Shooter’s Sandwich

A “shooter’s sandwich” is a sandwich that an Englishman takes with him while he goes hunting (shooting). A loaf of bread is hollowed out and filled with meat, cheese and vegetables. “What I call a ‘Shooter’s Sandwich’” was cited in   The Dinner Knell (1932), by T. Earle Welby. Welby’s recipe was reprinted in a cookbook by popular English food author Elzabeth David (1913-1992). The BBC cooking show Two Fat Ladies featured a “shooter’s sandwich” on November 13, 1996.
 
The shooter’s sandwich became popular on the Internet in the 2010s on websites such as Reddit.
 
   
Google News Archive
18 March 1998, Lawrence (KS) Journal-World, “‘Fat Ladies’ Cookbook Shows Gulf Between Continents” by Beverly Bundy (Knight Ridder News Service), Extra, pg. 2, col. 2:
One of the recipes in this cookbook is the “shooter’s sandwich.” It’s a loaf of bread that is hollowed, then stuffed with grilled mushrooms and a seared piece of sirloin. The whole contraption is then weighted for six hours (with no recommendation for refrigeration), then sliced and served.
 
Google Books
Summer Cooking
By Elizabeth David
New York, NY: New York Review of Books
2002 (reprint of 1965 enlarged edition)
Pg. 9:
SHOOTER’S SANDWICH
‘The wise, “at least among the children of this world”, to use one of Walter Pater’s careful qualifying phrases, travel with a flask of whisky-and-water and what I call a “Shooter’s Sandwich”. This last is made thus: Take a large, thick, excellent rump steak. Do not season it, for that would cause the juice to run out, and in grilling it keep it markedly underdone. Have ready a sandwich loaf one end of which has been cut off and an adequate portion of the contents of which has been removed. Put the steak, hot from the grill, and—but only then—somewhat highly seasoned, into the loaf; add a few grilled mushrooms; replace the deleted end of the loaf; wrap the loaf in a double sheet of clean white blotting-paper, tie with twine both ways, superimpose a sheet of grease-proof paper, and more twine. Place a moderate weight on top, and after a while add other weights. Let the thing endure pressure for at least six hours. Do not carve it until and as each slice is required.
 
‘With this “sandwich” a man may travel from Land’s End to Quaker Oats, and snap his fingers at both.’
T. Earle Welby, The Dinner Knell, Methuen, 1932
 
Google Books
The Queen Jade:
A New World Novel of Adventure
By Yxta Maya Murray
New York, NY: Rayno (HarperCollins Publishers)
2005
Pg. 35:
He began to unwrap what he said was a rebellious Latino version of the proper Englishman’s “shooter’s sandwich.” He’d fashioned it out of a soft hollowed loaf filled with meats and pâtés and little marinated tomatoes, and studded it with pickled habanero chiles and splashes of mole.
 
Amazon
Two Fat Ladies, Series 1, Ep. 6 “Food in the Wild”
4.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (110 customer reviews) 
Muttachar (spiced eggs); shooter’s sandwich; easy onion soup with Stilton; frittata with tomato, onions, and basil; and luau trout at the Scout Association Camp in Kielder Forest, Northumberland.
Directed by: Patricia Llewellyn
Runtime: 30 minutes
Original air date: July 29, 2008 (This is incorrect. The original air date was November 13, 1996—ed.)
Network: Optomen Television Ltd.
 
The Guardian (UK)
How to make a shooter’s sandwich
Of the almost infinite possibilities suggested by the technique of putting something between two chunks of bread, one Edwardian great stands top-hat, head and shoulders above the rest
Tim Hayward
Wednesday 7 April 2010 04.00 EDT
 
Delicate Art of the Griddle
01 May 2011
The Shooter’s Sandwich
Considering the title and objectives of this blog, it’s perhaps surprising that I’ve never before spoke of the Shooter’s Sandwich. Let’s remedy that, shall we?
 
The Shooter’s Sandwich first came to my attention sometime in the late 90s by way of an episode of Two Fat Ladies.
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According to the history I’ve heard, the Shooter’s Sandwich was created in Britian as a hearty meal that could be easily transported and serve as a meal, or two, for a hunting party. The sandwich is, at it’s most simple level, meat and a sauced mix of vegetables, crammed into an entire loaf of bread and then smashed for hours under a heavy weight and wrapped in layers of paper. You can use any meat that can be safely prepared raw, but as I understand it beef is traditional.
 
Business Insider
The ‘Shooter Sandwich’ Is All The Rage And The Sandwich Of Your Dreams
Megan Willett Aug. 15, 2013, 4:20 PM
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Also known as a “smashed sandwich,” the Shooter Sandwich is a layered masterpiece that has been gaining traction on Reddit.
 
All that needs doing is to cut the top off a loaf of bread and hollow out the inside. Then add layers of meat, cheese, and veggies into the loaf until it’s ready to burst.

Wrap it up in butcher’s paper and/or tinfoil, and place a cutting board on top weighed down with your heaviest household objects.