The Upper Peninsula's #1 Sandwich (It's NOT the Pasty!)

What is the #1 sandwich in the Upper Peninsula? Oh, I’ll bet some of you said “pasty”.....well, as good as pasties are, they are NOT the #1 sandwiches in the U.P. That honor belongs to a taste-tempter called the Cudighi.

Many Michiganders who reside below the bridge are probably looking quizzical and thinking “what the heck is that?”

Cudighi is an Italian sausage that Italian immigrants in Northern Michigan use to make their own special sandwich and foods. To make cudighi you need ground pork butt, red wine, kosher salt, black pepper, nutmeg, cloves, mace, oregano, paprika, garlic powder, allspice, and cinnamon. Some also add pork rinds, red pepper flakes, and fatback to the recipe.

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You’ll find the cudighi in most small mom & pop restaurants, diners, and bars that serve traditional foods like burgers and fries. The sausage blend is so popular, it’s also used for pizzas, stews, soups, and anything that requires sausage or any type of ground meat. It’s THAT popular.

Ground cudighi is the most-utilized, but there are whole cudighi sausages in their own casings. These are yummy to eat as a road snack or while camping.

As far as we know, there aren’t any places below the bridge where you can get cudighi. Is there? To see some cudighi sandwiches, take a look at the photos in the gallery below!