This October 24, make sure to bring your brown bag lunches to work because it’s National Bologna Day! Everyone’s favorite processed luncheon meat has its own day. Bologna is named after the Italian city of the same name, but down there they call it mortadella, which is a sausage with bits of lard and peppercorns in it. American Bologna, as you may have noticed, is distinctly different, but no less loved the world over.
- 15th Century – Mortadella dates back to the 15th century, and the original recipes included myrtle, ‘mortella’ in Italian, hence the name.
- 1661 –
- 20th Century – Bologna really became popular when it turned into packaged bologna in the 20th century. One of the most popular bologna companies, Oscar Mayer, became one of the first pioneers in vacuum-sealed packaging.
- 1928 – bread slicers were commercialized forever changing the way Americans eat. Going from something available almost exclusively at deli counters to a homemade, bagged lunch, pushed bologna sandwiches into ubiquity in the pre-Depression America.
- 1929 – During the Great Depression, bologna was one of the most accessible foods to Americans. It was affordable and it kept well for long periods. This made the bologna sandwich a mainstay for many Americans and, also, how it garnered the reputation as something consumed during hard times.
- 1963 – the New York Board of Education included bologna as an official lunch item, helping to feed the children in the country’s largest public school system.
- 1974 – One of the most successful and longest-running commercials ever made came from Oscar Meyer, featuring a child fishing and singing a jingle about how his bologna is named Oscar Meyer.
- Sometimes this specialty meat is spelled baloney since that’s how it is pronounced. However, the more common spelling is Bologna. That’s because it originated in the city of Bologna, Italy.
- It’s a type of sausage and is similar to Italian mortadella.
- 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.
- The main difference between bologna and mortadella is that mortadella also contains added fat or lard, which gives it that marbled appearance. Mortadella also sometimes has pistachios or green olives in it — sort of like a fancy version of bologna’s olive loaf.
- U.S. government regulations require American bologna to be finely ground, and without visible pieces of lard.
- There are 2,568 people in the U.S. listed on whitepages.com with the last name ‘Bologna’ and 127 with the last name ‘Baloney’
- Americans eat 800 million pounds of bologna annually.
- Bologna is a popular breakfast food in Newfoundland, served fried as a substitute for ham slices. It is also sometimes barbecued. It is referred to as “Newfie Steak.”
- A recent poll shows that only 35 percent of Americans know that bologna is a type of sausage.
- Packaged bologna sometimes comes with a red string or seal around it. What exactly is that stuff, and can you eat it? It might be a casing made from the gastrointestinal tracts of cattle, sheep, and hogs — which makes it slightly gross, but still edible.
- Beyond traditional sandwiches, bologna can be fried to make “bologna boats,” where a slice is cooked until it forms a bowl shape and then filled with mashed potatoes and cheese. Another inventive dish is the “bologna cake,” which layers bologna slices with seasoned cream cheese, resembling a savory cake.
- The classic bologna on white bread sandwich reigns supreme, with 70 percent of bologna eaters
- In Pennsylvania, “Lebanon bologna” is a smoked, fermented, and cured beef sausage with a tangy flavor, differing from the typical pork-based bologna.
- In the Midwest, “ring bologna” is a popular variant, often smoked and sold in a distinctive looped shape.
- Bologna Burger Sliders: An update to the classic ground beef slider, adding in ground bologna and topped with pepper jack cheese and grilled onions for an extra flavor kick
- Bologna-Slaki with Tzatziki: A Mediterranean twist with skewers of bologna, red onion and red pepper chunks, marinated in olive oil, oregano, lemon and garlic, then grilled and served with a cool yogurt, cucumber, mint and cumin sauce.
- Crunchy Grilled Bologna and Cheese Sandwich: These indulgent, crispy-gooey sandwiches, topped and grilled with crushed potato chips are terrific for lunch, naturally, but also work fabulously as an hors d’oeuvres when cut into quarters and dipped into honey-mustard
- Grilled Bologna Salad Sandwich: Step away from the tuna melt and try this delicious bologna alternative chopped with provolone, Dijon mustard, hot relish and mayonnaise.
- The term “baloney” evolved in American slang to mean “nonsense” due to the perception of bologna sausage as a cheap, mixed-content meat product. This association led to its use in describing something as foolish or deceitful.
- Bologna Snowflakes are a thing. Slice bologna into a thin, round shape. Fold it, then take random bites. Open it and you have —bologna snowflakes.
- There is a variety of different types of bologna:
- German Bologna
- Kosher or halal bologna
- Lebanon bologna
- Lauantaimakkara
- Rag bologna
- South African polony
- Vegetarian
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