While shopping for lunch meat at the deli counter a month or two ago, my gaze happened to fall on something I was unfamiliar with--mortadella. It sounded vaguely Italian, but I couldn't recall ever having it. So I rectified this, and bought a small amount to sample. Also, I thought that "mort" sometimes means "dead" in various languages, so I was hoping it was "death salami" or something. More on that later. The company that produced the mortadella that I tried was Citterio.
My meat came from Freeland, Pennsylvania, or not very far away. However, this is just the American factory, as the headquarters for Citterio are located in Italy. Back in 1870 a man named Guiseppe Citterio, having just completed his training in Milan, opened a deli in the Italian town of Rho. In 1878 he switched to a company that made and marketed meat, chiefly salami. He clearly knew what he was doing, as his wares won a gold medal at the National Expo of Milan only 3 years later. During World War II production was halted as the military took possession of the factory. Fortunately, Citterio weathered this setback, and resumed making meats afterwards. Oddly, throughout Citterio's early decades the company made most of its revenue from exporting to other countries. But in the 1950's and beyond it established more of a presence in its native land. In 1955 Citterio opened its own chemistry and microbiology laboratory in its facilities, which their website claims was the first one for a food company. And in 1974 Citterio opened their first facility in the U.S., which as I mentioned before, is in Freeland. Reportedly the fresh dry mountain air of that area was one of the reasons for the factory's location. Other than mortadella, Citterio also makes various types of salami, sopressata (see my post on August 26th, 2023), prosciutto, capocolla/gabagool (see my post on December 9th, 2023), pancetta, bresaola, serrano, antipasto, ham, etc.
By now you may be asking, but what is mortadella? It's a type of Italian sausage. It's known for its large size, and it's made from ground up pork, of which at least 15% must be cubed pork fat. Traditional flavorings include black pepper, pistachio, or myrtle berries. I couldn't discover an exact creation date, but there is a historical reference to something that sounds like mortadella from the year 1376 A.D. So assuming that's correct, mortadella is very old. We do know it's birthplace though, and that's the Italian city of Bologna. The name "mortadella" is a bit of a mystery. Historian Giancarlo Susini believes that it derives from the Latin word for "mortar," which is "mortarium," since the dish is often made using a mortar and pestle. Historian Ovidio Montalbini thinks that it's from the word for myrtle sausage, "farcimen myrtatum," as the myrtle berry was one of the earlier flavoring agents for the meat. (Pepper wasn't as widely available in Europe until much later.) There are many variants of mortadella. Some use different spices to flavor it, and some even use different kinds of meat. For example, some folks flavor the sausage with garlic, or alchermes (which is a kind of liqueur that includes the bodies of tiny insects). Others use chicken, or turkey, or beef, or even horse as the meat base. Mortadella is particularly popular in Spain, Portugal, and most of South America.
Citterio mortadella: The color was pinkish-brown, with visible pepper corns and white chunks (apparently the pork fat). Mine came in round, thin slices. I forgot to measure the diameter exactly, but they were big--easily 6 inches (about 15 cm.) in diameter. Visually it reminded me of olive loaf, except for the lack of olives. The texture was chewy, and a little greasy. The taste reminded me of bologna rather than a typical sausage. Some mild spiciness from the pepper. It was alright. Not great, but okay. I've always found bologna kind of bland, and this was a bit better with its slight spice bite. I had some plain, and then some on rolls with ranch dressing. The latter way was better. So I guess I would recommend this slightly, especially to those that like bologna. But if you hate bologna I would stay away, since they're similar.
As you just read above, I found mortadella to be very reminiscent of bologna. Well, I feel a bit vindicated, as the typical bologna that we Americans eat is just a type of mortadella without the relatively high percentage of cubed pork fat. And, the typical American olive loaf is essentially mortadella which has olives and pimentos in it. So credit to my eyes and palate--they were accurate on this occasion.
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