Panino

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For other uses of "Panino", see Panino (disambiguation).

A panino (IPA: [pʰəˈninəʊ]) is a sandwich made from a small loaf of bread, typically a ciabatta. The loaf is often cut horizontally and filled with salami, ham, meat, cheese or other food, and sometimes served hot.

The word is Italian (literally meaning small piece of bread), with plural panini, although panini is often used in a singular sense by other languages that borrow the word, including English and French.

"Panini" is also a brand of grill made specifically for grilling these sandwiches.

In Italian, panino refers variously to a bread roll and a sandwich, and a paninoteca is a sandwich bar. In Central Italy, there is a popular version of panino which is filled with porchetta, i.e. slices of roasted pork.

The spread of Panera Bread restaurants in the USA has helped to popularize the panino sandwich among Americans.

[edit] Trivia

During the 1980s, the term paninaro (consumer of panini) was used to denote a style typical of young people supposed to eat and meet in sandwich bars such as Milan’s Al Panino; the Pet Shop Boys' album Disco contained a track entitled 'Paninaro'.