mortadelle

In the central square of the board, a man is shown standing between two suspended sausages as big as his head: “Long live the mortadelle of Bologna,” the caption reads.

Delizia! John Dickie 2008

Store in a well-ventilated place until spring, making sure that the mortadelle do not touch anything, even each other.

Delizia! John Dickie 2008

In short, everyone seems to have made mortadelle of one kind or another.

Delizia! John Dickie 2008

In 1661, the cardinal-legate who ran Bologna on behalf of the pope issued a proclamation against people “who show so little love for the public good that they arrogate themselves the right to make mortadelle containing some beef.”

Delizia! John Dickie 2008

A recipe for mortadelle in the Venetian Book for Cook uses boiled pork liver, cheese, and eggs.

Delizia! John Dickie 2008

This misdemeanor was particularly damaging to “the talent for making exquisitely perfect mortadelle that this City has enjoyed since ancient times my italics.”

Delizia! John Dickie 2008

Amid the plastic vines and grapes of the display that surrounds him, magnificent string-bound sausages sit alongside framed copies of the cardinal-legate’s 1661 proclamation against butchers who adulterate their mortadelle.

Delizia! John Dickie 2008

Platina’s Respectable Pleasure tells us that Master Martino used to spit-roast mortadelle the size of eggs made from fatty veal haunch seasoned with marjoram, parsley, and spices, and bound with egg yolk and cheese.

Delizia! John Dickie 2008