LEVEL 5 — THE BIG TIME

EGG AND CHEESE

Breakfast is the most important meal of the day, but this egg and cheese sandwich isn’t strictly an early morning treat — you can make and eat this cheesy delight morning, noon, or night! The best part? You can customize your sandwich however you’d like. While this version is vegetarian, you can add bacon, ham, or sausage if you’re a meat eater. Or load up on veggies!

THE HISTORY OF THE EGG SANDWICH

Journey with us down the egg sandwich timeline:

1. 19th Century — London factory workers grab breakfast sandwiches from street vendors on their way to work. These are originally called “bap” sandwiches after the rolls used to hold the fillings.
2. Post Civil War — American pioneers eat breakfast sandwiches on their long westward journeys, although the sandwiches aren’t reserved as breakfast food. (And the added ingredients are likely a way to disguise less-than-fresh eggs.)
3. 1897 — The first known “breakfast sandwich” recipe, using stale bread, chopped meat, milk, and egg, is published in an American cookbook, Breakfast, Dinner and Supper, or What to Eat and How to Prepare It.
4. 1969 — Jack in the Box starts serving up an egg, meat, and cheese breakfast sandwich on an English muffin.
5. 1971 — Herb Peterson, an advertising executive, invents the Egg McMuffin and starts selling it at his restaurant. He later introduces the sandwich to McDonald’s chairman Ray Kroc.
6. 1972 — The Egg McMuffin hits the McDonald’s menu, making the breakfast sandwich a nationwide favorite.

SANDWICH FACTS

• 61% of restaurants now feature breakfast sandwiches on their menus — up 5% since 2010.
• Breakfast sandwiches were typically regional specialties until fast-food restaurants started serving them.

BETWEEN THE BREAD

PRO TIP

For a less messy sandwich, cook your eggs in the microwave. Scramble an egg in a microwave-safe dish and cook on high for 45 seconds. Remove, rescramble, and cook for another 30 seconds.

VARIATIONS

Try your breakfast sandwich with a fried egg if you don’t mind a mess, or opt for scrambled.

WE DARE YOU!

An egg sandwich is great on its own, but a sandwich savant like you is probably ready to take it to the next level. Think you can handle the weird, the gross, the amazing, and everything in between? Here are just a few out-there options to experiment with… if you dare!