The most delicious rose is definitely that of mortadella. Its young and fresh color does not reveal the age of a salami that has many years. IS of the 1661 indeed the edict issued by Cardinal Farnese who established the exact procedure of its production: one of the first examples of a similar regulation to the current DOP and IGP.
The origin of the first name, which to many sounds incomprehensible and curious, comes from Myrtatum, ie spiced with myrtle, a typical Mediterranean berry with which in the past the meat was flavored, now replaced by the best known pepper.
Thinly sliced in the classic rosette or in delicious cubes to taste on a cutting board, its inimitable fragrance immediately guides us in choosing a product quality certificate, protected by Consortium Mortadella Bologna, which from 2018 celebrates every October 24th the Mortadella-Day with important events and presences.
How to recognize a good mortadella
After meeting the characteristic scent, which the long stewing gives to a product with a large percentage of meat, and which remains to be considered first, a good mortadella is recognized by the typical color pink: neither too light nor too dark.
A percentage of about 20% fat, well distinguishable and about 1 cm in size, evenly distributed, is an indication of a mortadella to perfection.
Among the ingredients we find thigh, cheek and shoulder of pork, scraps of cooked ham finely chopped, black pepper in grains, and only in some cases a pinch of garlic as aroma, all wrapped and stored in a thin pig bladder sheath or sometimes in a synthetic membrane.
An increasingly lean meat
Contrary to what is commonly thought, it is a meat that nowadays becomes more and more lean, close to the nutritional and market needs: we think that 100g of mortadella make between 290/300 kcal, ie less than a mozzarella considered a light alternative, and it is totally free of preservatives.
Moreover – in the light of the most recent studies- saturated fats of pork that are sustainably raised are revalued by the scientific community as fundamental in food and not to be demonized, if taken in moderation and inserted in a proper diet.
How to buy mortadella
We can buy mortadella in pieces of various sizes, whose cooking time varies according to weight. A good mortadella is stewed 1 hour per pound.
This means that 20 kg of mortadella is cooked for 20 hours.
Consumer advice
Whether in a cutting version, sliced by the butcher, or packaged in trays, being a photosensitive product, it must be preferably consumed at the moment or in the day, under penalty of loss of organoleptic qualities, while preserving its wholesomeness.
The indicative price, to be sure of buying a quality mortadella, which is an Italian gastronomic product so appreciated all over the world, as well as being counterfeited above all abroad, must be above 12 euros per kilo. Better to avoid lower prices or excessive promotions, to avoid the risk of incurring in products not up to standard.
Some ideas to use it in the kitchen
While giving the best of itself eaten as it is or as a filling of tasty sandwiches, mortadella becomes an excellent ingredient in stuffed with fresh pasta traditional, and strengthens rustic flavor homemade meatballs or rolls.
It also lends itself to being wrapped in a tasty roll of bread, gracefully adorns the creative cialdine for the aperitif, and is tantalizing in cubes on the cocktail skewer.
Captivating revisit it in a fashionable little Mortadella sushi.
If we want to taste mortadella and appreciate every sensory nuance, we suggest to accompany it in an unusual way to fruit like strawberries, grapes or pears, and to combine it ton sur ton with a delicate one rosé wine.
Elizabeth Pendola
December 2018
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