Mora Romagnola Pig Breed
Mora Romagnola pig breed is unmistakable for its dark brown coat, almost black, after which it has been named. It is a pig breed with a tapered body, about 80 cm at withers and reaching a weight of 250-300 kilos. The boars, smaller than the sows, have very long tusks, like wild boars. Actually, Mora Romagnola breed is closer to the wild ancestor than the breeds usually raised by man. It was bred until the 1950s, then its use was abandoned and the breed risked extinction, until it has been recently recovered, since the 1980s.
The breed is rough and adaptable, suitable for a semi-wild state breeding also in difficult territories like Vena del Gesso. It has top-quality meat with an excellent taste, slightly darker and fat-veined with respect to the commonly bred pigs, but more scented and sapid, very tender and sweet. This meat is particularly suitable for the production of salami, ham, and cotechino (a boiled pork sausage) and, since 2006, is a Slow Food Presidium. The slaughterhouse in Brisighella houses all the butchery, processing, and maturing procedures, according to certified specifications guaranteed by a consortium formed by all the local breeders, housing the Consorzio di tutela della Mora Romagnola (Safeguard Consortium for Mora Romagnola Breed).
