Mortadella is a large Italian sausage or luncheon meat made of finely hashed or ground heat-cured pork, which incorporates at least 15% small cubes of pork fat. It is traditionally flavoured with black pepper grains, but modern versions can also contain pistachios or, more rarely, myrtle berries. The best-known version of mortadella is Mortadella BolognaIGP, but other varieties are found across Italy, including some made of other meats.
Etymology
The origin of the name mortadella is debated. One theory derives the name from the Latin word mortarium, traditionally used to pound 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 farcimen myrtatum or farcimen murtatum. 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 found a sausage mentioned in a document of the official body of meat preservers in Bologna dated 1376 that may be mortadella.
Varieties
Mortadella Bologna has Protected Geographical Indication status under European Union law, and is the best known world-wide. 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. Mortadella di Prato, produced in Tuscany, is also defined by an IGP. It is flavoured with pounded garlic and coloured with alchermes. The mortadella of Amatrice, high in the Apennines of northern Lazio, is lightly smoked. Mortadella di cavallo is made from horsemeat in Albano Laziale in Lazio. The American sausage called "bologna" is named after the mortadella of Bologna.
Similar products outside Italy
Lusitanic and Hispanic 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 mortadela italiana, to differentiate it from a local variant named catalana. 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 spelled mortadela, and its recipe is quite similar to the traditional Italian, with additional pepper grains. In Brazil, São Paulo has a very popular mortadela sandwich sold in the Mercado Municipal. In Puerto Rico, "smoked mortadella" is sometimes confused with commercial salami, or with salami cotto, because cafeterias, panaderias, colmados, 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 salami cotto in size, hence the confusion of some people. It is smaller in diameter than the traditional mortadella de Bologna because the smoking process causes some shrinkage. It is best served at room temperature to bring out its rich flavour.
In Romania, a similar cold cut is also known as parizer. It is a type of artisan bologna. In Hungary, a similar product is called, in Hungarian, mortadella and a plain variety called pariser, parizer or párizsi. The term parizer is also often used in Bosnia-Herzegovina, while parizier is used in other territories of the Balkans. The classic Italian mortadella 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 Parizaki or Mortadelaki, and in Bulgaria, Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia and North Macedonia, the product known as mortadela is widely eaten. In Poland, mortadela slices are sometimes dipped in batter, fried and served with potatoes and salads as a quicker alternative to traditional pork chops.
In several countries, such as Morocco, Algeria, Egypt, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Palestine, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Israel, halal or kosher mortadella is sold, which is made from chicken, beef, or turkey. The Siniora brand, established in Jerusalem in 1920, is the first in the region, a mortadella with sliced olives, pistachios or pepper. Lebanese Al-Taghziah is a famous brand that is sold around the world. The most popular brands in the GCC are Americana Group and Halwani Brothers. It is also popular in Iran, albeit usually made with beef or lamb, and called commonly kaalbas, from Russian kolbasa. Pork mortadella is sold in Egypt, Lebanon, Jordan, Syria, and the UAE.
United States
A similar commercial sausage product that omits the cubes of pork fat, called bologna, is popular in the United States. A variety that includes olives and pimentos is called olive loaf. Mortadella is one of the three meats in Central Grocery'sMuffaletta Sandwich in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA along with Holland ham and Genoa salami. Mortadella was banned from import into the United States from 1967 to 2000 due to an outbreak of African swine fever in Italy. This ban was a pivotal part of the plot of the 1971 film La mortadella starring Sophia Loren. The title for the United States release was Lady Liberty. The ban in the United States was lifted due to the Veterinary Equivalency Agreement that allowed countries to export products that had been shown to be disease-free as part of an overall agreement that would allow products deemed safe in the United States to be exported to the European Union.
Ukraine and Russia
In Ukraine and Russia, a very similar product is called "doctor's sausage". However, this product is normally made from a beef and pork mixture, and does not include pieces of fat or myrtle as a primary spice, being instead flavoured with just coriander and nutmeg. It also traditionally contains eggs and milk, which are usually absent in traditional mortadella.
East Asia
Chả lụa or Vietnamese mortadella is sometimes used as an accompaniment to the Vietnamese dishbánh cuốn.
