Salame matto (fake salami) is a typical meatloaf from the humble cuisine of Romagna that brings to mind many a family meal, especially Easter lunch.

First of all, I think a clarification is necessary. Some Italian recipes, in the title, contain the adjective finto (fake) or matto (which translates as crazy but has value as finto/fake). This means the recipe is missing something that is usually there or you would expect to find (the fake ragout is meatless, for example). Or it means that it is not what it seems. In this case, the mad salami is not a salami but a meatloaf.

And now, a question for you. What comes to your mind when I say Easter?
To me, Lent, Spring, new dress, chocolate eggs, blessed eggs, olive tree, Easter Monday. How many things!

I start with Lent, the period before Easter. At home, religious precepts had a direct reflection on the table.
Without fundamentalism, we did not eat meat on Fridays, and on Ash Wednesday, pasta or rice in white or seasoned with tomato sauce.

In the 40 days leading up to Easter, there was no shortage of typical Romagna dishes, especially pancotto. Or spaghetti Bolognese, the traditional dish made with tuna fish that is typical for Christmas Eve or Lent.

All around me, the rituals followed one another, imparting a powerful meaning to the anticipation of rebirth that Easter encompasses.

I remember the women cleaning the house thoroughly. And the priest who came for the Easter blessing always stopped for a cookie and chit-chat.

Thinking back on it, I can see how the rituals were always occasions for socializing.

The tradition of eggs and olive branch blessed

Of the Easter tradition, I have always loved the ritual of the eggs and olive tree blessed.
I would spend an entire morning decorating the eggs previously boiled by Grandma. And after placing them in a basket covered with a dishcloth, we would go together to the Church for the blessing. Afterward, Grandma would stop and talk with other people, and we children would play in the rectory. When we returned, the eggs would rest in the refrigerator, waiting to be eaten at the Easter Day breakfast.

On Palm Sunday, after Mass, I would attend the blessing of the olive branches piled on a large table outside the Church. Everyone would take an olive branch, and so would I. Then, I would return home and hand the olive branch to Grandma. She arranged it next to one ceramic image depicting Our Lady.

You may not know that Imola, where I was born and raised, and the nearby city of Faenza have an ancient ceramic tradition. Every family owns a few pieces.

A new dress to celebrate Spring and Easter

It used to be, perhaps even now, that Easter coincided with the idea that Spring was, at last, at hand. And, indeed, calendar in hand, that was the case.

Everyone had high hopes for a sunny Easter that would allow them to celebrate in the enclosed verandas of some hillside restaurant. Or to take a short trip as soon as the family meal was over.
Ditto for Easter Monday when everyone, having celebrated and archived a lunch worthy of the feast day, was ready to leave with picnic baskets, gather in large groups for the first barbecue of the season, or head to the sea or hills with the idea of improvising lunch.

At Easter, I used to renew an item of clothing, sometimes a skirt, others a blouse or a pair of shoes. I knew that in the closet, waiting for me, was always something I couldn’t wait to show off. What a tragedy when Easter Day was cold and rainy. The family would leave the garage locked in the car to go to the mass where, once we arrived, we would get out with umbrellas, the wind tingling our legs and the pitiless rain extinguishing any hope of an outing.

Easter day

Easter Day began with the opening of chocolate eggs.

My sister and I would unwrap them, sitting in front of the living room fireplace with much cellophane rattling and laughter.

After badly cracking the chocolate shell and a few dutiful tastings, little hands would go inside searching for the surprises.

The day would continue with a reinforced breakfast that I remember only at Easter: hard-boiled eggs (blessed), a loaf of bread or bracciatelli bread, and, exceptionally, a charcuterie board to accompany the typical breads of the Romagna tradition of the Easter season.

The celebration proceeded following an established script. That is, the family would go to mass, all members dressed up, and return for lunch, which, in my house, always saw the family alone gathered, while Easter Monday was, traditionally, the day of outings with friends, lunch at a restaurant or at the country home of some acquaintance.

I remember the Easter table was set with a well-ironed tablecloth and fresh flowers as a centerpiece. Perhaps for that reason, I would embrace a bouquet of daffodils from the beginning to the end of Lent.
Unlike Christmas, when the menu was carved in stone and allowed few exceptions, Easter left the cook more free to choose the dishes and introduce something new or different from the previous year.

The weather profoundly influenced the choice of dishes that would make up the menu.

Forecasts of cold and rain called for the broth pot. This meant that lunch would involve soup in broth, perhaps cheese cappelletti, followed by typical dishes such as boiled meat and salame matto.

In contrast, a mild and sunny Easter would involve a menu based on lasagna or other baked pasta such as pasta roses, cheese flan or roasts, omelets, crispy and buttery baked potatoes, and the first green beans with Parmigiano.

The salame matto (fake salami)

At the beginning of this Lent, I reminisced with my mom about the typical dishes of that period. We thought back to salame matto (fake salami), a dish from the cucina povera of Romagna and typical of Easter.
The dough is quite thick and resembles that of passatelli.
Salame matto (fake salami) is a meatloaf that needs to be cooked in broth.
Most of all, I remember the fragrance of the ingredients as they cooked in the broth, and the savory air pervaded the entire kitchen, announcing the imminence of Easter.

The recipe usually calls for a few pantry ingredients such as breadcrumbs, eggs, Parmesan cheese, nutmeg, and the scent of lemon zest. The version with meat was for special occasions such as Easter. I personally find both versions satisfying.

The scent of lemon, at least for me, is essential.
You can compose the mince according to your taste by substituting pork loin for beef or chicken.

As I wrote above, the traditional cooking of mad salami is done in broth; the liquid should completely cover the meatloaf. I tried the oven cooking, and knowing that it loses a little flavor without broth, the recipe works just as well (the one cooked in broth remains slightly softer).

Grandma would divide the salame finto (fake salami) dough into two halves, creating two small meatballs she would cook in the broth.
The meal consisted of several courses, and the dishes that served as the main course were more than one, each accompanied by a side dish.
For this reason, one usually ended up on the table and the other in the freezer for a later occasion.
Slices of the mad salami are also good in a sandwich with mayonnaise.

Personal Note

Once again, I think with gratitude for the blog.
My virtual diary is an opportunity to refresh memories, not only of cooking. I am so happy to have the chance to think back to the Pasques of yesteryear, full of flavors and rituals that, even if they are no longer part of my life today, made my childhood happy and helped make me who I am.

I believe deeply in the importance of rituals and traditions, including gastronomic ones, because I think they have the same function as bones. They literally hold together the pieces that make up our inner life.

Sometimes, we need a different perspective to recover the meaning of family rituals and traditions.
For me, it was enough to think back to the menu recipes of my past Pasques to remember how much each food was connected to a specific moment, to a ritual proper to the holiday, and to my family. And to remember how significant the sum of it all was in keeping me up against the wind, pushing me forward even when courage failed, warming the coldest days of life.

Kitchen Note

These are the ingredients for meatless salame matto (fake salami)
The procedure and cooking are the same as given for the meatloaf recipe below.

4 servings
Ingredients

200 g of breadcrumbs
200 g mixed cheese (Parmesan and pecorino)
2 eggs
1/2 teaspoon baking soda (to keep the mixture soft)
grated zest of 1/2 lemon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1 pinch of salt

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