1^st and foremost – Sandwiches

This is the man widely credited with the advent of the modern sandwich.  His name is John Montagu, Earl of Sandwich. This First Lord of the Admiralty was known for his long card playing session. At the time, placing cards on the table to take a meal was tantamount to forfeiture. As a result, Sandwich would often have his chef bring him meat in between two slices of bread. A rudimentary forerunner to the modern sandwich to be sure; in that his chef was obviously ignorant to the fact that the hydrophobic properties of substances like Mayonnaise, and to a lesser extent Miracle Whip (bleck!) provide a sound moisture barrier allowing for the use of other blissful, yet water-rich ingredients like tomato or pickle. THANK YOU LORD ADMIRAL MONTAGU SANDWICH!

2^nd PIZZA

This man is also famous. He is Lord John Charles Herries, Fifth Duke of Supreme Pizza. He also figures prominently in preindustrial British government. But this Chancellor of the Exchequer had a much more ‘chequered’ past—if you know what I mean? A well-known confidence trickster, lothario and  all-around ne’er-do-well, Supreme Pizza also enjoyed a good card game now and again. As is often the case on those grueling bridge games, you get the hankering for massive quantities of complex carbohydrates covered in pizza sauce (it may have been called something else at the time). It was during one of these instances and having instructed the chef to leave the bread and sauce dish on a side table. Supreme Pizza reached down to his boot to retrieve a more favorable card. In doing so, he inadvertently spilled some grated cheese, olives, onions, chopped green peppers, sausage and pepperoni onto the still warm bread. Not wanting the faux pas to alert his fellow players of his cheating ways, he ignored the mess. Ten minutes later, when he had won the game, he went back to his dish. All the ingredients had combine perfectly to create what we now know as the Supreme Pizza. THANK YOU LORD HERRIES SUPREME PIZZA!