What Makes A Sandwich A Sandwich? (Reheat)

Defining a sandwich requires balancing common parlance with technical criteria, such as the necessity of two separate pieces of bread and the ability to consume the item by hand. Peter Kim, former director of the Museum of Food and Drink, joins the discussion to debate whether items like burritos or buttered rolls qualify under this label. Beyond sandwich taxonomy, writer Helen Zaltzman explores how language shapes food identity, from the orthographic debate over "donut" versus "doughnut" to the linguistic distinction between "brunch" and merely eating breakfast or lunch. Sparkling water further complicates fluid definitions, as the addition of carbon dioxide challenges the classification of H2O. These semantic debates highlight how cultural context, intent, and preparation methods influence the labels applied to everyday meals and beverages, revealing the subjective nature of culinary categorization.