Mortadella

Mortadella (Italian: [mortaˈdɛlla]) is a large salume made of finely hashed or ground cured pork, which incorporates at least 15% small cubes of pork fat (principally the hard fat from the neck of the pig). It is traditionally flavoured with peppercorns, but modern versions can also contain pistachios or, less commonly, myrtle berries. The sausage is then cooked.
The best-known version of mortadella is mortadella Bologna PGI, but other varieties are found across Italy, including some made of other meats.
The origin of the name mortadella is debated. One theory derives the name from the Latin word mortarium ('mortar'), traditionally used in pounding the meat to produce the sausage. This theory, proposed by Giancarlo Susini, professor of ancient history in the University of Bologna, relies on two funerary steles kept in the Archaeological Civic Museum of Bologna, believed to pertain to the same monument, one showing a herd of piglets and the other a mortar and pestle.
Another theory, introduced by Ovidio Montalbani in the 17th century, derives the name from a Roman sausage flavoured with myrtle berries that Romans called farcimen myrtatum or farcimen murtatum (myrtle sausage). Myrtle was in fact a popular spice before pepper became available to European markets.
In Romania, a similar cold cut is also known as parizer. In Hungary, a similar product is called mortadella and a plain variety called pariser, parizer or párizsi. The term parizer is also often used in Bosnia-Herzegovina and Croatia, while parizier is used in other territories of the Balkans. It mainly differs from mortadella and similar salami in that garlic is used instead of myrtle and it does not contain pieces of fat, pistachios or olives.
In Poland, mortadela slices are sometimes dipped in batter, fried and served with potatoes and salads as a quicker (and cheaper) alternative to traditional pork cutlets.
In several countries, such as Morocco, Algeria, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Palestine, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and Israel, halal or kosher mortadella is sold, which is made from chicken, beef or turkey. The Siniora brand, a Palestinian brand established in Jerusalem in 1920, is the first in the region, a mortadella with sliced olives, pistachios or peppercorn. Lebanese Al-Taghziah is a brand that is sold around the world.
Mortadella was banned from import into the United States from 1967 to 2000 due to an outbreak of African swine fever in Italy.
The ban in the United States was lifted due to a veterinary equivalency agreement that allowed countries to export products that had been shown to be disease-free as part of an overall agreement that would allow products deemed safe in the United States to be exported to the European Union.
In Russia and other former Soviet states, a very similar product is called doktorskaya kolbasa (Russian: Докторская колбаса, lit. 'doctor's sausage'). However, this product is usually made from a mixture of beef and pork (sometimes beef and lamb or chicken for religious reasons) and does not include pieces of fat or myrtle; mortadella-style sausages with bits of fat are called lubitelskaya and stolichnaya. Instead, it is flavoured with just cardamom, sometimes coriander and nutmeg, and also traditionally contains eggs and milk, which are usually absent in traditional mortadella. Unlike mortadella, doktorskaya kolbasa contains lower amounts of fat and is high in proteins.
The name "doctor's sausage" was coined in the Soviet Union in the 1930s to refer to sausages and meat products recommended by doctors to help with undernourishment and stomach problems. During the Soviet era, it was commonly advertised as being nutritious (due to its low-fat content) and remains popular throughout former Soviet states to the present day.
Chả lụa or Vietnamese mortadella is sometimes used as an accompaniment to the Vietnamese dish bánh cuốn.