Mortadella Classica

Cristoforo di Messisbugo, Renaissance cook and steward, set down a mortadella recipe in his Libro novo of 1557, with the steps and the ingredients in order. What has happened since is that the thing became a mass-produced food whose quality swings enormously with the meat, the cooking, the additives and the casing, which is why its price does too. The Presidium exists to hold the older standard, in Bologna's province and a few comuni around Ferrara.