The Mortadella di Prato is a Protected Geographical Indication (IGP) on the national list approved by the Ministry of Agriculture And Forestry, the requirements of which are regulated by the production discipline of the Tuscany Region.

Features

The product must have the following characteristics at the time of consumption:
– weight: between 0.5 and 10 kg.
– shape: cylindrical or vaguely elliptical.
– length: between 8 and 70 cm.
– diameter: between 6 and 35 cm.
– external appearance: smooth or wrinkled depending on the gut used;
– texture of the dough: firm and compact, soft on the palate for the fine grinding;
– outer color: pinkish and opaque;
– inner color: dark pink, thanks to the dye action of the alchermes, with white spots due to fat cubes;
– scent: penetrating and spicy with note of alchermes from the first impact;
– flavor: typical of the product for the contrast between the warm and pungent note of spices, garlic and sea salt and the sweet and delicate one of alchermes.

Production

The Meadow Mortadella consists exclusively of the following cuts of meat, in the percentages in weight indicated:
– shoulder: 40 to 50%
– lard: 9 to 15%
– ham trimming: 10 to 20%
– neck: 5 to 15%
– cheek: 5 to 15%
– bacon: 5 to 10%

The mandatory ingredients are in weight:
– alchermes: 0.3 to 0.6%
– ground pepper: 0.1 to 0.3%
– peppercorns: 0.1 to 0.2%
– sea salt: 2.0 to 3.0%
– ground spices (coriander, cinnamon, nutmeg, mace and cloves): 0.1 to 0.25%
– garlic: 0.08 to 0.2%
– the addition of sodium glutamate is prohibited.

The cuts, worked manually with the help of a knife, to allow a careful trimming of the meat and the complete removal of the external tinnitus parts, and then dissected into cubes, are rested for at least 24 hours in cells refrigerators at a temperature between 0 and 2 degrees Celsius.
After this period of time, the various meat components, excluding lard, are ground in the meat grinder having moulds 4-8 mm in diameter and, below, mixed for 3-10 minutes with cubes of lard, sea salt, garlic, pepper in wheat and ground and spices Minced.
Then pour the alchermes over the dough and mix the mixture.

It proceeds with the sausage, for which the natural or synthetic gut is used. In the case of natural gut this must preemptively be washed with running water and vinegar for at least 2 hours or, alternatively, immersed in water and vinegar for 2 hours.
The sausage is bagged with a dose of ground weight ranging from 0.5 to 10 kg.
This is followed by ligature operations through the use of hemp string or elastic cotton mesh.

The production process continues with the “stew”: the product, for a period of time between 1 and 3 days depending on the piece, is hung in special rooms that ensure a temperature progressively decreasing from an initial value between 25 23 and C up to a final value between 20 and 18 degrees Celsius and a gradually increasing relative humidity from an initial value of between 60% and 65% until a final value is between 73% and 78%.

After the stew, the product is subjected, as an alternative, to one of the following thermal treatments:
– Steaming for between 9 and 13 hours until the heart of the product reaches a temperature of between 70 and 72 degrees Celsius;
– cooking in the boiler, soaking the product in water at room temperature; When the temperature is between 90 and 100 degrees Celsius, it must be lowered to a temperature between 75 and 80 degrees Celsius and maintained at that level for a time interval of between 150 and 200 minutes.

After cooking, the product is rinsed with water at room temperature, then cooled in a fridge or abattoground until it reaches a temperature between 0 and 2 degrees C at the heart of the product for a minimum of 24 to a maximum of 48 hours , at the end of which the drying and vacuum packing is carried out.

The packaging must be carried out within no more than 20 minutes of drying, so that the “Prato Mortadella” does not suffer changes in temperature and humidity, which, in addition to causing the risk of microbial proliferation, would have the effect to irretrievably break the delicate sensory balance of the product, compromising its aroma and altering its characteristic rosé color.