May 2009 Archives

Last week was National Sandwich Week, but what do you know about the history of one of Britain's favourite foods?

Evidence of people eating bread first appears in 7500 BCE, during the Stone Age. People have been eating sandwiches in one form or another since they began eating bread. So the history of sandwiches could be said to stretch back nearly 10,000 years.

Serving delicate finger food between two slices of bread was a culinary practice among upper class ancient Greeks and other Mediterranean peoples (this "upper-crust" tradition carries over into modern English high tea).

The first recorded sandwich was eaten in the 1st century BCE by Hillel the Elder. The famous rabbi ate a mixture of sweet and bitter foods between two pieces of matzoh bread, as a symbol of Jewish slavery. The practice is now a Passover custom, known as the Hillel Sandwich.

However, food historians generally attribute the creation of the sandwich, as we know it today, to John Montagu, 4th Earl of Sandwich. This Englishman was said to have been fond of gambling. As the story goes, in 1762, during a 24 hour gambling streak he instructed a cook to prepare his food in such a way that it would not interfere with his game. The cook presented him with sliced meat between two pieces of toast. Perfect! This meal required no utensils and could be eaten with one hand, leaving the other free to continue the game.

Approximately 2 billion sandwiches are purchased in the UK each year with the commercial market being worth approximately £3.5 billion - that's huge - bigger than the UK pizza market which is only worth c £1 billion. Around another 2.67 billion sandwiches are eaten by way of lunchboxes which contain sandwiches and it's thought that 6.24 billion sandwiches are made within the home taking the total amount of sandwiches made to 10.96 billion per year - that's almost 200 sandwiches per person each year.

Sandwiches are so popular that they even have their own awards ceremony - The Sammies - The British Sandwich Industry Awards. From sandwich bars to new sandwich concepts, the search is intensive and involves a wide panel of judges working for months across the UK with the aim of finding the very best. The aim of these awards is to encourage everyone in the industry to do things even better and to reward those who are doing the most to lead the way.

The true beauty of the sandwich has to be its versatility. They can be made from an enormous range of filings and they're quick and easy to make. Do you enjoy the traditional cheese and pickle or BLT or have you created your own special sandwich recipe? We'd love to know...

Eating curry can help beat the stress of the recession thanks to the release of pleasure-inducing endorphins, new research claims.

Chicken or beef madras is most likely to bring stress relief, according to the research by takeaway food website www.Just-Eat.co.uk. Vindaloo, Thai red curry, pasanda and jalfrezi were the next most effective.

Researchers found spicy curries had similar stress-busting properties to exercise, with the inclusion of red chilli peppers thought to be key to their impact.

Although Chinese food has replaced Indian as the top choice for takeaways, Indian cuisine has long been a favourite in the UK and recent research from Mintel shows sales of Indian food products surpassed Chinese food sales by £189m in the last year alone - suggesting Britons favour cooking Indian food at home. They are also turning their backs on ready meals in order to cook their own healthier versions.

Not only do red chilli peppers help relieve stress, they are a good source of vitamins A and C, have been shown to lower cholesterol levels and reduce the spread of prostrate cancer.

The press is continually highlighting food and drink that has adverse affects on our health so it comes as a welcome respite to find something that is good for us. And their use does not need to be confined solely to curries. Red chilli peppers can be used to spice up a multitude of dishes.

Do you regularly include red chillis in your diet and if so have you discovered their stress-busting properties?

The Sunday Times published the 2009 UK 'rich list' last weekend. As you would expect many people have seen their fortunes dwindle over the past year due to the global recession. But there are a few food industry winners.

Sir Ken Morrison and family have leapt 36 places up the list to position no. 16, increasing their wealth by 11% to £1,610m.

Lord Sainsbury and his family haven't fared so well however. Whilst they increased their ranking from 56= last year to 37= their wealth has decreased by £200m to a mere £1,100m.

Food recycling can also be a profitable business. Another winner in this year's list is Anthony de Mulder and his family. Doncaster-based Prosper de Mulder is a waste food recycling specialist, collecting and processing more than 1m tonnes each year. The family has seen an increase of £45m up to £130m over the past year.

The world rankings paint a very rosy picture for Karl and Theo Albrecht, the German entrepreneurs who founded the discount supermarket chain Aldi. They increased their wealth by £2.9bn to £27.9bn and come into at no. 2 behind the Walton family who created Walmart and who enjoyed a whopping £13.9bn rise in riches over the past year giving them a family fortune of £52.3bn.

The top 2 families in the world rankings are heavily committed to the discount market. Should the rest of the food industry sit up and take note? We'd love to hear your views...