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Porcellum Hortulanum (Suckling Pig Stuffed with Garden Vegetables)
Porcellum Hortulanum (Suckling Pig Stuffed with Garden Vegetables) is a traditional Ancient Roman recipe for a classic dish of a whole suckling pig that's stuffed with a mix of fowl and vegetables, roasted and served with a lightly-spiced wine sauce. The full recipe is presented here and I hope you enjoy this classic Ancient Roman version of: Suckling Pig Stuffed with Garden Vegetables (Porcellum Hortulanum).
prep time
20 minutes
cook time
230 minutes
Total Time:
250 minutes
Serves:
8-10
Rating: 
Tags : Sauce RecipesSpice RecipesPork RecipesChicken RecipesGame RecipesFowl RecipesVegetable RecipesAncient Roman Recipes
Original Recipe
Porcellum hortulanum: porcellus hortulanus exossatur per gulam in modum utris. mittitur in eo pullus isiciatus particulatim concisus, turdi, ficetulae, isicia de pulpa sua, lucanicae, dactili exossati, fabriles bulbi, cochleae exemptae, malvae, betae, porri, apium, cauliculi elixi, coriandrum, piper integrum, nuclei, ova XV superinfunduntur, liquamen piperatum [ova mittantur tria]. et consuitur et praeduratur. in furno assatur. deinde a dorso scinditur, et iure hoc perfunditur. piper teritur, ruta, liquamen, passum, mel, oleum modicum. cum bullierit, amulum mittitur.
Translation
Suckling Pig Stuffed with Garden Vegetables: Bone [the suckling pig] by the throat, to leave [an empty] sack. Stuff it with: finely-chopped chicken forcemeat, thrushes, fig-peckers, forcemeat made from the pig offal, Lucanian sausages, pitted dates, smoke-dried bulbs, shelled snails, mallow leaves, beetroot, leeks, celery, boiled cabbages, coriander, peppercorns and nuts. Finally put in fifteen eggs and stock seasoned with pepper sauce. Sew up [the piglet], brown and roast in an oven. When done, split it open all away along the back and pour over it the following sauce: grind pepper, rue, stock, passum, honey and a little olive oil [in a mortar]. When it boils, thicken with starch.
Modern Redaction
Ingredients:
1 whole suckling pig (originally the piglet was boned through the neck, but any prepared suckling pig will do
For the Stuffing:
2 chicken breast fillets, cooked and finely chopped
meat from 1 roasted grouse or partridge, chopped
100g of the pig's liver, cooked and chopped
kidneys from the piglet, cored, cooked and chopped
2 Lucanian sausages, cooked and sliced
4 tbsp pitted dates, chopped
1 large onion, finely chopped
6 tbsp finely-chopped Common Mallow leaves (if available)
100g beetroot, chopped
150g celery, chopped
1 leek, finely chopped
1/2 small cabbage, cored and finely chopped
100g ground
almonds
2 tsp freshly-ground black pepper
4 eggs
For the Sauce:
1/2 tsp freshly-ground black pepper
1/2 tsp
rue (or
rosemary)
250ml pork stock or chicken stock
80ml
passum
2 tbsp honey
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp cornflour mixed to a slurry with 2 tbsp water
Method:
This dish is best made with a piglet that is bought whole, gutted through the neck and then boned to leave a bag of skin. If you cannot do this, then simply obtain a prepared suckling pig. For the forcemeat, combine the chopped fowls, piglet offal, sausages, dates, onion, mallow leaves, vegetables and ground almonds in a bowl. Season with the black pepper then stir in the eggs to bind. Stuff this mixture into the piglet then sew up the openings (either the neck or the stomach).
Place the piglet on a rack in a roasting tin and transfer to an oven pre-heated to 220°C and roast for 30 minutes. Reduce the oven temperature to 160°C then continue roasting for 50 minutes per kg, or until the skin is crisp and the meat is thoroughly cooked (check that the meat juices run clear by piercing in the thickest part of the roast).
In the meantime, prepare the sauce. Pound together the black pepper, rue (or rosemary), honey and olive oil in a mortar. Moisten with the passum then scrape into a pan and whisk in the pork (or chicken) stock. Bring to a boil then reduce to a low simmer before whisking in the cornflour slurry. Continue simmering until thickened.
When the piglet is cooked through, remove the from the oven and allow to rest, covered with foil, for 20 minutes. Strain the pan juices and stir these into the sauce. If you boned the piglet then set on a serving dish and open down the back. If you did not bone it, lay in a serving dish on its back and slit open the belly. Serve accompanied by the sauce.
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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