It has a name that is thought to be derived from the implement used to produce it but more probably from the berry giving shrub that it once was made with. Early evidence shows it in the statutes of a certain cathedral about 800 years ago. What is it?

peasypod

And here I thought my favourite lunchtime deli might rate a mention. Yanks like to refer to this as 'a load of bull' but the rest of us may look at the word and think 'Addams Family'....well, death anyway. Mar 25 05, 3:58 PM

gmackematix

Just to show I'm still trying, are any of the following words useful here: http://www.m-w.com/cgi-bin/thesaurus?book=Thesaurus&va=nonsense Mar 26 05, 11:30 PM

gmackematix

I'm not having much luck with the link there. If you can find the synonyms of nonsense in that dictionary/thesaurus and you'll see the list of words I meant. Mar 26 05, 11:35 PM

peasypod

Enough of the baloney. How's about the quote 'I'm so hungry I could eat a horse"? *shakes head and rolls eyes* Mar 27 05, 8:28 AM

peasypod

Ok, you guys are usually so full of baloney I'd thought you'd get this one straight away. It's Mortadella. Guys from the US call it Baloney as it was said to hail from Bologna. The name is thought to derive from mortaio because the mixture was pounded in a mortar. More probably it is derived from the Latin murtatu, a sausage seasoned with myrtle. It has been suggested that the first mention of mortadella appears in a document of the official body of meat preservers in Bologna dated 1376, but earlier evidence shows it appears earlier still in the statutes of the Cathedral of Nice from 1233. Mortadella is made with a seven-to-three ratio of lean pork meat to fat, flavoured with peppercorns, pistachios, wine, sugar, and olives and stuffed into beef bladder casing. The mortadella is steamed an hour for each half-inch of its diameter. In some areas of Italy, especially towards the south, it has been known to be made from horse-meat. Mar 29 05, 6:06 PM

Baloo55th

Always thought it was called that because it looked or smelled dead.... Mar 29 05, 6:09 PM

gmackematix

You can tell my scientific credentials are better than my culinary ones! Mar 29 05, 7:22 PM

MrsAce

Peasy, We in the US call it Mortadella. Comes with or without pistachios in the states because of food allergies. Baloney has a different taste and look. Mar 29 05, 10:06 PM

peasypod

Well, there you go. No wonder no-one got my baloney references! Although it did ring a bell somewhere, I checked a few sites before posting the question just to make sure and they seemed to concur with the baloney bit, oh well. Mar 29 05, 10:14 PM

kaylofgorons

Why have I seen it spelled *bologna*? Is it a completely different thing? This has been driving me crazy... Mar 30 05, 5:37 PM

kaylofgorons

By the way, *load of bull* can also be called a *crock of bull* in some places and seems closer to the meaning of baloney. *Load of bull* sounds like it is short one word... Mar 30 05, 5:40 PM