Mortadella di Bologna IGP
Photo: Stefano Brush Parisi · CC BY-SA 4.0

History

Mortadella has been cured in Bologna since the 14th century, with the first formal regulation issued in 1661 by Cardinal Farnese defining the legal pork-and-spice ratio. The name derives from the Roman mortarium (mortar) used to pound the pork. The IGP designation was granted by the European Commission on 12 June 1998, restricting production to Emilia-Romagna and four neighbouring regions, and codifying the cubes of throat-fat at 15 percent, the pistachio garnish and the slow steam cooking. Tamburini, Atti and Salumeria Simoni all slice it to order at the counter.

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Common allergens: Pistachio

Make it at home

Difficulty Buy at the counter

Ingredients

  • 200g mortadella di Bologna IGP, sliced to 1mm at the counter
  • Crescentine fried dough or 1 tigella, warmed
  • A wedge of Parmigiano Reggiano 24-month, for the platter
  • A glass of Lambrusco di Sorbara, chilled

Method

  1. At the salumeria counter, ask for mortadella tagliata fine (sliced thin). 1mm is right; you should see the slice through.
  2. Eat the first slice straight from the wax paper at the counter, the salumiere will offer.
  3. Build a tigella or crescentina sandwich: tigella halved hot, mortadella folded inside, optional shaving of Parmigiano. No condiments.
  4. Pour a flute of cold Lambrusco di Sorbara to cut the fat.

Tip from the editors. Mortadella is one of the few salumi that should be eaten the day it's sliced; it dries fast. Buy 100 to 200g at a time from a counter that slices to order.

Where to eat mortadella di bologna igp

Mortadella di Bologna IGP in Bologna

Tamburini ★ 4.4

€€ Salumeria, Bolognese CounterQuadrilatero

Tamburini in Bologna's Quadrilatero is the 1932-founded salumeria-and-self-service operating from Via Caprarie, with cured-meat counters, a daily-changing.

OrderThe mortadella tagliere, the daily pasta plate, a tigella with squacquerone.

TipThe self-service runs 11:00-22:00 daily; the salumi counter closes at 19:30 and the aperitivo crowd takes over after 18:00.

Directions

Atti ★ 4.7

€ BakeryBolognese pasticceria, salumeria, mortadellaWalk-in only

Atti in Bologna's Quadrilatero is the 1880-founded salumeria-and-pasticceria with two adjoining shops on Via Caprarie, slicing mortadella to order and baking.

Worth the queueMortadella di Bologna IGP

TipThe bakery counter runs from 07:30; mortadella slicing takes 5 minutes per order and the queue thins after 11:00. Cash and card both fine.

Directions

Paolo Atti & Figli ★ 4.7

€ BakerySfoglia pasta, pasticceriaWalk-in only

Paolo Atti & Figli in Bologna's Quadrilatero is the 1880-founded sfoglina-and-pasticceria with hand-rolled tortellini sold by weight, plus the certosino di.

Worth the queueTortellini and tagliatelle

TipThe pasta counter runs from 07:00; tortellini sell out by 12:30 on Saturdays. The Christmas certosino orders open in November.

Directions

Salumeria Simoni ★ 4.5

€€ Salumeria, Bolognese CounterQuadrilatero

Salumeria Simoni on Via Drapperie in Bologna's Quadrilatero is the 1960s-founded family salumeria with a dine-in tasting room behind the counter.

OrderThe mortadella platter, the tigelle with squacquerone, the prosciutto di Parma 24-month.

TipThe dine-in tasting room behind the counter takes walk-ins for the tagliere; the salumi counter is busiest at 11:00.

Directions Book

Osteria del Sole ★ 4.5

€€ Italian

Osteria del Sole: 1465-founded wine-only osteria where regulars bring food from the surrounding salumerie; the city's oldest tavern, never on a tourist guide.

Why locals go1465-founded wine-only osteria where regulars bring food from the surrounding salumerie; the city's oldest tavern, never on a tourist guide.

TipCash only. Bring food from Tamburini or Paolo Atti; the osteria sells only wine. Closed Sunday.

Directions

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