Central Grocery in New Orleans claims to have invented the muffaletta (aka muffuletta, muffelatta), which is named for the round Sicilian loaf that resembles a double-tall focaccia. It happened in 1906, when Salvatore Lupo, proprietor of the French Quarter grocery store, sliced the loaf sideways and layered in salami, mortadella, capicola, and provolone, along with a thick ribbon of garlicky olive salad in the same genus as the giardiniera used on Chicago’s Italian beef. A traditional muffaletta, as made at Central Grocery (which now exists for no reason other than to make and serve it), is almost a foot in diameter—enough sandwich for two—and is sold as a whole, half, or quarter. Some restaurants do offer it heated; recipes extend to vegetarian versions; and there even are ones made on sliced bread rather than on a muffaletta loaf. Such variations test the limits of the word.
A mini-muffaletta as served at the 2010 New Orleans Roadfood Festival.