Muffuletta Sandwich
What it is, History and Background
muffuletta; muffaletta; mufeletta
[muhf-fuh-LEHT-tuh] A specialty of New Orleans, this sandwich
originated in 1906 at the Central Grocery.
If New Orleans ever had a 'little Italy' it was the French Quarter, after the Civil War. Among the spectacular sucess stories there was the Central Grocery, which opened in 1906. For almost 100 years, they have served up the Muffuletta sandwich, which is right up next to the Roast Beef Po-Boy as a signature sandwiches of New Orleans.
The sandwich consists of the round loaf of crusty Italian bread, split and filled with layers of sliced Provolone cheese, Genoa salami and Cappicola ham, topped with Olive Salad: a chopped mixture of green, unstuffed olives, pimientos, celery, garlic, cocktail onions, capers, oregano, parsley, olive oil, red-wine vinegar, salt and pepper.
While
the Central Grocery was the originator, it is now a prime tourist stop, so
you may find better ones elsewhere: two doors upriver, at Liugi's, for
example. Weather permitting, get one and a couple of beers to go (ONE Muff
will feed TWO people), and walk a block up to the river to eat it. Perhaps
the best Muff in town is five blocks up-river at the at the charming Napoleon House, 500 Chartres Street, where they are served hot, along with recorded classical music.
You can buy Muffs from Lafayette through Baton Rouge and the Mississippi Gulf Coast. It could be made anywhere the you can get a good ten-inch round loaf of Italian bread. I cannot understand how Subway and other sandwich places have not discovered this epicurean delight... but it's probably because the bread just isn't available elsewhere. The same is probably true of New Orleans' french bread for Po-Boy's and Buffalo's Kimmelweck rolls, so essential for their 'Beef on Weck' ...
