According to legend, the origin of muffaletta was with the Sicilian immigrants living in New Orleans in the early 1900's. In traditional Mediterranean fashion, these Italians enjoyed eating olives with their meals. Working on local plantations in Louisiana, however, they found their dining time severely limited. Out of the need to eat on the run, a New Orleans classic was born: a relish of crushed olives and roasted vegetables, spread in a layer on fresh Italian bread, with a generous helping of cold cuts (prosciutto, mortadella, etc) and cheese, and little drizzle of olive oil.

I remember discovering olives at holiday gatherings when I was a little girl and loving to eat them off my fingertips. I've talked to so many people with the same experience that it makes me wonder if putting olives on our fingers is passed down as tradition or something genetic. Either way, it's clear that olives have been special for millennia, not only as a source of food, but also of oil for light, medicine and religious ceremonies. Not to mention the tree's shade for rest and wood for fires and building. It's no surprise that it was an olive leaf that the dove brought to Noah as a sign to show that the flood had ended. We still speak of “offering an olive branch" today when we want to make peace.