I had this sandwich on my first trip to New Orleans maybe 12 years ago. I had tired of all of the crappy tourist food along Bourbon Street and asked the guy parking cars at our hotel where he goes for lunch. This, by the way is truly sage advice. The people working the lowest jobs in the hotel nearly always know where the best food can be had, especially cheap food like sandwiches, soups, etc... Try it sometime! Anyway, the parking attendant gave me walking directions to a place nearby, still in the French Quarter, but a little off the beaten path, and he suggested I order a muffuletta. I had never heard of it, but I was game, and as it turns out, it was really, really good. One of the best sandwiches I had ever eaten.
If you haven't had one, it may seem a bit strange. But just because it is made from those strange deli meats you see in the display case but you never see anyone ordering ever (mortadella, olive loaf, etc...), and even though it gets topped with a salad made from chopped olives, cauliflower and other vegetables, don't let that stop you from trying one. It is really, really, really good...when it is done right.
This sandwich is native to New Orleans, and although most sandwich shops offer one, the Central Grocery is generally recognized as having created it. My wife and I went there this past Tuesday, ordered one to go, and took it up to a park atop the levee to eat it. What a disappointment. It had not nearly enough meat and cheese to go with the bread, the olive salad and the bread were overly salty, and the whole thing managed to be somehow dry and oily at the same time. I'm not sure how that is possible but I now know it is. We couldn't finish it. What a bummer
But don't let this dissuade you from trying a muffuletta if you venture to New Orleans. Just don't get it from the Central Grocery!
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