La Mirandola: the rediscovered nobility of the Black Pig
In lands once roamed by the pigs of the Roman Empire, an ancient protagonist returns to tell its story: the Parma Black Pig. With its distinctive dark coat and long wattles, this native breed seemed doomed to extinction, sacrificed on the altar of industrial efficiency due to its low reproductive rates and meat yield. But within these so-called weaknesses lies its greatest treasure: unmatched quality and flavor, reborn in our mortadella, La Mirandola.
THE ORIGINS OF LA MIRANDOLA
Our Black Pigs live wild or semi-wild in large fenced areas, free to express their natural behaviors and feed as their ancestors did: sweet acorns, roots, tubers, and organic matter from the grasslands. This natural and varied diet gives their meat extraordinary and unique characteristics: superior savoriness and succulence, a deeper red color, and a flavor that speaks of ancient lands and respected traditions.
The uniqueness of this meat goes beyond taste. Nutritionally, Black Pig meat offers a higher dietary value thanks to a greater concentration of unsaturated fatty acids. Its fat is softer and more fluid, resulting in a pleasant mouthfeel and blending harmoniously with lean meat. This creates the characteristic marbling that adds a distinctive sweetness to the final product. The fat’s higher fluidity, due to its unsaturation, also allows spices to spread more effectively during cooking, enhancing the aromatic profile.
La Mirandola is not just mortadella: it’s a rediscovered chapter of Italian culinary history, a sensory experience that connects your table with the ancient lands of Parma and their noble inhabitants, the Black Pigs.
THE PRODUCTION PROCESS
The processing of La Mirandola pays homage to the traditional methods of the 1950s and ’60s, when spices were the undisputed stars of mortadella production—but with a modern approach focused on well-being. We use less than 70% of the preservatives found in standard quality mortadella, eliminate synthetic antioxidants completely, and replace refined sugars with natural bee honey, which enriches the aromatic profile.
Faithful to tradition, La Mirandola is stuffed into natural casings and hand-tied, giving it its signature, irregular balloon-like shape that marks its artisanal identity. Slow cooking completes the process, allowing all the aromas to fully blend and the product to develop its characteristic pink hue, intensely aromatic fragrance, and that uniquely sweet and delicate taste.
The hallmarks of La Mirandola speak of a production philosophy focused on quality and authenticity: no tripe, exclusive use of natural spices with no added flavorings, no glutamate, no synthetic antioxidants or sugars. It’s a return to origins that looks to the future—a tribute to biodiversity and the Italian culinary traditions that rediscover and elevate nearly forgotten flavors.
It’s the celebration of a bold choice: privileging quality over quantity, tradition over uniformity, authenticity over standardization.
