Sandwiches are one of my favourite foods. They are great as a snack, for lunch or as a light dinner. But make sure you don't limit your customers to a plain old chicken and salad sandwich. Let's have a look at all the different types of sandwiches available.

The four main types of sandwiches are:

• cut sandwiches

• open sandwiches

• rolled sandwiches

• filled loaves.

Cut sandwiches generally consist of bread from square sectioned loaves in:

• white

• wholemeal

• multigrain.

Generally these loaves make slices that are about 10 X 10 cm, weigh between 600-800g each. A general loaf yields between 20 and 23 slices not including the crust.

Sandwiches may be two slices with fillings, three slices with more fillings, assembled and cut into triangles, fingers or ribbons, circles, crust on or off, toasted, pressed, pinned together, cut long or rolled and cut into pinwheels.

Specialised types of cut sandwiches include:

Conventional sandwiches that are crust on or off, cut in squares or triangles.

Tea sandwiches which are also referred to as finger or Pullman sandwiches which are made up with more delicate and usually moist ingredients generally between three slices of bread. The bread may be cut conventionally or to speed production the cut may be lengthways. The crusts are removed and the sandwiches are cut into triangles fingers or squares.

Pinwheel sandwiches are a tea sandwich prepared using bread slices sliced longways form a conventional square loaf which have a substantial well flavoured spread or soft filling. The spread slices are rolled up tightly, covered and rested under refrigeration to set. When set they are cut into slices for service. Pinwheel sandwiches may be served with other sandwiches or as cold canapés.

Cocktail sandwiches are a canapé for service at a cocktail function. They are held together with a cocktail skewer or toothpick to keep them together and tho make eating easier.

Ribbon and Domino sandwiches are made with alternate slices of brown (wholemeal, or rye) and white breads stacked from six up to ten layers high cut through the layers into striped slices and then reassembled so that the slices are arranged end on in a chequer board pattern or in stripes.

Special named varieties of sandwich include:

The Russian Scandinavian tradition of eating bread topped with fresh and preserved ingredients may use sliced breads, or flat breads both of which are Rye based. Irregularly shaped breads are ideal for open sandwiches to provide variety and contrast to regular squared loaves. In Denmark open sandwiches are a national institution. In Denmark and the surrounding countries open sandwiches are known as Smørrebrød (Smura-brurd); these are the origin of canapés which are a French adaption of the open sandwich.

Nowadays any sliced or substantial flat bread or cracker bread can be used as a base for open sandwiches. Variations on this theme can be found in other cultural traditions where unleavened dough is formed into crisp breads by baking or frying, in India there are pappadums, in Central America there are fried corn based tortillas and totopos for example. Pizzas could be seen as a variation on this theme.

Soft flat breads have their origins in the Mediterranean, India, and Central America where traditionally breads are hand formed and baked rapidly on hot surfaces. Foodstuffs are eaten using these breads as dippers or scoops or placed on them and rolled up to be eaten. Contemporary examples of these are Souvlakia, Shwerma, Doner kebab and Felafel rolls. The Precision cut pinwheel sandwich is also a rolled sandwich.

There are many variations on the theme of splitting a whole loaf and placing a filling inside to be eaten whole, torn apart, or portioned by cutting. Filled rolls and hamburgers are examples of this and too are "Pan Bagna" (pang-bann-ya) which is a loaf of (usually) French bread sliced and filled with a variety of moist fillings, closed and pressed, and left for a little time to set and then sliced for service.