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Mortadella della Lunigiana is a red to dark red, relatively coarsely-textured but soft version of Mortadella.

It is a large sausage, bound into a tight U-shape, with a bay leaf pressed into the centre. A sausage can weigh from 1 to 2 pounds (1/2 to 1 kg.)

The sausage has a spicy smell.

It is made from December through to February using lean meat from the shoulder and thigh of a pig, fat from the rump, and meat from the neck, stomach, and cheek. The meat and fat are minced, and seasoned with pepper and other spices, including sugar. The mixture packed in large natural casings, which are salted, then folded in on themselves to form a U shape, which is held in place by tying the sausage. A fresh bay leaf is tucked in at the joint.

The sausage is aged 40 to 45 days, and after that, is best used within 3 months.

Mortadella della Lunigiana is made by various sausage makers in the provinces of Massa-Carrara (the northern-most province of Tuscany) and Lucca (just south of that), both provinces of Tuscany on the Ligurian Sea.

Specifically, in Lucchesia in Lucca (particularly in the villages of Ghivizzano, Pian di Coreglia, SS. Annunziata and Villa Soraggio), and in Garfagnana (in the Valley of Serchio region) in Lucca.

Production centres on Lunigiana (a swath roughly in the centre of Massa-Carrara, incorporating the towns of Aulla, Bagnone, Casola in Lunigiana, Comano, Filattiera, Fivizzano, Fosdinovo, Licciana Nardi, Mulazzo, Podenzana, Pontremoli, Tresana, Villafranca in Lunigiana and Zeri.)

1, 750 pounds (800 kg) are made in Massa-Carrara annually. 440 to 660 pounds (200 to 300 kg) are made annually in Luca (2004 figures, do not include quantities made at home for consumption there.)

Acknowlegements

Also called:

Other entries for:

Mortadella
Mortadella della Lunigiana, Mortadella delle Apuane, Mortadella di Accumoli, Mortadella di Amatrice, Mortadella di Campotosto, Mortadella di Cavallo, Mortadella di Fegato al Vino Brulé, Mortadella di Fegato Cruda, Mortadella di Maiale di Camaiore, Mortadella di Prato, Mortadella Nostrale di Cardoso, Mortadella Trequandina, Mortadella Viterbese

Other entries for: Affettati

Affettati, Coppa, Mortadella

Other entries for:

Meat
Beef, Buffalo, Cap On / Cap Off, Game, Goat, Institutional Meat Purchase Specifications, Minced Meat, Offal, Paillards, Pork, Potted Meats, Poultry, Roasts, Sausages, Sheep, Steak, Veal, Venison, Yak