that make some really nice Madras filter coffee,but I'll bet it's nothing like your mom made. :)
have you already invaded your patio to lay your hands on the hidden flame burner?
i am in kol enjoying a nice packet of 'muri'.it is the bengali version of the mumbai 'bhel'.will cover it soon in my blog.
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