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Pernam (Ham)
Pernam (Ham) is a traditional Ancient Roman recipe for a classic dish of ham that is initially boiled with figs and bayleaves before being smothered in honey, covered in an oil crust and oven baked. The full recipe is presented here and I hope you enjoy this classic Ancient Roman version of: Ham (Penam).
prep time
20 minutes
cook time
140 minutes
Total Time:
160 minutes
Serves:
6
Rating: 
Tags : Herb RecipesPork RecipesAncient Roman Recipes
Original Recipe
Pernam, ubi eam cum caricis plurimis elixaveris et tribus lauri foliis, detracta cute tessellatim incidis et melle complebis. deinde farinam oleo subactam contexes et ei corium reddis ut, cum farina cocta fuerit, eximas furno est et inferes.
Translation
Boil the ham with a generous quantity of dried figs and with three bayleaves. Take off the skin and make criss-cross cuts. Fill these with honey. Make a paste of flour and olive oil and completely cover the ham with this. When the crust has baked, remove the ham from the oven and serve as is.
Modern Redaction
Ingredients:
1 ham (about 2.5kg)
100g dried figs
3
bayleaves
120ml runny honey
For the Crust:
350g plain flour
1/4 tsp sea salt
250ml olive oil (about)
1 egg
Method:
Begin with the crust. Sift together the flour and salt into a bowl. Mix in the egg then work in as much of the olive oil as you need to give a stiff, rollable dough. Form into a ball, cover with clingfilm (plastic wrap) and chill whilst you cook the ham (if you want a more flavoursome pastry mix in a few chopped herbs and a little verjuice or lemon juice).
Place the ham in a large pot and add water so that it comes half way up the ham. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer then cover the pan and cook for 60 minutes. Discard this water then add the figs and bayleaves to the pot. Cover the ham with water, bring to a boil then reduce to a simmer and cook for 45 minutes more.
When the ham is cooked, remove from the pot then pat dry with a cloth and set aside to cool. Once cold, remove the skin and trim the fat. Score the remaining fat in a diamond pattern and rub in the honey. At this point remove the pastry from the refrigerator and roll out until large enough to completely cover the ham. Set the ham in the centre and fold around the pastry so the meat is completely covered. Smooth over the joins then sit on a large baking tray and transfer to an oven pre-heated to 170°C and bake for about 20 minutes, or until the pastry is browned. Serve immediately.
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.
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