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Ofellas Apicianas (Starters, Apician Style)
Ofellas Apicianas (Starters, Apician Style) is a traditional Ancient Roman recipe for a classic dish of rolled and roasted meat strips served in a sauce flavoured with pepper, lovage, galingale and cumin sweetened with passum. The full recipe is presented here and I hope you enjoy this classic Ancient Roman version of: Starters, Apician Style (Ofellas Apicianas).
prep time
20 minutes
cook time
60 minutes
Total Time:
80 minutes
Serves:
4
Rating: 
Tags : Spice RecipesPork RecipesAncient Roman Recipes
Original Recipe
Ofellas Apicianas: ofellas exossas, in rotundum complicas, surclas, ad furnum admoves. postea praeduras, levas et, ut humorem exspuant, in craticula igni lento exsiccabis, ita ne urantur. teres piper, ligusticum, cyperis, cuminum, liquamen et passo temperabis, cum hoc iure ofellas in caccabum mittis. cum coctae fuerint, levas et siccas, sine iure, piper asperso, et inferes. si pingues fuerint, cum surclas tollis cutem. potest et de abdomine huiusmodi ofellas facere.
Translation
Starters, Apician Style: Bone the pieces of meat, shape into rounds and bind with twigs then place in the oven. When browned, remove [from the oven] and to extract their juices dry them out on a gridiron over a slow fire, ensuring that the meat does not scorch. Pound pepper, lovage, cyperus and cumin. Blend with stock and passum. Place the meat pieces and the sauce in a pan. After cooking take out [the meat pieces], dry them and serve without sauce, sprinkled with pepper. If the meat pieces should be fatty remove the skin prior to binding with twigs. You can also make this kind of starter from the belly of the animal.
Modern Redaction
Ingredients:
500g good quality cut of pork (eg fillet, loin)
For the Sauce:
1/2 tsp freshly-ground
black pepper
1/2 tsp
lovage seeds (or celery seeds)
pinch of
galingale (or
galangal or ginger)
1/4 tsp
ground cumin
200ml pork or chicken stock
2 tbsp liquamen
60ml passum (raisin wine)
freshly-ground black pepper, to garnish
Method:
Slice the meat into thin strips about 2cm wide and 6cm long. Roll these up and secure with a toothpick. Arrange on a roasting tray, transfer to an oven pre-heated to 160°C and brown for about 20 minutes.
In the meantime, pound together the black pepper, lovage (or celery) seeds, galingale and cumin in a mortar. Blend in the liquamen and a little of the stock then turn into a pan and whisk in the remaining stock and passum. Bring to a simmer, add the pieces of meat, cover the pan and cook gently for about 40 minutes, or until the meat is done through and tender.
Drain the meat, arrange on a serving dish, sprinkle with freshly-ground black pepper and serve.
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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