The correct preparation is hotly debated, and its fans are passionate about who does it best. But in the beginning, the muffuletta, or muffaletta, or muffoletta, was Everyman fast food—a sandwich of convenience. As the legend goes, Sicilian immigrants working in the New Orleans French Market in the early 1900s turned to Central Grocery, an Italian mart still housed today on Decatur Street, to pick up quick lunch items. They bought fresh loaves of bread along with cheese, slices of meat and marinated vegetables and munched on these picnic components outdoors. The store’s proprietor suggested stuffing the individual items into round muffuletta loaves, and the distinct sandwich was born. Over the 20th century, it slowly spread across south Louisiana and onto the occasional menu nationwide.
Like so many foods from Louisiana’s culinary tableau, the muffuletta comes with contestable points, including whether to serve it hot or at room temperature, exactly what meats and cheeses to use and the proportion of olive salad to everything else. The Capital City offers a broad range of options. Here’s some of what you’ll find.
pocorellos.net | 12240 Coursey Blvd.
Pocorello’s, known for Italian subs and pastas, has drawn legions of faithful over the course of its lengthy history on Coursey Boulevard. Like Anthony’s Italian Deli (see next page), it’s also an Italian grocery, with various dry pastas, sauces, cheeses and antipasti available for purchase. The muffuletta here is thick, so open wide to savor the layers of lightly smoked ham, Genoa salami, mortadella, provolone and lots of homemade olive salad, which you can buy separately.