Muffuletto: Variations on the Italian Olive Salad Sandwich

Muffuletto (also spelled Muffaletto) is a type of Italian bread. Its origin is Sicily. It is a round, crusty loaf with a lot of flavor and heft. Muffuletto also is the name of a sandwich created, food historians think, by Salvatore Lupo, a Sicilian immigrant who owned the Central Grocery Store in New Orleans, La., in the early 1900's. The Muffuletto sandwich was born in 1906, to be exact. It has been a distinctive part of the Big Easy's culinary offerings ever since. The Gumbo Pages call Muffulettos --- "muff" for short --- "one of the great sandwiches of the world." Today variations on the traditional Muffuletto abound.

The basic concept for the Muffuletto sandwich is layers of Italian meats, cheese and a special olive salad in a hearty bread. According to the Food Dictionary entry on Epicurious.com, in addition to the olive salad, the traditional Muffuletta has three main ingredients: provolone cheese, Genoa salami and ham.

The traditional olive salad is made of "a chopped mixture of green, unstuffed olives, pimientos, celery, garlic, cocktail onions, capers, oregano, parsley, olive oil, red-wine vinegar, salt and pepper." Without this, the stunning olive-y, garlic-y salad, the Muffuletto would be just another Hero.

As The Food Lover's Companion notes, "[t]he olive salad is what sets the muffuletta apart from any other sandwich of its ilk."

Variations on the Muffuletto theme

Anything as delicious and gastronomically charming as the Muffuletta, quite naturally, is sure to attract the attention of creative cooks. Two straightforward Italian meats, a semi-hard, sharp whole milk cheese with an easy-melting personality, and chopped olives in olive oil with spices---this is a culinary canvas that cannot help but inspire embellishment.

And muffuletta embellishments abound. Some versions change up the meats, some the cheeses, and some the olive salad mixture. These variations on the Muffuletto theme are bound to provide a creative spark.

Central Grocery in New Orleans

The renowned home of the Muffuletta, the sandwiches served up at the Central Grocery in the French Quarter of New Orleans go way beyond Genoa salami, ham and provolone.On the meat list, Muffuletta at the Central Grocery also may contain capicola and mortadella.

Capicola is a special type of Italian ham. Like many Italian specialty meats, it is made in hot and sweet versions. Mariano Foods says capicola is "one of the icons in Italian culinary tradition." Capicola is the meat on deli sandwiches that provides them with an authentic Italian taste. In addition to Muffuletta, capicola shows up in other layered dishes, such as Rachel Ray's "Grilled Eggplant and Capicola Stacks."

Mortadella comes with this admonition from Life in Italy: "Don't call it baloney!"

Mortadella, in fact, is similar to what Americans and Germans regard as baloney (or bologna), but it is yet another fine---and beloved---Italian specialty meat. One aspect of the distinctive flavor of Mortadella is its spices. Mortadella di Bologna is spiced with a blend of salt, peppercorns, white pepper, anise, coriander, wine and pistachio nut pieces. Mortadella di Amatrice is spiced with cinnamon and cloves. It also is smoked and aged.

On the cheese list, the Central Grocery Muffuletto may use emmentaler and mozzarella. The sandwich then uses lots of olive salad. What's in the Central Grocery olive salad? The recipe is a secret, but the salad is sold separately at the grocery.

Southern Living magazine's favorite Muffuletto

In Southern Living, "Muffuletto," Donna Florio sets out a recipe that stays traditional in terms of sandwich meats. This recipe also keeps the traditional cheese, provolone, but adds Swiss. As for the olive salad, Southern Living's version includes ingredients such as pickled cauliflower, carrots, peppers, onions and celery. The salad also incorporates pepperoncini.

Chef Rick's Muffuletto

Rick McDaniel, writer and food historian, offers his "Cajun and Creole" take on Muffuletta. The meats include the traditional salami and mortadella, but McDaniel adds prosciutto. McDaniel's twist on the olive salad is using Italian-style roasted sweet red peppers and fresh parsley.

Bobby Flay's Muffuletto

When "Iron Chef" Bobby Flay took his "Throwdown" show to New Orleans, it was inevitable that he would attempt to re-create the Muffuletta. Flay took on Jack and Mike Serio, owners of Serio's Deli, and their three-generations-old recipe for Muffuletta. Here's what Flay came up with:

First, for meats, Flay used the traditional Genoa salami and ham, then added hot soppresata and a dry salami, Salchicon de vic. Hot soppressata, such as that sold by Salamis By Mail, gets its heat from red pepper and cayenne. Salchicon is similar to Genoa salami, but it's from Catalonia, Spain.

For cheese, Flay went with aged Manchego. Flay's really bold step, however, came in his interpretation of the olive salad.

The olives remained. But Flay stepped away from the traditional olive oil base with garden path spices. While his salad did use parsley and oregano, Flay made his base with mayonnaise, sherry vinegar, Dijon mustard and honey. For even more distinctive flavors, Flay used piquillo peppers.

The Muffuletto sandwich has been a distinctive part of the Big Easy's culinary offerings since 1906. Today the Muffuletto continues to delight, even as it continues to evolve. The variations on the New Orleans' Muffuletta show that it is here to stay as "one of the great sandwiches of the world."

** For yet another great Olive Salad for Muffuletto, check out this recipe submitted to All Recipes by bestrachan. It uses marinated artichoke hearts and celery seed, and it gets rave reviews.

Sources:

"Muffuletta," Gourmet Sleuth.

"The Muffuletta Sandwich," Gumbo Pages.

"Food Dictionary: Muffuletta," Epicurious.

"Provolone Cheese," Mahalo.

"Central Grocery," Go New Orleans.

"Capicola," Mariano Foods.

"Grilled Eggplant and Capicola Stacks," Rachel Ray Magazine.

"Mortadella: Don't call it baloney!," Life in Italy.

Donna Florio, "Muffulettas," Southern Living on FindArticle.

"Muffaletta Sandwich," Chef Rick.

"Throwdown with Bobby Flay: Muffuletta," Food Network.

"Soppresata," Salamis By Mail.

"Vic salchichón sausage," Spain Info.

Bestrachan, "Olive Salad for Muffulettas," All Recipes.