Mortadella di Prato

Appearance & taste

The sausage is cylindrical or slightly elliptical, 8 to 70 cm long and 6 to 35 cm thick, and weighs 0.5 to 10 kg. Its surface is pinkish and rather matt. The sausage meat is firm, compact and finely ground and therefore soft on the palate. When cut, the Alchermes colours it dark pink; white spots come from the cubes of back fat.

From the first bite it has an intense herbal aroma with a note of Alchermes. In taste, the lively, pungent flavour of spices, garlic and sea salt is balanced against the delicate sweetness of the Alchermes. The ratio of fat to protein is at most 1.5. It is sold as a whole sausage, in pieces or in slices, vacuum-packed or in trays under a protective atmosphere.

Production

The meat comes from pigs that weigh at least 160 kg (± 10 %) and are older than nine months at slaughter. They are preferably fed with liquid feed or mash; whey and buttermilk are allowed up to 15 litres per animal per day. The meat is processed 24 to at most 96 hours after slaughter.

Only certain cuts are used: shoulder (40–50 %), back fat (9–15 %), ham trimmings (10–20 %), neck (5–15 %), jowl fat (5–15 %) and belly fat (5–10 %). To these are added Alchermes, ground pepper and peppercorns, 2 to 3 % sea salt, garlic and ground coriander, cinnamon, nutmeg, mace and cloves. Monosodium glutamate is prohibited.

Trimming and mincing the meat, making the sausage meat, filling and tying, steaming and cooking, rinsing and cooling follow one another without interruption in the production area. Because the sausage is steamed before cooking, it dries for longer and gradually. No more than 20 minutes may pass between cooling and drying and the first vacuum packing, otherwise, according to the specification, the aroma and pink colour suffer. It may be repacked in slices or pieces outside the area as well.

Origin & history

The production area covers the municipality of Prato and the municipalities of Agliana, Quarrata and Montale in the province of Pistoia. Since the 13th century, the plain of Prato has been crossed by a network of artificial channels, the “gore”, which carry water from the Bisenzio and several streams. They drove mills and textile machinery and supplied the butchers and dyers with the running water they needed for their trades.

Pork was the most important food in the winter months; every farming family kept a pig, and the town’s sausage makers were held in high esteem. The dyers used the dye kermes, obtained from scale insects, which the butchers also used to colour and flavour their sausages. The intense red colour of the liqueur Alchermes used to be obtained exclusively from dried, ground scale insects. According to the specification, it is a sure sign that the sausage comes from Prato; it is also used there for the pastry “Pesche di Prato”.

The first reliable records date from 1733: for the beatification of the nun Caterina de Ricci, the nuns of the Dominican convent served their guests Mortadella di Prato as a local speciality. In the 19th century it is mentioned in letters, newspapers, economic books and reports on the world exhibitions in London and Paris; its export to France is documented in 1867.