At Trenchers Catering we make sandwiches for around 70,000 people a year, and in our experience, the simpler the sandwich fillings are the better our customers enjoy them.
Recent article published in the `independent has found the nations favourite sandwich filling is ‘The ‘BLT’, which is most defiantly one of my favourites, however, we have found just plain ham salad or cheese salad, works best when catering for large amounts of people, and as long as we have these fillings on our platters the customers are happy.
Sandwiches have been enjoyed since the 18th century, when the Earl of sandwich first came up with the idea of putting bread and a filling together.
According to new research, the great people of the UK are supposable moving away from the standard classic fillings and are heading towards a more modern avocado sandwich or Brie and grape, which is great, but there will always be a place for the classics.
Over the last 50 years, our tastes have not changed to much, here is what we have been eating….
1970s
Ham salad
Ham and cheese
Ploughman’s
Cheese and onion
Egg mayonnaise
1980s
Chicken salad
Tuna mayo
Tuna and cucumber
BLT
Tuna salad
1990s
BLT
Tuna mayo
Chicken mayo
Tuna salad
Chicken Club
2000s
Smoked salmon and cream cheese
Chicken mayo
Brie and cranberry
Salmon and prawn
Brie and grape
2010s
Hummus and falafel
BBQ pulled pork
Avocado
Chicken and avocado
Brie and grape
All these fillings are available on Trenchers menus at. all times and generally will get rotated daily to add to variety.
I would also like to add the Coronation chicken and chicken tikka, to the nations favourite as these are always been requested by my customers
How the humble sandwich has stood the test of time
Warburtons have asked 2000 people to take part in a study which found according to the research, the most popular sandwich filling of the 1970s was ham salad, with chicken salad reigning supreme in the 1980s.
The BLT followed as the most desirable sandwich of choice in the 1990s, with participants opting for a fishier filling in the 2000s with smoked salmon and cream cheese.
However, in recent years it seems that more Britons have been opting for plant-based alternatives, as the hummus and falafel sandwich- however this is down to what I believe is the Vegan effect.
51% of chefs in America are adding Vegan options to their menus.
Do most people describe a sandwich as their favourite meal, these studies suggest so.
Darren Littler, innovation director at Warburtons, explains that the study demonstrates the nation’s desire to be more experimental in the kitchen.
“Whilst the humble sandwich has remained a classic UK favourite over the decades, it’s interesting to see the fillings that fall in and out of favour in line with trends and preferences,” he says.
“Now, with a vastly increased number of choices compared to years gone by, more adventurous fillings are now clearly the order of the day for many Brits, with corned beef no longer cutting the mustard.”