1st 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!
2nd 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!