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Chris and Amy invited us to join them in their plan to meet Anne and Michael at Central Grocery for muffulettas. This plan pleased me greatly. I've been curious about the Central Grocery muffuletta, but my impression was that the muffalettas were the size of a hubcap, so I feared that a muffuletta would eliminate our appetite for other New Orleans delights. So eating a muffaletta with several other people was just right for me.
Central Grocery is a classic Italian grocery, with piles of Italian imports on wooden shelves. Pittsburgh does have some Italian groceries with some of this atmosphere, but I can't think offhand of a Pittsburgh grocery with quite as much of this air of homely comfort.
I forgot the training I'd received on muffuletta-eating last year; according to the folks at Rouse's booth at last year's festival, I should have pressed down on the sandwich to force the oils of the olive salad into the bread. The muffuletta was flavorful, with bright flavors from the salad muted by the cheeses. But it wasn't as bright and flavorful as I'd hoped it would be.
(I took a picture behind the counter where the muffulettas were being assembled, but then I saw the "no photos behind counter sign. I haven't yet decided what to do with that; apparently I'm still in a limbo in which I don't delete it, but don't flaunt it.)
Here's the sort of geek I am: I noticed a discrepancy in this sign. I invite you to study it before reading my explanation below.
It says "108 year tradition", but it also says "since 1905". 108 years from 1905 is 2013. Some possibilities: they might be preparing for the year 2013, or they might have invented the muffuletta before opening the grocery. (Another discrepancy: Wikipedia says that Central Grocery was founded in 1906.)
Central Grocery is a classic Italian grocery, with piles of Italian imports on wooden shelves. Pittsburgh does have some Italian groceries with some of this atmosphere, but I can't think offhand of a Pittsburgh grocery with quite as much of this air of homely comfort.
I forgot the training I'd received on muffuletta-eating last year; according to the folks at Rouse's booth at last year's festival, I should have pressed down on the sandwich to force the oils of the olive salad into the bread. The muffuletta was flavorful, with bright flavors from the salad muted by the cheeses. But it wasn't as bright and flavorful as I'd hoped it would be.
(I took a picture behind the counter where the muffulettas were being assembled, but then I saw the "no photos behind counter sign. I haven't yet decided what to do with that; apparently I'm still in a limbo in which I don't delete it, but don't flaunt it.)
Here's the sort of geek I am: I noticed a discrepancy in this sign. I invite you to study it before reading my explanation below.
It says "108 year tradition", but it also says "since 1905". 108 years from 1905 is 2013. Some possibilities: they might be preparing for the year 2013, or they might have invented the muffuletta before opening the grocery. (Another discrepancy: Wikipedia says that Central Grocery was founded in 1906.)
