Mortadella () is a large Italian sausage or luncheon meat (salume ) made of finely hashed or ground meat-cured pork, which incorporates at least 15% small cubes of pork fat (principally the hard fat from the neck of the pig). It is traditionally flavoured with black pepper grains, but modern versions can also contain pistachios or, less commonly, myrtle berries.
The best-known version of mortadella is Mortadella Bologna PGI, but other varieties are found across Italy, including some made of other meats.
Etymology
The origin of the name is debated. One theory derives the name from the Latin word (mortar), traditionally used in pounding the meat to produce the sausage. This theory, proposed by Giancarlo Susini, professor of ancient history in the University of Bologna, relies on two funerary steles kept in the Archaeological Museum of Bologna, believed to pertain to the same monument, one showing a herd of piglets and the other a mortar and pestle.
Another theory, introduced by Ovidio Montalbani in the 17th century, derives the name from a Roman sausage flavoured with myrtle berries that Romans called or (myrtle sausage). Myrtle was in fact a popular spice before pepper became available to European markets.
History
Traditionally, the pork filling was ground to a paste using a large mortar ( ) and pestle.
Mortadella originated in Bologna, the capital of Emilia-Romagna. Anna Del Conte (The Gastronomy of Italy 2001) found a sausage mentioned in a document of the official body of meat preservers in Bologna dated 1376 that may be mortadella.
Varieties
In Italy
Mortadella di Bologna has Protected Geographical Indication (PGI) status under European Union law and is the best known worldwide. The zone of production is extensive; as well as Emilia-Romagna and the neighbouring regions of Piedmont, Lombardy, Veneto, Marche, and Tuscany, it includes Lazio and Trentino. The American sausage called "bologna" is named after the mortadella of Bologna. Mortadella di Prato, produced in Tuscany (Prato), is also defined by an PGI. It is flavoured with pounded garlic and coloured with alchermes. Mortadella of Campotosto, high in the Apennines of northern Lazio, is lightly smoked. Mortadella di cavallo is made from horsemeat in Albano Laziale in Lazio.
Elsewhere
Ibero-American cultures
Mortadella is very popular in Spain and Portugal, where a variety with pepper and olives is widely consumed, especially in sandwiches. In eastern Spain, the standard mortadella is often referred to as (Italian mortadella) to differentiate it from a local variant named .
Mortadella is also very popular in Argentina, Bolivia, Peru, Brazil, Ecuador, Chile, Colombia, Uruguay, and Venezuela, thanks to the Italian immigrants who settled in these countries in the early 20th century. In these countries, it is spelt , and its recipe is quite similar to the traditional Italian, with additional pepper grains. In Peru is known as .
In Brazil, São Paulo has a very popular sandwich sold in the .
In Puerto Rico, "smoked mortadella" is sometimes confused with commercial salami or with cooked salami because cafeterias, , , and restaurants buy the bulk of whole smoked mortadella. While salami may contain pork, beef, veal, and small pieces of fat uniformly distributed within the sausage, mortadella has the traditional larger chunks not so uniformly distributed. Its diameter is much larger than that of hard salami and more closely resembles (cooked) in size, hence the confusion of some people. It is smaller in diameter than the traditional de Bologna because the smoking process causes some shrinkage. It is best served at room temperature to bring out its rich flavour.
Central, Southern, and Eastern Europe
In Romania, a similar cold cut is also known as . In Hungary, a similar product is called and a plain variety called , or . The term is also often used in Bosnia-Herzegovina and Croatia, while is used in other territories of the Balkans. It mainly differs from mortadella and similar salami in that garlic is used instead of myrtle, and it does not contain pieces of fat, pistachios or olives. The classic Italian is widely sold in supermarkets along the entire Adriatic coast.
In Greece, where there is a smaller version in addition to the regular one, that variety is called or , and in Bulgaria, Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia and North Macedonia, the product known as is widely eaten.
In Poland, slices are sometimes dipped in batter, fried, and served with potatoes and salads as a quicker (and cheaper) alternative to traditional pork cutlets.