Club sandwich
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A club sandwich or clubhouse sandwich is a three-layer sandwich consisting of three slices of bread (traditionally toasted), sliced cooked poultry, fried bacon, lettuce, tomato, and mayonnaise.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name=Mariani>Mariani, John (July 1995). "The club sandwich." Restaurant Hospitality. 79 (7):54</ref> It is often cut diagonally into quarters or halves and held together by cocktail sticks.
History
The club sandwich may have originated at the Union Club of New York City.<ref name=Brown>Template:Cite web</ref> The earliest known reference to the sandwich, an article that appeared in The Evening World on November 18, 1889, is also an early recipe: "Have you tried a Union Club sandwich yet? Two toasted pieces of Graham bread, with a layer of turkey or chicken and ham between them, served warm."<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Several other early references also credit the chef of the Union Club with creating the sandwich.<ref name=Brown/><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Another theory is that the club sandwich was invented at the Saratoga Club in Saratoga Springs, New York, after Richard Canfield bought it and made it into the Canfield Casino in 1894.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>John F. Mariani, The Encyclopedia of American Food and Drink, 1999, Template:Isbn, p. 87</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
The sandwich appeared on U.S. restaurant menus as early as 1899.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The earliest reference to the sandwich in published fiction is from Conversations of a Chorus Girl, a 1903 book by Ray Cardell.<ref name=Mariani/> Historically, club sandwiches featured slices of chicken, but with time, turkey has become increasingly common.<ref name="Fabricant">Fabricant, Florence, (July 11, 1994). "Building upscale sandwiches." Nation's Restaurant News. 28(27):41</ref> An 1897 recipe has three layers, with the chicken and ham separated not by a slice of bread, but by a lettuce leaf.<ref>"Sandwiches", Good Housekeeping 25:2:87 (August 1897)</ref>
Ingredients
As with a BLT, toasted white bread is standard, along with iceberg lettuce, bacon, and tomatoes. The sandwich is usually dressed with mayonnaise. Variations on the traditional club sandwich abound. Some replace the poultry meat with eggs (a "breakfast club") or roast beef. Others use ham instead of, or in addition to, bacon, or add slices of cheese. Various kinds of mustard and sliced pickles may be added. Upscale variations include the oyster club, the salmon club, and Dungeness crab melt.<ref name="Fabricant"/><ref name=Mariani/>
Regional varieties
In New Zealand, a club sandwich is a tea (or finger) sandwich typically filled with egg mayonnaise, lettuce and tomato.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In Canada, club sandwiches are sometimes prepared using rotisserie chicken meat, as opposed to sliced chicken or turkey. Proper Montreal clubs are served cold on toasted white bread.Template:Citation needed