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Mortadella

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Mortadella
Mortadella with pistachios from Italy
TypeSausage
Place of originItaly
Mortadella Bologna PGI from Italy

Mortadella[1] (Italian: [mortaˈdɛlla]) is a large salume made of finely hashed or ground 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 peppercorns, but modern versions can also contain pistachios or, less commonly, myrtle berries. The sausage is then cooked.

The best-known version of mortadella is mortadella Bologna PGI.

Etymology

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The origin of the name mortadella is debated. One theory derives the name from the Latin word mortarium ('mortar'), traditionally used in pounding the meat to produce the sausage.[2][3] This theory, proposed by Giancarlo Susini, professor of ancient history in the University of Bologna, relies on two funerary steles kept in the Archaeological Civic Museum of Bologna, believed to pertain to the same monument, one showing a herd of piglets and the other a mortar and pestle.[4]

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 sausage).[5][3][2] Myrtle was in fact a popular spice before pepper became available to European markets.[5]

Varieties

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Italy

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Panini with mortadella
A slice of mortadella with pistachios
  • Mortadella di Amatrice, produced in Amatrice, Lazio, is made from minced pork and spiced with cinnamon and cloves.[10]
  • Mortadella umbra, from Preci, Umbria, is also called coglioni di mulo, like mortadella di Campotosto, and produced in a similar style.[11]
  • Mortadella di fegato [it], produced in Piedmont, is made from pork and pork liver and comes in two types: mortadella di fegato cotta (cooked), sometimes called mortadella d'Orta, and mortadella di fegato cruda (raw), also called fidighin in Piedmontese; both types are recognised PAT.[12][13]
  • Mortadella di fegato al vin brulé is produced in Lombardy and recognised PAT.[14]
  • Mortadella ossolana, produced in Piedmont, in Val d'Ossola, is made from pork and up to 5% pork liver and is recognised PAT.[15]
  • Mortadella di Camaiore, also called sbriciolona, produced in Camaiore, Tuscany, is made from minced pork and spices, including fennel seeds, cinnamon, and cloves.[20]
  • Mortadella trequandina, produced in Trequanda, Tuscany, is made from a mixture of both lean and fatty pork.
  • Mortadella nostrale di Cardoso is a traditional salami produced in Versilia, Tuscany; PAT Tuscany.[21]
  • Mortadella della Lunigiana, or mondiola della Garfagnana, depending on its origin, is produced in Garfagnana and Lunigiana, Tuscany.[23]
  • Mortadella di Accumoli is a traditional salami produced in Accumoli, Lazio.[10]
  • Mortadella romana, also called spianata is produced in Rome.[24]
  • Mortadella viterbese, from Viterbo, Lazio, is an industrially produced, flattened salami.[25]
  • Mortadella di manzetta maremmana is a salami made from Maremmana beef and pork from Viterbo, Lazio.[26]
  • Mortandela [it] (note the difference in spelling), produced in Trentino-Alto Adige, in Val di Non, is made from minced pork.

Outside Italy

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The American product called "bologna sausage" is an imitation of mortadella Bologna PGI.[citation needed] Similar imitations from around the world include "parizer", "polony", and "devon".

Brazil

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A famous mortadella sandwich is sold at the Municipal Market of São Paulo in the city of São Paulo.[27]

Middle East and North Africa

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In several countries, such as Morocco, Algeria, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Palestine, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and Kuwait, halal or kosher mortadella is sold, which is made from chicken, beef or turkey. The Siniora brand, a Palestinian brand established in Jerusalem in 1920, is the first in the region, a mortadella with sliced olives, pistachios or peppercorn.[28] Lebanese Al-Taghziah is a brand that is sold around the world.[29]

Poland

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In Poland, mortadela slices are sometimes dipped in batter, fried and served with potatoes and salads as a quicker (and cheaper) alternative to traditional pork cutlets.[30]

Romania

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In Romania, a similar cold cut is also known as parizer. In Hungary, a similar product is called mortadella and a plain variety called pariser, parizer or párizsi. The term parizer is also often used in Bosnia-Herzegovina and Croatia, while parizier 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.[31]

Russia and former Soviet Union

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In Russia and other former Soviet states, a very similar product is called doktorskaya kolbasa (Russian: Докторская колбаса, lit. 'doctor's sausage'). However, this product is usually made from a mixture of beef and pork (sometimes beef and lamb or chicken for religious reasons) and does not include pieces of fat or myrtle; mortadella-style sausages with bits of fat are called lubitelskaya and stolichnaya. Instead, it is flavoured with just cardamom, sometimes coriander and nutmeg, and also traditionally contains eggs and milk, which are usually absent in traditional mortadella. Unlike mortadella, doktorskaya kolbasa contains lower amounts of fat and is high in proteins.

The name "doctor's sausage" was coined in the Soviet Union in the 1930s to refer to sausages and meat products recommended by doctors to help with undernourishment and stomach problems. During the Soviet era, it was commonly advertised as being nutritious (due to its low-fat content) and remains popular throughout former Soviet states to the present day.[32]

United States

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Mortadella was banned from import into the United States from 1967 to 2000 due to an outbreak of African swine fever in Italy.[33]

The ban in the United States was lifted due to a 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.[34]

In the 2020s, mortadella experienced a surge of interest, with numerous restaurants in New York and Los Angeles featuring mortadella dishes.[35][36]

Vietnam

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Chả lụa or Vietnamese mortadella is sometimes used as an accompaniment to the Vietnamese dish bánh cuốn.[37]

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The plot of the 1971 comedy film Lady Liberty (La Mortadella in Italian), starring Sophia Loren, is based on the United States ban on mortadella.[38][39]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Mortadella - Define Mortadella at Dictionary.com". Dictionary.com.
  2. ^ a b Hazan, Marcella (2012). The Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking. Pan Macmillan. p. 17. ISBN 9780752228044.
  3. ^ a b Davidson, Alan (2014). The Oxford Companion to Food. Oxford: OUP Oxford. p. 533. ISBN 9780191040726.
  4. ^ Roversi, Giancarlo (2013). La Mortadella Bologna IGP. Storia di un mito (in Italian). Bologna: Consorzio mortadella Bologna.
  5. ^ a b "I "Padri" del nome: Il Mortaio o il Mirto?". Mortadella Bologna (in Italian). Retrieved 12 June 2025.
  6. ^ "Prodotti Toscani DOP-IGP - Mortadella Bologna IGP".
  7. ^ ARSIAL 2019, pp. 15–16.
  8. ^ Regione Toscana 2017, pp. 58–59.
  9. ^ ARSSA 2006, p. 41.
  10. ^ a b ARSIAL 2019, p. 103.
  11. ^ "Regione Umbria - Coglioni di mulo".
  12. ^ "Eccelenza Piemonte - Mortadella di fegato cotta".
  13. ^ "Eccelenza Piemonte - Fidighin".
  14. ^ ERSAF 2014, p. 49.
  15. ^ "Eccelenza Piemonte - Mortadella Ossolana".
  16. ^ "home > lista dei prodotti > scheda: Mortadella di cavallo". arsial.it. 20 July 2011. Archived from the original on 20 July 2011. Retrieved 30 November 2022.
  17. ^ ARSIAL 2019, p. 105.
  18. ^ "Prodotti Toscani DOP-IGP - Mortadella di Prato IGP".
  19. ^ Regione Toscana 2017, pp. 29–30.
  20. ^ "Prodotto Agroalimentari Tradizionali della Toscana - Mortadella di maiale di Camaiore".
  21. ^ "Prodotto Agroalimentari Tradizionali della Toscana - Mortadella nostrale di Cardoso".
  22. ^ "Prodotto Agroalimentari Tradizionali della Toscana - Mortadella delle Apuane".
  23. ^ "Prodotto Agroalimentari Tradizionali della Toscana - Mortadella della Lunigiana, mondiola della Garfagnana".
  24. ^ ARSIAL 2019, p. 100.
  25. ^ ARSIAL 2019, p. 104.
  26. ^ ARSIAL 2019, p. 106.
  27. ^ Farrell-Fuchsloch, Megan (23 March 2017). "São Paulo: Insider Travel Guide". CNN Travel. Retrieved 10 March 2025.
  28. ^ "Farmer Jack — a Siniora Sons Inc. Company". farmerjack.ps. Archived from the original on 31 March 2016. Retrieved 11 February 2016.
  29. ^ "Al-Taghziah". Archived from the original on 25 June 2012. Retrieved 16 December 2012.
  30. ^ "What Poles Ate When There Was Nothing to Eat". Culture.pl. Retrieved 6 May 2021.
  31. ^ "Parizer ili pariška salama nema veze s Parizom". 5 May 2016.
  32. ^ "Russian Kitchen – Why the Soviets' favorite bologna was called "doctor's sausage"?". Russia Beyond the Headlines. 3 November 2018.
  33. ^ Stanley, Alessandra (13 February 2000). "The Return of Mortadella". The New York Times.
  34. ^ Stanley, Alessandra (10 February 2000). "Bologna Journal; Coming to a Deli Near You: A Long-Taboo Sausage". The New York Times.
  35. ^ Moskin, Julia (28 November 2023). "How Mortadella Went From Cold Cut to Hot Item". The New York Times.
  36. ^ Breijo, Stephanie (26 January 2023). "This is the 'trendy' Italian meat with 1,000 years of staying power". The Los Angeles Times.
  37. ^ "Stall 1006 – Banh Cuon – noodlepie". typepad.com.
  38. ^ Canby, Vincent (8 June 1972). "Film: Sophia Loren Leads Cast of 'Lady Liberty'". The New York Times.
  39. ^ Lady Liberty at IMDb

Further reading

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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Mortadella.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Mortadella sandwiches.
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