Next week, one of New Orleans’ iconic culinary contributions, the muffuletta, will be celebrated with National Muffuletta Day. The commemoration is the creation of Napoleon House, the French Quarter landmark that has long been a favorite spot to enjoy the mammoth sandwich.
The muffuletta is most often stocked with Genoa salami, ham, mortadella, provolone and mozzarella cheeses and olive salad, served on a signature sesame-seeded bread. The sandwich was introduced to the city by the Sicilian immigrants who flocked to the French Quarter in the late 1800s and early 1900s.
As for the unusual name, it comes from the name of the round loaf of bread on which it is served. Its etymology is murky, but local baker and historian Dana Logsdon, in an article for the Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities’ 64 Parishes website, shared some theories, saying that it could be a variation of the Italian word for mold (“muffa”) or more likely from the Latin term for small sack or mitten (“muffula”)…