Muffuletta from Central Grocery
While researching my trip for New Orleans, I came across the muffuletta, a popular sandwich in New Orleans originally invented at Central Grocery.
I’ve never been much of a sandwich person,but this was one of the highlights of my trip, and one of my biggest regrets was not buying another one for the plane ride home.
Central Grocery is a small, Italian grocery store and deli. It is located on the same street as Cafe Du Monde, so right after our morning beignets, we headed over.
The sandwich is quite large, about 10 inches in diameter. Luckily you can order a half order or a quarter order. But we ordered a whole one, just so we could marvel at how big it is.
Look, it’s bigger than my face!
When we first got it, for some reason, I kept saying, “Oh My God, this is bigger than my face.” So I made Mr. K take a picture to show that it is, indeed, bigger than my face.
The sandwich is made of a muffuletta bread, which is similar to a foccaccia, but lighter and with a crispy outside. The sandwich is layered with olive salad, mortadella, salami, mozzarella, ham, and provolone.
On paper, I was prepared to dislike this sandwich. I don’t really care for deli meat sandwiches, I prefer my bread to be toasted, and I don’t like olives. But somehow, it all worked. And it was one of the most delicious sandwiches I’ve ever eaten.
A view from the bottom side:
The bread was soft but firm, the olive salad was marinated in a way that the flavor didn’t bother me, and it had just the right balance of meats and cheeses. We also tried another version during our trip at a restaurant that was more cheffy, where they toasted the bread, used fancier ingredients, but I actually preferred the original.
If you are making a trip to New Orleans, I highly recommend you try the Muffuletta from Central Grocery while you are there.
Central Grocery
923 Decatur Street, New Orleans, LA 70116
We got a half and had trouble finising that. But that was after we’d had beignets, fried seafood, cupcakes, Irish coffee, and a couple other things that day. Definitely oof the best sandwiches I’ve ever had.
There were four of us, so we each ate one quarter, which was a good amount after eating beignets (especially since we still had fried chicken to eat after, haha). But I really wish we got another half for the plane ride. I really hope I get to eat that sandwich again
Gosh, that is a ginormous sandwich!!!!!!
hehe, yup! I wish I had bought another one, especially because we stopped by cade du monde the morning we were leaving, but for some reason i didnt think to get another sandwich and then we were starving on the plane since we hadn’t had lunch! stupid me. oh well
That’s awesome how it’s bigger than your face!
haha, yup! I should have taken off my hat and then i would have just been a sandwich head =)