The Main Event: Anthony Bourdain’s Fried Mortadella Sandwiches
Start here.
Thin slices of mortadella hit a hot skillet until the edges curl, brown, and get just a little crisp. Add provolone and let it melt into the folds. Toast your rolls in the same pan, then hit one side with Dijon and the other with mayo.
That’s it.
The richness is the point. The mustard keeps it from becoming too much of a good thing.
For game night, we’d make them smaller—slider-size rolls, two or three layers of mortadella instead of a skyscraper, and a tray big enough to disappear before halftime.
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Sandwich Ingredients
Mortadella: 6 to 9 thin slices of good-quality, thinly sliced Italian mortadella.
Provolone Cheese: 2 to 3 slices of provolone (or a good semi-soft melting cheese).
Bread: 1 soft sandwich roll, such as a Kaiser roll, Portuguese water roll, or brioche, sour dough
Mayonnaise: 1 tablespoon.
Dijon Mustard: 1 tablespoon (yellow mustard also works).
Then Build The Bar Snacks Around It
The trick is not making six more dishes.
It’s putting out a few salty, sharp, crunchy things that make the mortadella sandwiches feel like part of a proper spread.
Warm Olives
Olives into a small pan with olive oil, a strip of lemon peel, a smashed garlic clove, and whatever herb is closest.
Five minutes over low heat and suddenly the bowl of olives feels intentional.
Really Good Potato Chips
Yes, from the bag.
Put them in an actual bowl and serve them with something cold and creamy on the side: crème fraîche or sour cream, plenty of black pepper, lemon zest, and chives.
Nobody watching the game needs you frying potatoes from scratch.
Something Pickled
Cornichons. Pickled peppers. Giardiniera.
The mortadella and provolone are rich. This is the reset button.
Scatter them around the board instead of hiding them in a condiment bowl.
Cheese, But Keep It Simple
One good wedge is enough.
Think something firm and salty rather than building an entire cheese course. Slice it before everyone arrives so there is zero knife-and-board traffic once the game starts.
A Little Something Sweet
Wine bars understand this better than sports bars: salty food wants a small sweet finish.
Put out dark chocolate, candied nuts, or a bowl of grapes and call it done.
thebacklabel Move
Build the whole thing on one large board or across two sheet pans.
Mortadella sliders in the middle. Chips on one side. Olives, pickles, cheese, and something sweet filling the gaps.
No football-shaped serving dishes required.
The point isn’t to make game-day food fancy.
It’s to make it better to eat.
And if Anthony Bourdain’s favorite sandwich can trace its inspiration to a bar in São Paulo, we’re comfortable declaring wine-bar football night officially open.
