Muffuletta (Page 190)

RECIPE #743

• Date: Monday, May 26, 2008 -- 11:30pm
• Location: Somerville, MA
• Kitchen: Matty's Apartment
• Dining Companions: Matty and Russ P.
• Recipe Rating: A
  

Matty was off in Las Vegas last weekend for a bachelor party, and he and his friend Russ were flying back to Boston late Monday night. Inevitably Matty comes off of long flights starving, so I wanted to make something suitable for a late dinner. I had never had a muffuletta before (never having been to New Orleans...) but it sounded like good late-night food. Indeed it was! This sandwich was easy to prepare and extremely tasty. A loaf of bread is hollowed out and filled with layers of a chopped olive salad, Genoa salami, ham, and provolone. Then the whole thing gets wrapped up and chilled for 4 hours before it is cut into wedges and served. I admit, it doesn't really sound like anything special, but it was delicious! The garlicky olive salad complemented the meat beautifully, and gave the sandwich some nice textural contrast. Matty has eaten at Central Grocery in New Orleans, where this sandwich originated, and he testified that this version tastes just like the real thing! It was one of those eating experiences where we all sat around the table in silence, eating our sandwiching and making "Mmmm..." noises. It was good. The sandwich even held up well overnight. I ate it for lunch the next day and it was still great. This recipe was a winner -- absolutely crave-able.

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Last night my special gentleman and I went to see the Boston Pops. It was great fun, except for one minor little detail...

The concert was at Symphony Hall, where they had cleared the floor of the normal seats and instead set up folding chairs and little tables. They were serving light fare: beverages, sandwiches, desserts... and there was a waitstaff to deliver these items to you. My special gentleman and I had our chairs set up near a little table where a mother was sitting with her two kids. They ordered some food, and in the middle of Verdi's Overture to La Forza del destino, their food arrived. The waitress stood behind me as she moved their food from the tray to the table. I don't know what happened really -- perhaps she tripped, or she simply lost the balance of the tray, but suddenly from over my right shoulder come crashing down an open bottle full of iced tea and an open bottle full of rootbeer. Both bottles, and all of their contents land on me -- the rootbeer conveniently pouring itself right down the V-neck in my dress, while the iced tea formed a huge pool in my lap. The glass bottles then bounced to the ground, with a huge crash, which, in the middle of Verdi, caused quite a few people to turn and stare. I was SOAKED. Matty summarized it best when he said, "It wasn't a spill, it was a waterpark ride. Except with root beer instead of water." I wasn't angry so much as stunned. It was an enormous amount of liquid. From my neck down I would have looked no different had I just stepped into a shower with my dress on. Even my underwear was soaked. Fortunately (unfortunately) my dress was silk which dries quickly (but get water-stains, has to be dry-cleaned, and clings like you wouldn't believe when wet). No such luck with my underwear, which lead to a lengthy dilemma about whether to wear soaking wet underwear all night or pull a Britney Spears. No comment on how that one resolved. It was really an experience. Once I was dry (which I more or less was by the end of the concert) I was tremendously sticky. My skin was glittering with dried sugar. Needless to say, when I got home I took a long shower! Always an adventure...