Rabbi Hillel the Elder
The first recorded sandwich was made by the famous Rabbi, Hillel the Elder, who lived during the 1st century B.C. A poor man, but a great scholar, he began the Passover custom of sandwiching a mixture of chopped nuts, apples, spices, and wine between two matzohs to eat with bitter herbs. This sandwich is the foundation of the Seder and is named after him.
Club Sandwich
"There are at least three histories of the original club house sandwich, which consisted of cooked chicken breast, bacon, sliced tomatoes, and crisp lettuce layered between two-or three-slices of bread. One version is in 1894, the club sandwich was created in the kitchen of the Saratoga Club-House, Saratoga Springs, New York. A second version was created by an anonymous very hungry man who came home late and, while making himself some toast, searched the pantry-he found bacon, cold chicken, tomato, lettuce, and mayonnaise-and put these leftovers between his toast. A third version suggests it was a two-decker sandwich that originated aboard double-decker club cars traveling between New York and Chicago in the 1930s and '40s.
Cuban Sandwich
Toasted Cuban sandwiches are Miami's favorite snack. The sandwiches have a submarine-style layering of ham, roast pork, cheese, and pickle between a sliced length of Cuban bread. Cuban sandwich shops make these sandwiches using a sandwich iron similar to a panini press.
Dagwood Sandwich
This sandwich is named after the popular comic strip character of the 1930's, Dagwood Bumstead. Dagwood was only able to pile leftovers between bread.
Gyro
The gyro is a Greek specialty. A proper Greek gyro is made with meat cut off a big cylinder of well-seasoned lamb or lamb and beef. (This meat is on a slowly rotating vertical spit the name gyro, implying the circular spinning motion of a gyroscope). Gyro is probably the most often mispronounced food name.
Hoagie
The hoagie comes from Philadelphia. "The term "Hoagie" refers to the men who worked on Hog Island. Hog Island was famous for shipbuilding. The shipbuilders liked their sandwiches big, and local shopkeepers accommodated by creating a Sandwich which would satisfy their appetites. A correctly made Philadelphia Hoagie has some of the soft interior of the bread removed, to accommodate more ingredients.
Po' Boy
The Po' Boy or Poor Boy emanates from New Orleans. The fillings vary, ranging from fried oysters, shrimp, fish, soft-shelled crabs, crawfish, roast beef and gravy, roast pork, meatballs, smoked sausage and more. They are always made with French bread.
Rueban Sandwich
The Reuben Sandwich is a grilled sandwich made with corned beef, Swiss cheese, sauerkraut, and Russian dressing on rye bread. There are two claims to the Reuben. The Midwestern claim states that it was created by Reuben Kolakofsky (1874-1960), a wholesale grocer in Omaha, Nebraska and co-owner of Central Market in Omaha sometime between 1920 and 1935. Like the Earl of Sandwich at his gaming tables, Kolakofsky belonged to a weekly poker group for whom he fixed this sandwich. One of the players, Charles Schimmel, was owner of the Blackstone Hotel in Omaha, and he put the Reuben on his menu.
Sloppy Joe
H.K. Heinz in Pittsburgh says their research at the Carnegie Library suggests that the Sloppy Joe began in a Sioux City, Iowa, cafe as a "loose meat sandwich" in 1930, the creation of a cook named Joe..." Since ground meat, stretched as best as possible, was a staple throughout the depression, we will credit the creation of the sloppy joe to the general spirit of all people who use their imagination to make food taste good without cost.
Submarine Sandwich
The sub is a king-sized sandwich on an Italian loaf of bread approximately 12 inches long and 3 inches wide. It is filled with ham, salami, cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, onions, and usually flavored with garlic powder and oregano. he original concept of these sandwiches came from the Italians who immigrated to New York in the late 1800s and brought with them their favorite Italian Sandwich recipes.
The Wrap
A wrap, also known as a Chivito, is a variant of a taco or burrito which includes traditional sandwich fillings wrapped in a soft flour tortilla, pita, lavash or other soft flatbread. The most popular wraps contain chicken, but beef, turkey, ham, and shrimp are also served. Typical toppings include shredded lettuce, diced tomato or pico de gallo, guacamole, sauteed mushrooms, bacon, grilled onions, cheese such as Cheddar, and some condiment, such as ranch or honey mustard dressing.
Panini
Although the first U.S. reference to panini dates to 1956, and a precursor appeared in a 16th-century Italian cookbook, the sandwiches became trendy in Milanese bars, called paninoteche, in the 1970s and 1980s. Trendy U.S. restaurants, particularly in New York, began selling panini, whose popularity then spread to other U.S. cities, each producing distinctive variations of it.