While we are still several months away from the 294th birthday of the Earl of Sandwich (3 November, 2012) and National Sandwich Day, it’s time to pay tribute to the 250th anniversary of the invention of the sandwich during British Sandwich Week, now through 19 May. It was 1762 when John Montagu, the fourth Earl of Sandwich, ordered beef served between slices of bread, a request that would become a global convenience meal in thousands of different forms.

According to the British Sandwich Association, Montagu asked for the meal so that he could eat while continuing to play cards while his friends asked “to have the same as Sandwich“. The first written record of the sandwich was in the Kent town of Sandwich, which is the earldom of the Montagu family…hence, the ‘sandwich’ was born.

While America will head right for the hamburger, for me, only one sandwich comes to mind as being worthy of consideration for the title of the best sandwich around to celebrate with this week, the Bacon Butty, the pride of Great Britain. Saveur magazine published this recipe for the Bacon Butty in their Sandwich Issue this past year, but the definitive recipe I found comes from food.com with not only a detailed recipe and instructions, but a scientific formula developed by scientists at Leeds University in West Yorkshire as to why this is the perfect celebration sandwich.

The formula is: N = C + {fb (cm) . fb (tc)} + fb (Ts) + fc . ta, where N=force in Newtons required to break the cooked bacon, fb=function of the bacon type, fc=function of the condiment/filling effect, Ts=serving temperature, tc=cooking time, ta=time or duration of application of condiment/filling, cm=cooking method, C=Newtons required to break uncooked bacon. Any questions?

What’s your favorite sandwich and how will you be celebrating this week? Whatever you choose, don’t forget the HP Sauce.