BLT

Although its ingredients have existed for many years, there is little evidence of BLT sandwich recipes before 1900. In the 1903 Good Housekeeping Everyday Cook Book, a recipe for a club sandwich included bacon, lettuce, tomato, mayonnaise and a slice of turkey sandwiched between two slices of bread.{{cite book|last=Gordon Curtis|first=Isabel|title=Good Housekeeping Everyday Cook Book|year=2002|orig-date=1903|publisher=Hearst Books |isbn=1-58816-210-9}} While the 1928 book Seven Hundred Sandwiches by Florence A. Cowles includes a section on bacon sandwiches, the recipes often include pickles and none contain tomato.{{cite book|last=Cowles|first=Florence|title=Seven Hundred Sandwiches|year=1928|publisher=Little, Brown & Company|location=New York|pages=31–35}}

The BLT became popular after World War II because of the rapid expansion of supermarkets, which made its ingredients available year-round. The initials, representing "bacon, lettuce, tomato", likely began in the U.S. restaurant industry as shorthand for the sandwich, but it is unclear when this transferred to the public consciousness.{{cite book|last=Mariani|first=John F.|title=The Encyclopedia of American Food & Drink|url=https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaofam00mari|url-access=registration|publisher=Lebhar Freidman|location=New York|year=1999|isbn=978-0867307849|page=[https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaofam00mari/page/190 190]}} For example, a 1951 edition of the Saturday Evening Post makes reference to the sandwich, although it does not use its initials, describing a scene in which: "On the tray, invariably, are a bowl of soup, a toasted sandwich of bacon, lettuce and tomato, and a chocolate milk shake."{{cite journal|last=Martin|first=Harold H.|title=Lightning Joe, the GI's General|journal=The Saturday Evening Post|date=27 January 1951|volume=223|page=21}}

A 1954 issue of Modern Hospital contains a meal suggestion that includes: "Bean Soup, Toasted Bacon Lettuce and Tomato Sandwich, Pickles, Jellied Banana Salad, Cream Dressing, and Pound Cake."{{cite journal|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gBshAQAAMAAJ&q=%22bacon,+lettuce,+and+tomato%22|title=Modern Hospital|date=July 1954|journal=Modern Hospital|volume=83|page=122}} By 1958, Hellmann's Mayonnaise advertised their product as "traditional on bacon, lettuce, and tomato sandwiches", suggesting that the combination had been around for some time.For example, see the version that ran in Life magazine on 20 October 1958. {{cite book|title=Hellmann's Mayo Ad|date = 20 October 1958|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eT8EAAAAMBAJ&q=%22bacon%2C+lettuce%2C+and+tomato%22&pg=PA156|access-date=25 March 2013}} However, there are several references to a "B.L.T." in the early 1970s, including in one review of Bruce Jay Friedman's play entitled Steambath titled: "A B.L.T. for God – hold the mayo."{{cite magazine|last=Prideaux|first=Tom|title=A B.L.T. for God – Hold the Mayo|magazine=Life|publisher=Time Inc.|date=21 August 1970|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=t1UEAAAAMBAJ&q=%22a+BLT%22&pg=PA8|issn=0024-3019|access-date=25 March 2013}} The abbreviation used in title references a line of dialogue in the play in which God yells, "Send up a bacon and lettuce and tomato sandwich, hold the mayo. You burn the toast, I'll smite you down with my terrible swift sword."{{cite book|last=Friedman|first=Bruce Jay|author-link=Bruce Jay Friedman|title=Steambath|title-link=Steambath (play)|year=1971|publisher=Knopf|location=New York|isbn=9780573615818}}

As the sixth-most popular sandwich in the United States, it falls behind the ham sandwich, roast beef sandwich, turkey sandwich, grilled chicken sandwich, and grilled cheese sandwich.{{Cite web |title=What's America's Favorite Sandwich? {{!}} YouGov |url=https://today.yougov.com/consumer/articles/24609-whats-americas-favorite-sandwich |access-date=2025-06-07 |website=today.yougov.com |language=en-us}} A 2008 poll by OnePoll showed that the BLT was the "nation's favourite" sandwich in the UK.{{cite news|title=BLT is named nation's favourite sandwich|url=http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/uk-world-news/2008/10/27/blt-is-named-nation-s-favourite-sandwich-86908-20843360/|access-date=3 February 2011|newspaper=Daily Record|location=Glasgow|date=27 October 2008}} BLT sandwiches are popular especially in the summer,{{cite magazine|last=Tuttle|first=Brad|title=Is It Time to Start Stockpiling Bacon|url=https://business.time.com/2011/07/05/is-it-time-to-start-stockpiling-bacon/|access-date=28 November 2011|magazine=Time|date=5 July 2011}} following the tomato harvest.{{cite news|last=McFerron|first=Whitney|title=Bacon Price Surge May Last Through August as Herd Cutbacks Tighten Supply|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-08-04/bacon-surge-may-last-through-august-as-u-s-hog-herd-cuts-tighten-supplies.html|access-date=28 November 2011|work=Bloomberg.com|date=4 August 2010}} In the United States, the BLT season is associated with an increase in the price of pork-bellies, which are processed into bacon.{{cite news|last1=Mason|first1=Rowenna|last2=White|first2=Garry|title=Meat prices set to jump after wheat crop failures|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/markets/marketreport/7946789/Meat-prices-set-to-jump-after-wheat-crop-failures.html|access-date=3 February 2011|newspaper=The Daily Telegraph|location=London|date=15 August 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110206035129/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/markets/marketreport/7946789/Meat-prices-set-to-jump-after-wheat-crop-failures.html|archive-date=6 February 2011|url-status=live}}

File:Making a BLT sandwich with avocado and basil mayonnaise.jpg

While there are variations on the BLT, the essential ingredients are bacon, lettuce, and tomato, between two slices of bread (usually white), often toasted. The quantity and quality of the ingredients are matters of personal preference. The bacon can be well cooked or tender, but as it "carries" the other flavours, chefs recommend using higher quality meat; in particular, chef Edward Lee states "Your general supermarket bacon is not going to cut the mustard."{{cite news|last=Bonne|first=Jon|title=Secrets to a perfect BLT sandwich|url=http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/14574021|access-date=3 February 2011|newspaper=MSNBC|date=12 September 2006|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100911093614/http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/14574021|archive-date=11 September 2010}}

Iceberg lettuce is a common choice because it does not add too much flavour while adding crunch. Food writer Ed Levine has suggested that BLT does not require lettuce at all, as it is "superfluous",{{cite web|last=Levine|first=Ed|author-link=Ed Levine|title=Does a BLT need the L|url=http://newyork.seriouseats.com/2006/08/does-a-blt-need-the-l.html|website=Serious Eats|access-date=3 February 2011}} a suggestion that Jon Bonné, lifestyle editor at MSNBC, described as "shocking". Michele Anna Jordan, author of The BLT Cookbook, believes the tomato is the key ingredient and recommends the use of the beefsteak tomato as it has more flesh and fewer seeds. Similarly, chef and food writer J. Kenji Lopez-Alt believes that a BLT is not a bacon sandwich with additional ingredients, but rather, a tomato sandwich seasoned with bacon. For that reason, Lopez-Alt argues that the BLT is a seasonal sandwich best made with high-quality summer tomatoes.{{cite web |last1=Lopez-Alt |first1=J. Kenji |title=The Food Lab's BLT Manifesto |url=https://www.seriouseats.com/2016/08/blt-manifesto-how-to-make-best-bacon-lettuce-tomato-sandwich.html |website=Serious Eats |access-date=27 September 2020}}{{cite web |last1=Lopez-Alt |first1=J. Kenji |title=A BLT is Not a Bacon Sandwich. It is a Tomato Sandwich |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5BfZn9HHKI0 |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/5BfZn9HHKI0| archive-date=2021-12-11 |url-status=live|website=YouTube.com |date=17 August 2020 |access-date=27 September 2020}}{{cbignore}}

The sandwich is sometimes served with dressings, like mayonnaise. The bread can be of any variety, white or wholemeal, toasted or not, depending on personal preference.{{cite book|title=Seduced by Bacon: Recipes & Lore about America's Favorite Indulgence|year=2006|publisher=Globe Pequot|isbn=1-59228-851-0|pages=80–81|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YJe81WSufP4C&pg=PT94|author=Pruess, Joanna|author2=Lape, Bob|author3=Cole, Liesa}}

File:Bacon, lettuce, tomato, and avocado.jpg

The sandwich has a high sodium and fat content, and has been specifically targeted by UK café chains in an effort to reduce salt and fat.{{cite news|title=Cafe chains promise to reduce salt and fat|url=http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/health/cafe-chains-promise-to-reduce-salt-and-fat-14217109.html|access-date=11 February 2011|newspaper=Belfast Telegraph|date=7 March 2009}} Due to this, low-fat mayonnaise is a common substitute along with low salt bread and less fatty bacon. A more visible solution is to use turkey bacon in lieu of normal bacon.{{cite book |last=Bricklin |first=Mark |title=Prevention Magazine's Nutrition Advisor: The Ultimate Guide to the Health-Boosting and Health-Harming Factors in Your Diet |year=1994 |publisher=Rodale |isbn=0-87596-225-4 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iPFokL0MuswC&q=BLT+bacon&pg=PA454 |page=454}} One of the variations on the BLT is the club sandwich, a two-layered sandwich in which one layer is a BLT. The other layer can be almost any sort of sliced meat, normally chicken or turkey.{{cite book|last=Civitello|first=Linda|title=Cuisine and culture: a history of food and people|year=2007|publisher=John Wiley and Sons|isbn=978-0-471-74172-5|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MBRBjBTEBHYC&q=BLT+club+differences&pg=PA180|page=180}}

In 1963, pop art sculptor Claes Oldenburg created Giant BLT, a soft sculpture representing the sandwich, now in the collection of the Whitney Museum of American Art.{{cite web|url=https://whitney.org/WatchAndListen/445|title=Whitney Focus presents Claes Oldenburg's "Giant BLT"|access-date=28 August 2014|website=Whitney Museum of American Art}}{{cite web|url=http://www.davidrumsey.com/amica/amico213407-123848.html|title=Claes Oldenburg / Giant BLT (Bacon, Lettuce, and Tomato Sandwich)|publisher=AMICA library|access-date=3 February 2011}} It measures {{convert|32|x|39|in|cm}} and uses vinyl, kapok and wood, painted in acrylic. Every time it is moved, it must be restacked, which means it varies between exhibits. The artist has said that he has not set it up personally since its creation in 1963.{{cite news|last=Kino|first=Carol|title=Going Softly Into a Parallel Universe|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/17/arts/design/17kino.html|access-date=3 February 2011|newspaper=The New York Times|date=15 May 2009}}

In 2003, Michele Anna Jordan set a record for the world's largest BLT, which measured {{convert|108|ft}} in length. It was prepared at a 2003 tomato festival in Sonoma County, California and had an area of {{convert|14,976|sqin}}. In 2008, Marie Ganister and Glenda Castelli created a {{convert|146|ft}} BLT – a sandwich originally planned with Jordan.{{cite news|title=There's a beef over that 146-foot BLT|url=https://www.pressdemocrat.com/csp/mediapool/sites/PressDemocrat/News/story.csp?cid=2171206|access-date=18 February 2011|newspaper=PressDemocrat|date=9 September 2008|archive-date=31 December 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191231181535/https://www.pressdemocrat.com/csp/mediapool/sites/PressDemocrat/News/story.csp%3Fcid%3D2171206|url-status=dead}} The record was broken again by the Iron Barley restaurant in St. Louis, Missouri, with a BLT measuring {{convert|179|ft}}, and is currently held by Bentley Dining Services for their 2009 attempt, measuring {{convert|209|ft|1|in}}.{{cite news|last=Schultz|first=Brian|title=Bentley cooks up world record BLT|url=http://media.www.lhueagleye.com/media/storage/paper485/news/2009/11/05/News/Bentley.Cooks.Up.World.Record.Blt-3824011.shtml|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110713203319/http://media.www.lhueagleye.com/media/storage/paper485/news/2009/11/05/News/Bentley.Cooks.Up.World.Record.Blt-3824011.shtml|access-date=3 February 2011|newspaper=Eagle Eye|date=5 November 2009|url-status=dead|archive-date=13 July 2011}}

In 2004, the New Statesman reported that the sandwich chosen by a politician as his "favourite" is loaded with political symbolism. For example, it suggested that a chicken tikka sandwich would be a "gentle nod to an imperial past and a firm statement of a multicultural present and future". The article went on to explain that the then Leader of the Opposition William Hague had accused the then Prime Minister Tony Blair of being a hypocrite with regards to food, telling one portion of society that his favourite meal was fish and chips and another that it was a fresh fettuccine dish. The conclusion of the article was that Blair chose the BLT as his favourite sandwich, which appeals to all classes.{{cite news|last=Vigor|first=Anthony|title=Exposed by his sandwich|url=https://www.newstatesman.com/node/159535|access-date=11 February 2011|newspaper=New Statesman|date=12 April 2004}}

{{portal|Food}}

• List of American sandwiches
• List of sandwiches
• Sandwich

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Category:American sandwiches

Category:bacon sandwiches