| | {{infobox |
| | | title = Bologna sandwich |
| | | type = Cold sandwich |
| | | course = Lunch |
| | | serves = 1 |
| | | prep_time = 5 minutes |
| | | origin = United States — bologna descends from mortadella of Bologna, Italy |
| | }} |
| | |
| | The **bologna sandwich** is the simplest American lunch there is: two slices of white bread, one slice of bologna, mustard, a dollop of mayonnaise, and a few rings of onion. No cooking, no measuring, no ceremony — and a century of history inside it. |
| | |
| | ## Ingredients |
| | |
| | - 2 slices white bread |
| | - 1 slice bologna |
| | - Mustard, to taste |
| | - A dollop of mayonnaise |
| | - A few slices of onion |
| | |
| | ## Method |
| | |
| | 1. Lay out both slices of bread. |
| | 2. Spread mustard on one slice and the dollop of mayonnaise on the other. |
| | 3. Lay the bologna on the mustard side, then top with onion slices. |
| | 4. Close the sandwich, cut in half if you like, and eat. |
| | |
| | ## History |
| | |
| | Bologna — the American lunchmeat — descends from **mortadella**, the large, pale, finely-ground pork sausage of Bologna, Italy, seasoned with myrtle berries and studded with fat cubes and sometimes pistachios. Italian immigrants brought mortadella to the United States; American processors simplified it into a uniformly smooth, mild, inexpensive sausage and gave it the city name — spelled "bologna," pronounced "baloney" by nearly everyone.[[cite: Encyclopaedia Britannica — mortadella; food history of the American bologna sausage]] |
| | |
| | Through the twentieth century bologna became the cheapest lunchmeat on the deli counter — sold by the slice at the butcher, in the waxed-paper chub at the grocery, and in the red-ringed plastic packs that filled postwar lunchboxes. During the Depression and the war years that followed, a slice of bologna between two slices of white bread was a lunch that cost pennies and kept for the walk to school or the shift at the mill. |
| | |
| | ## Folk and cultural notes |
| | |
| - | - **The fried variant** — in Appalachia and the South, the same sandwich is fried: the bologna hits a hot skillet until the edges curl and crisp (scored edges keep it flat), sometimes crowned with melted cheese. Fried bologna is its own regional dish, not a version — ask around West Virginia. |
| + | - **The fried variant** — in Appalachia and the South, the same sandwich is fried: the bologna hits a hot skillet until the edges curl and crisp — a slit cut in the middle of the slice (or a few notches round the edge) stops it cupping into a dome — sometimes crowned with melted cheese. Fried bologna is its own regional dish, not a version — ask around West Virginia. |
| | - **The jingle** — Oscar Mayer's 1973 television ad, *"My bologna has a first name, it's O-S-C-A-R,"* turned the lunchmeat into one of the most sung product names in America. |
| | - **The word itself** — "baloney" drifted into slang for nonsense partly because the sausage itself was a humble imitation of grander charcuterie — the food's reputation became a figure of speech. |
| | - **Bologna cake** — a Midwestern and Southern joke dish: stacked rounds of bologna frosted with cream cheese and decorated like a layer cake, served at parties as edible misdirection. |
| | |
| | ## See also |
| | |
| | - [[Main Page]] — back to the kitchen |
| | - [[Recipe Help]] — how to add your own recipe |
| | |
| | [[Category:Sandwiches]] |
| | [[Category:American cuisine]] |
| | [[Category:Cold dishes]] |
