How he chanced across this simple pleasure of his, is of course, tied to his extensive travels. This story in particular is set in a bustling Sao Paulo market in Brazil, back in 2007. Bourdain was in the local expanse, filming an episode of his travel show at Bar do Mane. This establishment has been particularly legendary in a local context, with its doors having been open since 1933, and right there inside the city’s Mercado Municipal. Their over-the-top mortadella sandwiches were famous for all the right reasons – primarily stuffing nearly half a pound of pan-fried mortadella and a mysterious ‘yellow cheese’, melted of course, into a soft Portuguese water roll. The original version of this sandwich was much smaller; the meat piling was simply done to give the stall a competitive edge over other sandwich options in the market – and one that essentially made the sandwich a part of Sao Paulo legacy with each juicy, dripping bite.
