Mortadella Bologna

Appearance & taste

The sausage is oval or cylindrical, firm and not elastic. The cut surface is smooth and an even bright pink. Pearly white squares of fatty tissue are visible in every slice, making up at least 15 % of the mass; they are well distributed and adhere firmly. There must be no pockets of fat or gelatine.

Mortadella has a characteristic aromatic scent and a delicate taste, without any trace of smoke. It contains at least 14.5 % protein and at most 2.8 % salt; maximum values relative to the protein apply to water, fat and connective tissue.

It is sold whole for slicing, in pieces or sliced, vacuum-packed or in a protective atmosphere. Slicing and packaging take place only in the production area, because without its casing the sausage quickly darkens in light and air and loses smell and taste. The name is not translated.

Production

Selected pork from striated muscle is minced in a mincer, according to a technical source cited in the specification into particles of less than one millimetre. Neck fat, salt and pepper, as whole corns, pieces or powder, are added. Also allowed are pig stomach, hard pork fat, water, natural flavourings, spices and herbs, pistachios, a little sugar, and nitrite and ascorbic acid. Smoke flavourings, polyphosphates, substances that affect colour and mechanically separated meat are prohibited.

The mixture is filled into natural or artificial casings permeable to water vapour and cooked for a long time in dry-air ovens; in the process it must lose at least 3 % of its weight. Traditionally this step is called “Stufatura”: the sausage cooks slowly at a low temperature, for many hours depending on its diameter, because a mortadella can weigh up to 40 kg. Colour and scent develop during this time. Everything from preparing the mixture to the end of the cooling phase takes place in the production area.

Origin & history

According to the specification, Mortadella Bologna is the most famous sausage of Bologna’s culinary tradition. It dates back at least to the 16th century, and literary and historical records document it since the late Renaissance. Its reputation rests on the skill of the sausage makers who have continued the traditional methods; it is more strictly regulated than ordinary mortadella.

As the food trade grew, production spread from the original area to the neighbouring areas. Today it is spread across Emilia-Romagna, Piedmont, Lombardy, Veneto, the province of Trento, Tuscany, Marche and Lazio. In some areas the sausage is simply called “Bologna”.