Galantina: A Sausage Speciality from Bologna
Salumiere Davide Simoni, 37, makes sausages using time-honoured recipes.
I was born here, in the same part of town as our salumeria
We call the area the quadrellato because it’s rectangular, but internationally, it’s become famous as the quartiere mercato, or market quarter. It used to be a red-light district, but now people come from far and wide to shop for food here. My profession is being a salumiere, a salami-maker in Italy, you need to do vocational training before you can call yourself a salumiere. One of my specialities is mortadella; in the 18th century, there were over 200 people making mortadella in the city. A local delicacy that isn’t so well-known abroad, however, is the galantina: lots of younger people have never heard of it – or don’t like it. Elderly ladies still buy it for their husbands, though.
Every salumiere in Bologna has his own way of making galantina.
My method is as follows: I take fine mince – a mix of pork, chicken and turkey – and add cooked egg yolks and raw egg whites, pistachios, Parmesan, salt and pepper and lard – fat from the pig’s cheeks is best because it can take higher temperatures. Then it gets rolled up like a roulade, wrapped up in paper and foil, and cooked in hot water for an hour. Finally, it cools for 24 hours in the fridge and can be sliced the next day. The average galantina weighs around 2.5 kg. It’s particularly popular at Easter, and we make around 20 a week during that run-up to the festivities. Our recipe comes from a family friend who has since passed away. We currently have 35 members of staff, but we don’t want to get any bigger. Instead, we want to focus on doing what we do even better. Our aim is for visitors to the city to hear about us and come to find out more.
