Central Grocery, an iconic specialty store in the heart of the French Quarter in New Orleans has a secret recipe. Certain dishes are so ingrained in this region's stew-pot cuisine that to eliminate them would be unthinkable. One is muffuletta, an Italian submarine-type sandwich with a distinctive olive salad.

In this episode, I give you a couple of recipes, one for my version of the Olive Salad and another from my cooking classes, the Streetcar Salad, using the famous olive salad. Catch the transcripts and recipes on my website, www.arlenecoco.com

The authentic Muff requires an 8-inch semolina sesame topped loaf. Good luck finding that at your local grocery store. The closest thing I have found has been Focaccia. Here is a recipe from Joshua Weissman for the bread if you want to make it yourself on Youtube. Joshua says in the video that the Muff is the King of all Italian Sandwiches, I have to agree, it's amazing. As for the Olive Salad, you can buy Gardinaria at your local Italian grocery store and beef it up with capers and more olives in a pinch.

Ingredients:

1 round 8-inch loaf of bread or 4 hoagie rolls

2 tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil

1 teaspoon chopped garlic (optional)

4 ounces lean ham

4 ounces salami

4 ounces mortadella

4-6 ounces provolone or mozzarella or a mix

1 cup of Olive Salad or  Store-bought Gardinara mix with 1 cup of mixed pitted chopped black and green olives and 1 teaspoon capers added.

1. Cut the bread horizontally, some folks take some of the bread out of the bottom or top to make room for more toppings, your choice.
2. Toast or no toast- again your choice. I don't remember ever eating a toasted Muff unless the whole thing was toasted.
3. Brush the bottom and the top of the bread with olive oil, you can add  garlic if it suits you
4. Start with the meats first-  4 ounces of each- Ham, Salami, and Mortadella, I hear there is a shortage, so if you can't get it you can skip it and add more of the other meats. Provolone cheese is next, somewhere between 4 and 6 ounces, again depending on your taste. You can sub or combine Mozzarella cheese in there too.
5. Generously spoon a cup of olive salad on top of the meat and place the lid on.
6. Press it and cut it into quarters. Typically in New Orleans, you will order it by half or whole.
7. If you want to heat it, wrap it in foil and bake at 350F for about 30 minutes to heat it up.
8. I like to press mine overnight in the fridge if I am taking it on the road for a potluck or picnic, the pressing makes it easier to eat with your hands and it's less messy.