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The sandwich: The muffuletta What’s on it: Bologna, pepperoni, provolone, Greek slaw on a French roll. Where to get it: The Market Restaurant (1445 Larimer Square, 303-534-5140) How much: $7.65
The word muffuletta sounds cool no matter how you pronounce it. Moof-a-letta! Moof-a-lotta. Whatever. Supposedly of Italian origins but invented in New Orleans, it’s a popular sandwich, but one that just doesn’t sound all that appetizing when you look at the traditional ingredients: chopped olives and Italian meats, like capicola and salami. They just don’t seem to match the exotic-sounding richness of the name.
As a result, I’d never had one. But when a friend recommended the sandwiches at the Market, and another recommended the muffuletta, If figured it was time.
Oddly, the Market’s muffuletta (at right) doesn’t come on muffuletta bread (it’s on a French roll) and doesn’t have any olives in it (which is the one ingredient that makes a muffuletta a muffuletta). And as for the Italian meats, it has bologna and pepperoni, which sound more like a nine-year-old child’s sack lunch than staples at an Italian meat market. The sandwich also contains oil and vinegar and Greek slaw, which don’t fit either.
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So, basically, the Market’s muffuletta bears no resemblance to a traditional sandwich, aside from the cheese and the name. And that was fine with me, since, like I said, the original never sounded that good to me, and the non-muffuletta muffuletta I had tasted muff-tastic anyway!
Big and juicy, the bologna was much better than any sack-lunch fare, and the spice of the pepperoni gave it a nice kick. The oil and vinegar was great, and so was the bread.
In fact, somehow, this no-olive olive sandwich was one of the better creations I have had in my months of searching for Denver’s best bets between bread.
While I was there, I also tried the Santa Fe Chicken sandwich (at left), which rocked and rolled as well. And in this case, the sandwich actually had the called-for ingredients, chicken fried chicken and green chile sauce that gave it a sweaty but not spicy flavor.
So I guess it doesn’t really matter what they call their sandwiches at the Market — or how they pronounce them — because they taste good. Olive them. – Jonathan Shikes
For more sandwiches, log on to the Our Weekly Bread archive.
