Mortadella Capitelli is the best craft mortadella according to the ranking “Best craft and niche market mortadellas” by Gambero Rosso, the most prestigious food and wine organisation in Italy.

2023 was the year of the Mortadella; for this reason, in the wake of critical and public success, Gambero Rosso dedicated three rankings to this ancient type of cured meat: classic craft mortadellas (with or without pistachios), particular and creative craft mortadellas (also from rustic pigs with dark coats), and mortadellas pre-sliced and packaged in trays for large-scale retail distribution.

Gambero Rosso, recognised as the point of reference for the evaluation of culinary excellence in Italy, had not organised a contest dedicated to mortadella for over 12 years. The decision to test over 60 types of mortadella from all over Italy made the award obtained by Cotto Capitelli even more significant, highlighting the company's commitment to the production of high quality cured meats.

Ratings were given to more than 60 mortadellas by the expert tasters of the Gambero Rosso Academy, who carried out a blind test of the mortadellas in the classrooms of the most important Italian publishing house specialising in food and wine.
 

The Capitelli salami factory, founded in 1976 and now in its third generation, is famous for San Giovanni, an unmoulded cooked ham. For its mortadella the company works with Bressani from Palazzo Pignano (CR), a small craftsman who has been making this product based on the recipe and under the direction of the Piacenza salami factory for the last 25 years.

Ingredients and processing: fresh meat from Italian pigs (shoulder 60%, tripe 20%, throat 20%). Cooking in a ventilated dry oven at high temperatures and over long times "in order to develop the true natural aromas of the meat”. This is suggested by the appearance (the slice is antique rose in colour, slightly rough and artisanal), the smell and bouquet is clean and precise (an expressive mix of good pork, vegetable broth and spices), a savoury mouthfeel, a slight spiciness, a juicy, fleshy and slightly rustic structure: it encourages chewing and lengthens the persistence of the cured meat.

“From a work point of view, this is the greatest satisfaction I remember in recent years, precisely because it was so totally unexpected. We are unanimously recognised as producers of the best cooked ham in Italy, but this recognition 'out of context' demonstrates how our idea of 360-degree quality meets the tastes of consumers and sector experts immediately and without filters". Angelo Capitelli