The name Mora was codified in 1942. The Mora Romagnola is easily recognized by its dark brown coat tending toward black, from which its name derives.
It was once widely bred in the province of Forlì, in the Faenza and Ravenna areas, and throughout Romagna. Breeding of the Mora has since been reintroduced in the province of Ravenna, particularly in Brisighella, Riolo Terme, and Casola Valsenio.
The rediscovery of this breed is owed to the breeder Mario Lazzari who, at his farm on the outskirts of Faenza, began in 1982 to select the last remaining specimens of the Mora Romagnola, one of the five native Italian pig breeds. The Mora Romagnola had been considered extinct, but after extensive research in Romagna, Lazzari managed to recover the last pure examples still in existence. He found little more than a dozen and started a breeding program with only three sows and one boar.
Since 2005, breeders have been associated under COPAF – the Consortium for the Protection of the Mora Romagnola. That same year, COPAF applied to the Italian Ministry of Agricultural and Forestry Policies (MIPAF) for Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) recognition for the Mora Romagnola pig breed. In 2006 it became a Slow Food Presidium. At the Brisighella slaughterhouse, all slaughtering, processing, and curing operations are carried out under regulated and certified procedures to ensure full traceability.
The meat of the Mora is distinctive: slightly darker and more marbled than that of the white pig. It is remarkably fragrant, flavorful, with a sweet taste and tender texture thanks to the presence of fat—both in the quantity and quality typical of this breed—clearly separated from the lean mass. It has excellent preservation and curing qualities, making it outstanding for salami, prosciutto, and cotechino.
