Each year on October 24, people across the nation make a sandwich to take part in National Bologna Day. This would be a good day to have a bologna sandwich for lunch.
- Sometimes spelled baloney (as it is pronounced), Bologna has been one of the more popular luncheon meats for decades.
- Favorite bologna sandwich garnishes are mustard, ketchup, mayonnaise, cheese, lettuce, pickles, tomato, and onion.
- Bologna is derived from and is somewhat similar to the Italian mortadella (a finely hashed/ground port sausage) that originated in Bologna, Italy.
- United States government regulations require American bologna to be finely ground and without visible pieces of lard.
- Bologna can alternatively be made out of chicken, turkey, beef, pork, venison or soy protein.
- Bologna Bowl – When a slice of bologna is heated, the fat renders and the round slice takes the shape of a bowl which may be filled with cheese or other fillings.
- Sometimes referred to as garlic bologna, German sausage differs from traditional bologna due to various seasonings, most typically garlic being added to the recipe.
- Kosher or halal bologna is typically made with only beef, but sometimes made from turkey, chicken or lamb.
- Mortadella dates back to the 15th century, and the original recipes included myrtle, ‘mortella’ in Italian, hence the name.
- There are 1,632 people in the U.S. listed on whitepages.com with the last name ‘Bologna’ and 88 with the last name ‘Baloney’ (as of 2010)
- Americans eat 800 million pounds of bologna annually.
- Oscar Mayer is the most popular bologna brand thanks to its 1973 jingle “My bologna has a first name….”
- Bologna is a popular breakfast food in Newfoundland, served fried as a substitute to ham slices. It is also sometimes barbecued as well. In either case, it is referred to as “Newfie Steak.”
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