This article is about the cuisine. For other uses, see Jam sandwich (disambiguation)

A jam sandwich is usually composed of two slices of bread

Bread

Bread is a staple food prepared by cooking a dough of flour and water and often additional ingredients. Doughs are usually baked, but in some cuisines breads are steamed , fried , or baked on an unoiled frying pan . It may be leavened or unleavened...

, butter

Butter

Butter is a dairy product made by churning fresh or fermented cream or milk. It is generally used as a spread and a condiment, as well as in cooking applications, such as baking, sauce making, and pan frying...

 or margarine

Margarine

Margarine , as a generic term, can indicate any of a wide range of butter substitutes, typically composed of vegetable oils. In many parts of the world, the market share of margarine and spreads has overtaken that of butter...

, and jam (traditionally strawberry

Strawberry

Fragaria is a genus of flowering plants in the rose family, Rosaceae, commonly known as strawberries for their edible fruits. Although it is commonly thought that strawberries get their name from straw being used as a mulch in cultivating the plants, the etymology of the word is uncertain. There...

) which is normally consumed at lunchtime or as a quick "snack

Snack

A snack is a small portion of food eaten between meals. The food might be snack food—items like potato chips or baby carrots—but could also simply be a smaller amount of any food item.-Snacks and health:...

."

Origin

Jam sandwiches are thought to have originated at around the 19th century in the United Kingdom

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

. It was an affordable food which was a major part of the diets of the lower/working class people of cities such as London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

. The plausible reason for this was that the ingredients that the jam sandwiches were made from cost little to manufacture and due to taxes being lifted on sugar

Sugar

Sugar is a class of edible crystalline carbohydrates, mainly sucrose, lactose, and fructose, characterized by a sweet flavor.Sucrose in its refined form primarily comes from sugar cane and sugar beet...

 in 1880, it became widely available as a cheap foodstuff. Today, jam sandwiches are mainly consumed by children. Shops do not often sell individual jam sandwiches.

Ingredients and nutrition

• Any type of jam
• Bread (white or wholemeal)
• Margarine or butter

Jam is very high in sugar and so may be considered a junk food

Junk food

Junk food is an informal term applied to some foods that are perceived to have little or no nutritional value ; to products with nutritional value, but which also have ingredients considered unhealthy when regularly eaten; or to those considered unhealthy to consume at all...

.

In popular culture

Steve Urkel

Steve Urkel

Steven Quincy Urkel, generally known as Steve Urkel or simply Urkel, is a fictional character on the ABC/CBS sitcom Family Matters, portrayed by Jaleel White...

 of the sitcom Family Matters can frequently be seen with a jam sandwich in most episodes. In the select few episodes where he doesn't have a jam sandwich, the actor Jaleel White

Jaleel White

Jaleel Ahmad White is an American actor and screenwriter. He is best known for his role as Steve Urkel from Family Matters and voicing the character of Sonic the Hedgehog and other characters for Sonic the Hedgehog media....

has been cited to have been "thinking about jam sandwiches the entire time."