The Rebirth of ‘Lady Mortadella’
For decades, she sat quietly in the corner of Italian cuisine…. the wallflower of the salumi world. Prosciutto got the glamour…Speck got the smoky intrigue…Rosemary ham became cultlike…and even pancetta had its sizzling, sexy moments. Mortadella? She was the soft‑spoken cousin who showed up to family gatherings wearing sensible shoes, a country dress, and a polite but beautiful smile. But Tuscany….hungry and sun‑drenched, has somewhat recently decided that mortadella deserves her close-up. It started innocently enough. A few Florentine shop owners slipped mortadella into their Schiacciata sandwiches, tucking those rosy slices between crispy, olive‑oil‑glossed bread with arugula and pistachio cream or truffled stracciatella. Locals took a bite, paused, and whispered, “Wait… has mortadella become the hot chick now?” Soon mortadella, studded with pistachios, was popping up everywhere…draped over blistered pizzas like a silky pink cape, confidently folded into salads and starring in the now famous stuffed Schiacciata sandwiches that tourists now line up for like pilgrims seeking enlightenment. And mortadella, bless her heart, handled the attention beautifully. Created in the great city of Bologna during the time of the Romans, she has a history going back to the 14th century. Lean pork meat is pulverized into a smooth paste, spiced with salt, myrtle berries, sometimes studded with black pepper and more recently pistachio with cubes of fat folded in. The secret to it’s aroma and flavor comes from the cooking process; it’s cooked very low and slow at 180 degrees for 20 hours or more. The final product is sweet, smooth, and mildly spiced with a firm texture that creates a delicious bite even when sliced paper thin. In doing my research I discovered that back in a 2009 GQ article, a well-known reviewer named a version of a Mortadella pizza as the “#1 Pizza in America”. The pizza started with a thin but intensely flavorful layer of pistachio pesto then topped with Mozzarella and my ‘Queen of Cheeses’….funky Taleggio. It is baked and then once out of the oven it’s draped with Mortadella, Parmigiana and a sprinkling of crushed pistachios making this pizza as beautiful as it is delicious. Truth be told, Mortadella doesn’t need pizza or sandwiches. It is perfect on its own, sliced wafer thin eaten with bare fingers as I do having become my favorite between meal snack. I salute all the purists out there, but this pizza has my name all over it. I’ve been looking for a 4th signature flatbread for our menu, and I just made my version of this for the first time. Started with a Parmesan Cream and Pistachio pesto and baked until bubbling then topped with lots of super thin sliced mortadella, micro-arugula, crushed pistachios and then finished with some hot honey….OMG! Look for this coming soon at TATM. Ciao! David & Tino with his ‘Bark of Approval’
