One of the greatest British inventions is the sandwich. You probably didn't even know it was British, did you? You thought it was American? Shame on you! And do you know why it's called a sandwich? Let me tell you.
In the south-east of England in the county of Kent there is a village called Sandwich. Once upon a time there lived a rich man called the earl of Sandwich. The earl liked playing cards. He liked playing cards so much, he often played all day and all night. He was so busy playing, he had no time to eat meals in his dining room. So he got his cook to make him food which he could eat while he was playing. The result was the food we know today as the sandwich.
No doubt if the earl (or his cook) had not invented the sandwich, sooner or later somebody else would have. Like all good inventions the sandwich has a simple design and can easily be adapted. All you need to make one is two slices of bread, and something to put between them. According to the history books the earl liked beef in his sandwiches.
Personally, I like cheese in my sandwiches. I like all cheeses (except those strange cheeses made with goat's milk that smell like unwashed socks), but my favourite is blue cheese. On those days when my wife doesn't make me a lunch box, I make myself cheese sandwiches to take to school. As I sit in my seventh-floor office, looking out over Tokyo, slowly eating my sandwiches, I sometimes think of faraway Kent.
In Kent there is a famous signpost with two arrows on it: one arrow points to the village of Ham, the other to the village of Sandwich. If you don't believe me, go and have a look for yourself. If you've got neither the time nor the money to go to England to see if I'm telling the truth, don't worry. Just scroll down the page. See! Now you believe me, don't you?