| Panini | |
| Alternate Name: | Italian: Panino imbottito or Italian: panino ripieno |
| Country: | Italy |
| Type: | Sandwich |
| Served: | Warm or room temperature |
| Main Ingredient: | Bread (not sliced bread), filling (meat, cheese, vegetables) |
A panini (; nowadays less commonly called panino, pronounced as /it/)[1] [2] [3] is a sandwich made with Italian bread (such as ciabatta and Italian: [[michetta]]), usually served warm after grilling or toasting.
In many English-speaking countries, the name Italian: panini is given to a grilled sandwich made using various breads, including baguette, ciabatta, focaccia, and Italian: 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.
Italian: Panini is a word of Italian origin. In Italian, the noun Italian: panino (pronounced as /it/; : Italian: panini) is a diminutive of Italian: pane and refers to a bread roll. Italian: Panino imbottito refers to a sandwich, but the word Italian: panino is also often used alone to indicate a sandwich in general. Similar to a panino is a Italian: [[tramezzino]], a triangular or square sandwich made up of two slices of soft white bread with the crusts removed.
In English dominant countries, Italian: panini is widely used as the singular form, with the plural form Italian: panini or Italian: paninis, although some speakers use singular Italian: panino and plural Italian: panini as in Italian.[4] [5] [6] [7]
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 Italian: paninoteche, in the 1970s and 1980s. Trendy U.S. restaurants began selling panini, with distinctive variations appearing in various cities.[8]
During the 1980s, the term Italian: [[paninaro]] arose in Italy to denote a member of a youth culture represented by patrons of sandwich bars, such as Milan's Italian: Al Panino, and Italy's first US-style fast food restaurants. Italian: Paninari were depicted as right-leaning, fashion-fixated individuals, delighting in showcasing early-1980s consumer goods as status symbols.[9] [10] [11]
A panini press or panini grill is a contact grill for heating sandwiches, meat products, vegetables, and specialty menu items, nearly always with electric elements, comprising a heated bottom plate that is fixed, and a heated top plate that closes towards the bottom plate 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., melted cheese, crisp finish, grill marks).