What Is a Popcorn Sandwich? Meet the 1909 Delicacy

The examine of historical past isn’t restricted to politics, business, and widespread cultural actions. It may possibly get as granular as you’d like, and the documentation of particulars starting from the historical past of menus to hairstyles can reveal a shocking quantity about how human tastes have modified.

To assist commit the evolution of our palates to reminiscence, one man has launched into an unexpectedly huge enterprise to discover a particular a part of our meals historical past: the realm of sandwiches. Throughout TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube, Barry Enderwick — higher recognized on-line by the moniker of Sandwiches of Historical past — has constructed a following of virtually a million customers by sharing tons of of clips that includes recreations of long-forgotten sandwich recipes. 

Enderwick has showcased regional delicacies such because the cannibal sandwich from the Midwestern United States and the late culinary icon James Beard’s beloved onion sandwich, to call simply two of many. Each of those dishes are extra scrumptious than you would possibly suppose, however that’s not true of each historic recipe the creator tries. 

One viral sandwich Enderwick has shared doesn’t include a robust advice — however it does inform us one thing concerning the period and meals tradition that produced it.

What’s a popcorn sandwich?

Enderwick is the primary to declare that the “popcorn sandwich” recipe he examined isn’t technically a sandwich. It doesn’t have a second piece of bread on high, however it does qualify as an open-faced sandwich, and it comes from The Up-to-Date Sandwich E book, a 1909 cookbook by Eva Greene Fuller that features 400 totally different sandwiches. 

The popcorn sandwich isn’t for everybody — it’s not for me, and Enderwick isn’t an enormous fan both — however some tinned fish lovers would possibly find yourself liking it. To make the sandwich, you’ll want freshly popped popcorn, sardines, salt, a pinch of cayenne pepper, ketchup, a splash of Worcestershire sauce, scorching buttered toast, and Parmesan.

When you do need to do this delicacy, begin by roughly chopping the popcorn and sardines. Toss them in a bowl with the salt, cayenne, Worcestershire, and sufficient ketchup to frivolously bind all the things collectively. Combine the elements till mixed, then unfold the combination on the toast and grate some Parmesan on high. Pop each items of bread in a toaster till the cheese is bubbly, and then you definitely’re able to get pleasure from your popcorn sandwich, or at the least attempt to.

What the popcorn sandwich tells us about American meals historical past

Though the Earl of Sandwich, John Montagu, famously requested a bit of meat between slices of bread in 1762, finally giving the trendy sandwich its identify, the idea didn’t turn into widespread in the US till the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. As cities grew, employees wanted filling, reasonably priced, and transportable meals, serving to the sandwich acquire floor shortly.

The primary printed recipe for a peanut butter and jelly sandwich appeared in 1901, however most sandwich recipes from this period are far totally different from what we eat in the present day, because the popcorn sandwich underscores.

Though it’s an historic grain consumed for hundreds of years, popcorn turned particularly fashionable within the U.S. as an at-home snack and an reasonably priced concession at occasions through the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Across the similar time, ketchup turned a family staple due to Henry J. Heinz. Whereas recipes for ketchup had already been printed, Heinz made the condiment extra accessible by bottling and promoting it on grocery retailer cabinets in 1876. By the early twentieth century, Heinz ketchup was so fashionable that it had expanded internationally.

Past The Up-to-Date Sandwich E book, there isn’t an in depth written historical past of the popcorn sandwich. However when you think about the prominence of popcorn and ketchup on the time of its publishing, it turns into just a little simpler to know why the popcorn sandwich might need been included amongst its 400 recipes. 

Not solely have been tastes totally different in 1909, however there was additionally a shorter, newer historical past of sandwiches within the U.S. within the early twentieth century, with fewer long-established guidelines for what does or doesn’t go collectively. I don’t know that we have to all be mixing popcorn with ketchup and placing it on toast, however one lesson we might be taught is to get just a little extra artistic with our sandwiches this 12 months.