Salami

These preserved sausages are made all over the country and in innumerable different local forms. The firm, pinkish-red ones, flecked with white fat, are a familiar sight, but in some parts of Italy the salami meat is soft and is kept in jars covered with lard. Firm salami keep well hanging up, but they should be eaten once cut.

Bologna’s famous mortadella is much copied and is said to take its name from the mortar in which the meat was ground. The pink lean pork is ground extremely finely, flavoured with peppercorns and garlic, and then dotted with the white of lard strips, which run down the sausage. Big mortadelle can be as much as 40 cm (16 in) across and are proportionately long.