Anthony Bourdain's famous Mortadella sandwich recently came across my radar. Maybe it was famous before -- I had never encountered it until this week - but suddenly it is everywhere on the Internet and I decided to recreate it. Up to a point.
Research indicates that Anthony Bourdain suggested a kaiser roll with this, an item of which I am not a huge fan. Also, since this is quite an indulgent sandwich, I went with an open faced version so as to use one slice of bread, and cut down on the amount of deli meat and cheese required so as to pretend that I care about calories. I don't own a squeeze bottle of French's mustard so used Dijon, which was good, but the sandwich could have used a bit more sharpness (such as that of the French's version of mustard), to cut through the richness. Next time, I shall probably add a thin layer of relish or chopped cornichons to the toasted bread. Last but not least, you definitely need a non stick pan for this.
That being said, crunchy bread, unctuous deli meat, rich and gooey cheese with crispy, edges -- this is a very good sandwich.
2 thin slices of Mortadella
2 thin slices of Provolone
1 slice of your favorite bread
Mustard to taste
Fold the pieces of Mortadella into quarters. Place them in a pan over medium low heat and cook for three minutes before flipping them.
Once flipped, place a slice of cheese over each Mortadella bundle allowing the edges of the cheese to hang over the sides onto the pan. This will allow you to make the crispy portion of the sandwich. Cook for a minute or so until the overhang of cheese has become lacey and crunchy and the cheese on top of the deli meat has melted.
Right before you flip the Mortadella, place your bread in the toaster so as to time it being toasted with the cheese being melted.
Spread the bread with some mustard and top with the deli meat - cheese bundles.
You can either eat this with a knife and fork as is or, as I firmly recommend, cut it in half and put the two sides together. Eating through the two portions of Mortadella - Provolone in each bite brings something to the experience that the thinner version of this sandwich does not.
My understanding is that Anthony Bourdain suggested beer as an accompaniment to this sandwich. I am not a beer drinker, but this does need bubbles. A special treat Coca Cola actually worked really well to keep the richness in check.