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Perna Apruna ita Impletur Terentina (Filled Gammon of Wild Boar Terentine)

Perna Apruna ita Impletur Terentina (Filled Gammon of Wild Boar Terentine) is a traditional Ancient Roman recipe for a classic dish of a pork gammon joint, where the gap between the skin and meat is stuffed with a blend of pepper, juniper, rue and asafoetida in a stock, caroenum and oil base that's boiled in water flavoured with bayleaves and anise. The full recipe is presented here and I hope you enjoy this classic Ancient Roman version of: Filled Gammon of Wild Boar Terentine (Perna Apruna ita Impletur Terentina).

prep time

20 minutes

cook time

165 minutes

Total Time:

185 minutes

Serves:

8

Rating:

Tags : Sauce RecipesPork RecipesAncient Roman Recipes

Original Recipe

Perna Apruna ita Impletur Terentina (from Apicius' De Re Coquinaria) VIII, i, 10

Perna apruna ita impletur Terentina: per articulum pernae palum mittes ita ut cutem a carne separes, ut possit condimentum accipere per cornulum et universa impleatur. teres piper, bacam lauri, rutam. si volueris, laser adicies, liquamen optimum, caroenum et olei viridis guttas. cum impleta fuerit, constringitur illa pars, qua impleta est, ex lino et mittitur in zemam. elixatur in aqua marina cum lauri turionibus et anetho.

Translation

Filled Gammon of Wild Boar Terentine: With a knife, cut the meat carefully with a knife so as to separate the skin from the flesh, so that the meat can be completely covered by sauce poured from a little horn. Now grind pepper, laurel berry, and rue [in a mortar]. If you wish, add laser. Add the best stock, caroenum, and [a few] drops of fresh olive oil. When it is stuffed [with the sauce] sew the opening through it was stuffed back into place and put the meat into a pan. Boil in sea water with tender shoots of laurel and anise.

Modern Redaction

Ingredients:

For the Terentine Sauce:
1 tsp coarsely-ground black pepper
4 laurel (bay) berries, crushed (or
8 juniper berries)
1 tsp dried rue (or rosemary)
generous pinch of asafoetida
75ml pork or beef stock
1 tbsp liquamen or Thai fish sauce
3 tbsp caroenum
90ml red wine
1 1/2 tsp olive oil

bone-in gammon or ham joint (about 2kg)
3 bayleaves
1 tsp aniseed

Method:

Begin with the sauce. Grind together the black pepper, juniper berries, asafoetida and rue in a mortar. Work in the stock, red wine, caroenum, liquamem and olive oil then pour into a pan, bring to a boil and reduce until thickened. Take off the heat and pour into a jug.

Take the gammon or ham joint and, using a sharp knife separate the skin from the meat to form a pocket. Now, using a funnel, pour the Terentine sauce into the pocket. Sew this closed with twine then place in a large pan.

Cover the meat with fresh water (the original recommends sea water, but hams and gammon joints are heavily salted already), add the bayleaves and aniseed and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer, cover and cook for about 150 minutes, or until the meat is cooked through and tender.

Serve hot. If desired, you can put the meat under the grill to crisp the crackling.
Find more recipes from Apicius' De Re Coquinaria along with information on Apicius and his cookbook, all part of this site's Ancient Roman recipes collection.