Follow our host on a holistic journey pursuing the humble B.L.T. | dG1fSmlUT2NBZk4wU3M
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Short filmTranscript
00:00 [Waves crashing]
00:06 [Water dripping]
00:08 [Drums]
00:12 The sandwich.
00:15 Known by the average population as an item of food consisting of two pieces of bread with a filling between them.
00:21 Usually eaten as a light meal.
00:23 But I find this definition unsatisfactory.
00:26 It is a culinary masterpiece. Gastronomical art. It has been pertinent throughout history.
00:33 From the first conception of the Koretsch, invented in Jerusalem,
00:36 before baby Jesus could even carry his little infant legs from one side of the room to the other.
00:41 To the contemporary creations of today.
00:43 Like the panini grill, which came as a beacon of hope in 2002,
00:47 following the clearly drab times that 9/11 brought with it.
00:50 It reminded the world that any pain can be repaired with the right bite.
00:54 Each layer, each flavor representing its own identity, its own addition to the art.
01:00 The bread. The base of the most traditional sandwiches.
01:04 It represents the gift of God according to many pieces of literature.
01:08 Most famously including a pretty well-known book called the Bible.
01:12 It is the body of Christ in the same way that it is the body of the sandwich.
01:16 It reminds us that we are in union on the hunt for sustenance, both spiritually and physically.
01:22 From peasants to plentiful, we all seek, we all need, until one man decides to need.
01:29 To dedicate his time and his effort into creation, until he can make.
01:34 And then, in the cyclical nature of society, he waits for it to break.
01:39 To break the mold and create once more.
01:42 To evolve his creation from one medium to the next.
01:44 For now, he has learned how to get his bread buttered.
01:51 So the bread, the original art, is used in an ingredient to create an even greater masterpiece.
01:57 It has evolved. Used a singular ingredient in a greater idea.
02:02 A sandwich.
02:04 It can be filled with many different ideas and concepts that can speak to different masses of people.
02:09 A popular topping is the tomato.
02:11 Defiant and bold, it challenges the very nature of the bread it tops.
02:16 Just opposing the religious views of the loaf with a sultry, sensual red that gleams out in retaliation.
02:23 You see, the Christian church actually disapproved of the tomato consumption in the 16th century, deeming them to be lewd.
02:30 The Italian word for tomato is "pomodoro," which translates to "love apples."
02:35 So the artist now takes this sultry snack and challenges the sexual repression of our ancestors,
02:43 bringing forth a new concept that challenges our views on not just the food we eat, but the love and intimacy in our own lives.
02:51 As humans, we constantly strive to progress and advance, and this is made no more apparent than in the sandwiches we create.
02:59 We layer up what we already know with further ideologies, possibly balancing the lustful tomato with frigid lettuce,
03:07 which was used throughout a lot of history as a remedy to counteract aphrodisiacs.
03:12 This was a belief dating back to ancient Greeks, as even the god Aphrodite, who's known for her sensuality,
03:18 would have had her desires repressed by this leafy green.
03:22 Now, whether this balancing of sex and suppression actually works is irrelevant.
03:27 It's the statement of the lettuce that means the crunch of its leaves are so satisfying.
03:32 It falls back against the previous rise from oppression that the tomato brought on us from the bread,
03:37 adding a touch of irony to this crusted craft.
03:41 [Music]
03:47 Now, although a sandwich of this nature may already hold so much wisdom,
03:51 it is but one ingredient away from the most famous masterpiece of the last century.
03:57 That, of course, is the BLT of 1903.
04:01 First published in the Good Housekeeping Everyday Cookbook,
04:05 it simply took the foundation of what we know and added one delectable ingredient.
04:11 Bacon.
04:12 A cured, thin slice of meat taken from the belly of a pig, dripping with flavors and fats,
04:17 it laughed at our own human ambitions, representing the greed of mankind,
04:21 as we dared to venture one step further into our sandwich stream.
04:25 The pig has been used throughout the ages to represent gluttony.
04:29 The BLT is only one example of an infinite number of bread-based brilliance.
04:35 Each filling and bread type have their own story and their own messages.
04:39 They are the single most brilliant teachers on this planet, as we don't just digest the meal,
04:45 we can digest the ideologies it holds within, too.
04:49 [Music]