Panini (sandwich)
 A typical panino with salame, mortadella, tomatoes and lettuce. | |
| Alternative names | Panini, panino imbottito |
|---|---|
| Type | Sandwich |
| Place of origin | Italy |
| Serving temperature | Warm or room temperature |
| Main ingredients | Bread (not sliced bread), filling (salami, ham, cheese, mortadella) |
 Cookbook: Panino  Media: Panino | |
In many English-speaking countries, a panino (Italian pronunciation: [paˈniːno], from Italian, meaning "small bread, bread roll") is a grilled sandwich made from bread other than sliced bread.
Examples of bread types used for panini are baguette, ciabatta, and michetta. The bread is cut horizontally and filled with deli ingredients such as cheese, ham, mortadella, salami, or other food, and often served warm after having been pressed by a warming grill.
Terminology
In Italian the noun panino (Italian: [pa'ni:no]; plural panini) is a diminutive of pane ("bread") and literally refers to a bread roll. Panino imbottito ("stuffed panino") refers to a sandwich, but the word panino is also often used alone to indicate a sandwich in general. Similar to panino is tramezzino, a triangular or square sandwich made up of two slices of soft white bread with the crusts removed.
In some English- and French-speaking countries, the plural form panini is sometimes used as a singular word (like salami, also a plural noun in Italian). In this usage, the plural is paninis.[1][2]
History
Although the first U.S. reference to panini dates to 1956, and a precursor appeared in a 16th-century Italian cookbook, the sandwiches became trendy in Milanese bars, called paninoteche, in the 1970s and 1980s. Trendy U.S. restaurants, particularly in New York, began selling panini, whose popularity then spread to other U.S. cities, each producing distinctive variations of it.[3]
During the 1980s, the term paninaro arose in Italy to denote a member of a youth culture represented by patrons of sandwich bars such as Milan's Al Panino and Italy's first US-style fast food restaurants. Paninari were depicted as right-leaning, fashion-fixated individuals, delighting in showcasing early 1980s consumer goods as status symbols.[4][5][6]
Panini sandwich grills
| Panini Grill | |
|---|---|
| Classification | Cooking Equipment |
| Industry | Various |
| Application | Cooking |
| Fuel source | Electric |
A panini press or grill is a type of contact grill designed specifically for heating sandwiches, meat products, vegetables, or specialty menu items. Almost exclusively powered by electric elements, it comprises a heated bottom plate that is fixed, with a heated top plate that closes on, and comes in contact with the food. The function of the Panini grill is to heat food to an appropriate internal temperature with desirable external characteristics (i.e. food safe, melted cheese, crisp finish, grill marks).[7]
In popular culture
- In Rectify S2E4 ("Donald the Normal"), Daniel Holden, recently released after having served 20 years in prison, encounters his first panini bread sandwich while lunching with women he's just met at a museum in Atlanta. He is pleasantly surprised and remarks how good the "unusual bread is, and when his table mate says she is over "panini bread", he remarks that the "palini bread" is unusually fresh.[8]
See also
- Cheese sandwich, an American sandwich
- Croque-monsieur, a French sandwich
- Krampouz, a panini machines manufacturer
- Middleby Corporation, a panini sandwich grill manufacturer
- Pani ca meusa, a Sicilian sandwich
- Sandwich toaster, a press for alternative sandwiches
- Submarine sandwich, an American sandwich
References
- ↑ http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/panini
- ↑ Denn, Rebekah (August 30, 2005). "Ask The Critic: Panini vs. panino -- a singular answer to a plural faux pas". Seattle Post-Intelligencer.
- ↑ Zeldes, Leah A. (October 28, 2009). "Eat this! Panini, Italy's answer to grilled cheese". Dining Chicago. Chicago's Restaurant & Entertainment Guide, Inc. Retrieved October 30, 2009.
- ↑ "paninari". Dizionario di Italiano (in Italian). La República. Retrieved 2016-04-27.
- ↑ "paninaro". Dizionario Italiano (in Italian). Corriere della Sera. Retrieved 2016-04-27.
- ↑ "paninari". Vocabulario (in Italian). Treccani. Retrieved 2016-04-27.
- ↑ "What is a Panini Press". indoorgrillreviews.com. Retrieved 2014-04-09.
- ↑ "Rectify S2E4: Donald the Normal". Netflix.
Sources
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Panini. |
- Katsigris, Costas & Thomas, Chris (2008). Design and Equipment for Restaurants and Foodservice: A Management View (Third ed.). John Wiley & Sons, Inc. ISBN 978-0-470-44082-7.
- Strahs, Kathy (2013). The Ultimate Panini Press Cookbook: More Than 200 Perfect-Every-Time Recipes for Making Panini – and Lots of Other Things – on Your Panini Press or Other Countertop Grill. Harvard Common Press. ISBN 978-1-55832-792-4.
- Tripodi, Anthony Tripodi (2011). The Everything Panini Press Cookbook. Adams Media.