National Panini Day
August 11
National Panini Month is the perfect time to celebrate the hot, melty sandwich on a beautiful August day. Panini is derived from Italian origin and is basically a grilled sandwich made with non-sliced bread. National Panini Month is an opportunity to break the regular old sandwich habit and panini away!
Origin: A precursor of panini appeared in a 16th-century Italian cookbook but didn’t become popular 1970s and 1980s. In the 1980s young Italian hipster types who hung out in coffee-and-panini bars were known as “paninari.” The paninari revolted against the drabness of urban culture with colorful Italian fashion and a taste for fast food and “caferacer” motorcycles. Based in Milan, the paninaro craze spread across Italy. The British pop group Pet Shop Boys even recorded a song, Paniniaro, celebrating the paninari culture.