Food - Drink
Mortadella Vs. Bologna: What’s The Difference?
By ANNA STAROPOLI
As far as deli meat goes, bologna gets a bad rap, but the cold cut is surprisingly versatile, not to mention cross-cultural. While Italy may be more closely associated with prosciutto, bresaola, and salami than it is with bologna, the Italian equivalent of bologna, mortadella, might broaden your lunch meat horizons.
Mortadella and bologna are relatively similar in taste and texture, but the two differ in a few important ways. Mortadella consists of heat-cured pork and fat cubes that are minced into a paste, seasoned with peppercorn, pistachios, and other seasonings, and then fit into a sausage casing. The sausage is then slow-cooked for about a day, resulting in a complex flavor.
Bologna is a simplified copy of mortadella, and it lacks the fat cubes and pistachios that break up mortadella and give it texture. Bologna is made from a meat paste of both pork and beef that is entirely uniform in texture, taste, and appearance, giving it a less refined flavor than mortadella. Bologna also tends to incorporate more preservatives, making it a processed food.