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What Is Mortadella Bologna?
Mortadella Bologna is not any pink sausage sold under the name: it is a cooked pork sausage with a written specification, pearly white fat cubes making up at least 15% of the slice and an EU IGP mark granted in 1998. This guide sets out the facts and myths, then shows where to taste it on a bologna food tour.
Quick answer What Mortadella Bologna is, in brief
Mortadella Bologna IGP is a cooked sausage of finely ground pork, pork throat fat cubes, salt and pepper, with fat cubes in at least 15% of the slice. The EU granted its IGP in 1998. Pork is the only meat allowed, so horse meat is a myth.
Key takeaways
- Taste it with cold cuts on the Secret Food Tours Bologna Food and Market Tour.
- See where it ends up in tortellini on a bologna food tour.
- Mortadella Bologna is also served as a welcome aperitif on the Bologna Pasta Class with Ragu, Spritz and Gelato.
- Cook with it afterwards: pick a Bologna cooking class.
What Is Mortadella di Bologna?
It is a large cooked pork sausage, pink and lightly spiced, with white fat cubes making up at least 15% of the slice.
The consortium's written specification fixes what goes in, how it is cooked and what the slice must look like.
What goes into it
Mortadella Bologna IGP is a mix of finely ground pork muscle and cubes of pork throat fat, with salt and pepper, in a casing and cooked in dry air ovens. The fat cubes are cubed, heated, washed in water and drained. Pistachio is allowed, plus sugar up to 0.5% and natural flavourings up to 0.3%.
The specification forbids smoke flavourings, polyphosphates and mechanically separated meat. Salt can reach at most 2.8%, and total protein must be at least 14.5%.
How it is cooked and how it looks
The sausage is cooked, not cured. The core must reach at least 70 degrees Celsius, the sausage must lose at least 3% of its stuffed weight, and it must then cool to below 10 degrees Celsius at the core in the shortest time possible.
The cut surface is a uniform bright pink and the slice is velvety. The shape is oval or cylindrical.
Mortadella Bologna IGP, whole and sliced, from the Consorzio Mortadella Bologna. Photo: Stefano Brush Parisi, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Are Bologna and Mortadella the Same?
Only sausage made to the Mortadella Bologna specification in the designated zone can carry that name, so check for the IGP mark.
The city gave the sausage its name, and the name is protected.
What the name guarantees
The EU granted Mortadella Bologna the IGP in 1998. The consortium says it is made only in Italy, in designated areas, and slicing and packing must also take place inside the production zone. A sausage that does not meet the specification cannot be sold as Mortadella Bologna IGP.
The table lists the requirements you can check against a label. Every figure comes from the consortium specification.
| Feature | Requirement |
|---|---|
| Meat | Pork only, with pork throat fat cubes |
| Fat cubes | At least 15% of the slice |
| Salt | At most 2.8% |
| Protein | At least 14.5% |
| Core temperature when cooked | At least 70 degrees Celsius |
| Forbidden | Smoke flavourings, polyphosphates, mechanically separated meat |
The practical test
When you buy slices in Bologna, look for the words Mortadella Bologna IGP. A sausage with a different name may be good, but it is not bound by the 15% fat rule or the zone rule above.
Source: Mortadella Bologna Consortium.
Is Mortadella Healthier Than Bologna?
Mortadella Bologna is a rich meat, with at least 15% fat cubes, at most 2.8% salt and at least 14.5% protein.
The specification gives real numbers, so you can judge a slice against its label.
What the rules cap
The specification caps salt at 2.8% and forbids polyphosphates, smoke flavourings and mechanically separated meat. It sets protein at a minimum of 14.5%. The white cubes are fat and make up at least 15% of the slice, so a portion is better measured in a few thin slices than in a pile.
If you compare it with another sausage, compare the same figures on the other label: salt, protein and fat. A guided tasting such as the Bologna Walking Food Tour with a Local, with over 15 tastings across 5 stops, shows how small the portions are in practice.
Is Mortadella Made From Horse Meat?
No, the specification allows pork only.
The recipe is short, and every ingredient is listed.
Pork, fat, salt and pepper
The specification names finely ground pork muscle, cubes of pork throat fat, salt and pepper, plus tightly capped extras: pistachio, sugar up to 0.5% and natural flavourings up to 0.3%. No other meat is listed. A slice marked Mortadella Bologna IGP is pork.
Where Is Mortadella Bologna Made?
It is made in Emilia-Romagna and seven other areas of Italy, all named in the specification.
The production zone is wider than the city.
The eight areas
The specification lists Emilia-Romagna, Piemonte, Lombardia, Veneto, the province of Trento, Toscana, Marche and Lazio. The consortium has 33 members, including producers and slicers. Mortadella Bologna IGP is made only in Italy, so a sausage with the same name made elsewhere is not the protected product.
Source: Mortadella Bologna Consortium.
How Old Is Mortadella?
The specification places its origins in the 16th century, and the consortium traces it back to Etruscan Felsina and the Bononia of the Boii Gauls.
Mortadella runs through the whole history of the city.
From Felsina to the Salaroli
The consortium's history starts with Etruscan Felsina and the Bononia of the Boii Gauls, lands of oak forests whose acorns fed the pigs. A Roman Imperial-era stele in the Archaeological Museum of Bologna shows seven piglets on one side and a mortar with pestle on the other.
In the Quadrilatero, the Salaroli guild of salt, cured meat and cheese merchants had as many as 281 shops by 1294. Via Drapperie was the textile street, Via Clavature the blacksmith street and Via Pescherie Vecchie the fish street.
The rules of 1661
Cardinal Girolamo Farnese laid down rules for mortadella production on 24 October 1661. Mortadella Day is celebrated on 24 October. If you are in Bologna on that date, the cured meat counters of the Quadrilatero are the place to be.
How Do You Eat Mortadella in Bologna?
Eat it thinly sliced, in a sandwich, on a cold-cut board or as part of the filling for tortellini in brodo.
Locals use it in several ways, and tortellini is the best known.
In tortellini
Bologna Welcome gives a filling for about 1,000 tortellini of 300 g pork loin, 300 g ham, 300 g Mortadella Bologna, 450 g Parmigiano and 3 eggs with nutmeg. The tortellini are served in broth.
If you want to make pasta yourself, see which Bologna cooking class to book.
On a plate or in bread
The Secret Food Tours option serves an artisan mortadella sandwich, and the pasta class listed below opens with a welcome aperitif of mortadella, piadina and Pignoletto.
Source: Bologna Welcome.
Where Can You Taste Mortadella Bologna?
Four tours in Bologna list mortadella among their tastings, with durations from 2 to 4 hours.
Tasting beside a guide is the quickest way to learn what a good slice looks like.
Tours that serve it
The table shows the tours whose listings name mortadella among the food served. Durations and what is served come from the tour listings. Click a tour to see its current price.
A bologna food tour through the Quadrilatero puts you in the district where the Salaroli traded cured meat in 1294.
| Tour | How mortadella is served | Duration |
|---|---|---|
| Bologna Walking Food Tour with a Local | Among cold cuts, in over 15 tastings at 5 stops | 3 hours |
| Secret Food Tours Bologna Food and Market Tour | Mortadella di Bologna and an artisan mortadella sandwich | 2 or 3 hours |
| Taste Bologna Food Tour | On a cured meat and cheese board at a historic salumeria | 4 hours |
| Bologna Pasta Class with Ragu, Spritz and Gelato | Welcome aperitif of mortadella, piadina and Pignoletto | 3 hours |
Hams, sausages and mortadella on display in a Bologna pork butcher's shop. Photo: Ian Alexander, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Mortadella Bologna Questions
Why was mortadella banned in the US?
If you plan to carry meat home, check your own country's customs rules before you fly, because they decide what you may bring back. You can eat the real thing in Bologna on a bologna food tour.
Are bologna and mortadella the same?
Only a sausage made to the specification, in the designated zone, can be sold as Mortadella Bologna IGP. Ask for the IGP mark on any Bologna food tour tasting.
Is mortadella healthier than bologna?
Mortadella Bologna has at most 2.8% salt, at least 14.5% protein and at least 15% fat cubes, so it is a rich meat to eat in small portions. See the portions on the Bologna Walking Food Tour with a Local.
What is mortadella di Bologna?
It is a cooked pork sausage with fat cubes in at least 15% of the slice, protected by an EU IGP since 1998. The Secret Food Tours Bologna Food and Market Tour serves it.
Is mortadella made from horse meat?
No. The specification allows pork only, with salt, pepper and a few capped extras. Taste it on the Taste Bologna Food Tour.
When is Mortadella Day?
Mortadella Day is celebrated on 24 October, the date of the 1661 rules of Cardinal Girolamo Farnese. Plan a visit with a bologna food tour.
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