Panini (sandwich)

Panini

A panino imbottito
Alternative names	Panino (Italian singular form), panino imbottito or panino ripieno (lit. 'stuffed panino')
Type	Sandwich
Place of origin	Italy
Serving temperature	Warm or room temperature
Main ingredients	Italian bread (not sliced bread), filling (meat, cheese, vegetables)
Media: Panini

A panini (/pəˈniːniː/; nowadays less commonly called panino, Italian: [pa'niːno])^[1][2][3] is a sandwich made with Italian bread (such as ciabatta and michetta), usually served warm after grilling or toasting.

In many English-speaking countries, the name panini is given to a grilled sandwich made using various breads, including baguette, ciabatta, focaccia, 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.

Panini is a word of Italian origin. In Italian, the noun panino (Italian: [pa'niːno]; pl.: panini) is a diminutive of pane (lit. 'bread') and refers to a bread roll. Panino imbottito (lit. 'stuffed panino') refers to a sandwich, but the word panino is also often used alone to indicate a sandwich in general. Similar to a panino is a tramezzino, a triangular or square sandwich made up of two slices of soft white bread with the crusts removed.^{[citation needed]}

In English dominant countries, panini is widely used as the singular form, with the plural form panini or paninis, although some speakers use singular panino and plural panini as in Italian.^[4][5][6][7]

Although the first US 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 US restaurants began selling panini, with distinctive variations appearing in various cities.^[8]

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.^[9][10][11]

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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, and grill marks).

Media related to Panini at Wikimedia Commons

• List of sandwiches
• Panuozzo
• Tramezzino

• 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 (2011). The Everything Panini Press Cookbook. Adams Media. ISBN 9781440527692.