Eating History

Welcome to Episode 4 of Eating History’s sandwich season! This week, Stephen and Adrienne dig into the disputed origins and massive cultural rise of the ultimate American sandwich: the hamburger. From its roots as a 19th-century German meat dish to the 1906 publication that nearly destroyed the public's trust in ground beef, discover how the hamburger overcame the odds to become a 50-billion-a-year global phenomenon.

In this episode, we explore:

The Louis' Lunch Myth: Why New Haven's famous 1900 origin story is contradicted by an 1894 Texas newspaper ad

The 1834 Forgery: How historians uncovered a fake Delmonico's menu designed to push the hamburger's timeline back decades

The 1876 Centennial Exposition: How a massive, 1,200-seat German restaurant introduced millions of Americans to "Hamburg steak" before burning to the ground

Hamburger Charlie: The 15-year-old Wisconsin vendor who (allegedly) flattened meatballs and sold them from an ox-cart to feed hungry fair-goers on the move

The White Castle Revolution: How Walter Anderson and Billy Ingram used white porcelain, clean fingernails, and standardized systems to save the hamburger's shady reputation

Welcome to Episode 3 of Eating History’s sandwich season! This week, Stephen and Adrienne explore how the Industrial Revolution took the sandwich out of aristocratic parlors and put it into the hands of the working class. Discover how the rise of factories, densely packed cities, and fast-moving railroads forced humanity to eat by the clock, and why the sandwich was the perfect culinary technology for the job.

In this episode, we explore:

The Rise of the Sandwich: The grim reality of 19th-century railway food, and why paying for a terrible, sawdusty sandwich was better than missing your train

The Invention of Lunch: How factory bells and rigid work schedules forced the main meal of the day to shift to the evening, creating the modern midday lunch break

The Original Ham-Sandwich: How a London coffee shop owner capitalized on late-night theater crowds to invent a booming street food market

The Rise of the Torta: How Armando Martínez Centurión dressed in a formal suit to sell Mexican tortas to everyone from factory workers to celebrities in 1890s Mexico City

Ybor City's Cigar Factories: How the famous lectores (professional readers) entertained a melting pot of Cuban, Spanish, Italian, and Jewish workers who were all trading sandwich secrets

Dangerous Recipes: The 1909 Up-to-Date Sandwich Book that documented the first PB&Js, alongside diabolical creations like the sardine-and-popcorn sandwich

Welcome to Episode 2 of Eating History’s sandwich season! This week, Stephen and Adrienne track the sandwich as it escapes 18th-century England and begins its journey across the globe. From a brief military ceasefire in France to a bustling railway station in Japan, discover how the sandwich traveled not as a rigid recipe, but as a flexible culinary category that adapted perfectly to every culture it encountered.

In this episode, we explore:

The 1802 French Crossover: Why France borrowed the English word "sandwich" during a brief pause in the Napoleonic Wars

Silver Sandwich Cases: Eliza Leslie’s 1837 American cookbook that proved early sandwiches were polite, domestic luxuries, not brown-bag lunches

The Convict Restaurateur: How Stephen Bax, an English convict exiled to Australia in 1813, helped establish the sandwich category in Sydney

Nose-Tingling Mustard: The colonial food writings and sharp condiment philosophies of British Army officer "Wyvern" in India

The Japanese Railway Sandwich: How international trade introduced Western ham to Japan, seamlessly merging the sandwich with the country's existing bento transit-food culture

Welcome to the official kickoff of Eating History Season 2! This week, Adrienne and Stephen tackle one of the most famous origin stories in the culinary world: Did John Montagu, the Fourth Earl of Sandwich, really invent his namesake meal to keep his hands clean during an all-night gambling bender? Join the hosts as they explore how an ancient, practical way of eating evolved into a distinct cultural category, and why one 18th-century English aristocrat still gets all the credit.

In this episode, we explore:

The legendary myth of the gambling Earl and why the story has survived for over 250 years

A 14,500-year-old archaeological discovery in Jordan that proves bread predates agriculture itself

How ancient cultures around the world utilized bread as a plate, spoon, and wrapper

Why the ancient "Hillel sandwich" and the Asian bao were brilliant culinary solutions, but not intentional "sandwiches"

The "iPhone Analogy": How John Montagu didn't invent the meal, but helped create the cultural category that sparked endless culinary innovation

Welcome back to a brand new season of Eating History! After tracking the evolution of pizza across the globe, Adrienne and Stephen return to tackle an entirely new culinary mystery: What exactly is a sandwich? Join them as they explore how "food inside bread" evolved from a prehistoric practice into a powerful cultural category, and why we are all still furiously debating the hot dog.

In this episode, we explore:

The Sandwich Meter: How we put different “sandwiches” into categories

The Definition Dilemma: Why traditional rules (like "two pieces of bread") accidentally turn burritos and po' boys into existential crises

The Sandwich Shop Test: What our gut reactions reveal about our hidden culinary expectations

The Hot Dog Divide: How the history of the American packed lunch separated everyday routine sandwiches from leisure foods like the hot dog

Season 2 Sneak Peek: A tease for next week's investigation into whether the Earl of Sandwich actually invented anything.