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Ofellas Ostienses (Ostian-style Starters)

Ofellas Ostienses (Ostian-style Starters) is a traditional Ancient Roman recipe for a classic dish of beef or pork that is marinated in a spice blend, roasted and served with a pepper, lovage and passum-based sauce. The full recipe is presented here and I hope you enjoy this classic Ancient Roman version of: Ostian-style Starters (Ofellas Ostienses).

prep time

20 minutes

cook time

200 minutes

Total Time:

220 minutes

Serves:

4

Rating:

Tags : Sauce RecipesSpice RecipesPork RecipesBeef RecipesAncient Roman Recipes

Original Recipe

Sumen Plenum (from Apicius' De Re Coquinaria) VII, iv, 1

Ofellas Ostienses: [in ofillam] designas ofellas in cute, ita ut cutis sic remaneat. teres piper, ligusticum, anethum, cuminum, silphium, bacam lauri unam, suffundis liquamen, fricas, in angularem refundis simul cum ofellis. ubi requieverint, in condimentis biduo vel triduo ponis, surclas decussatim, et in furnum mittis. cum coxeris, ofellas, quas designaveras, separabis et teres piper, ligusticum, suffundis liquamen et passum modicum, ut dulce fiat. cum ferbuerit, ius amulo obligas. ofellas satias et inferes.

Translation

Ostian-style Starters: On the skin, mark out pieces of choice meat, ensuring that the skin remains intact. Pound pepper, lovage, anise, cumin, silphium and one laurel berry, moisten with stock and blend. Pour [this mixture] into an angular pan, along with the meat. Allow to marinade for two or three days then bind it with twigs in the shape of an X and place in the oven. When it has cooked, separate out the marked pieces of meat. Pound pepper and lovage, moisten with stock and add a little passum for sweetness. When this boils thicken with starch. Drench the starters [with the sauce] and serve.

Modern Redaction

For my version of the dish I suggest lamb, kid, pork or venison as beef was not really eaten by the Ancient Romans.

Ingredients:

500g good quality cut of lamb, kid, pork or venison (leave the skin on the pork)

For the Marinade:
1 tsp freshly-ground black pepper
1 tsp lovage seeds (or celery seeds)
generous pinch of aniseed
1 tsp ground cumin
pinch of asafoetida
1 laurel (bay) berry or 2 cloves
pork or beef stock (depending on the meat used)

For the Sauce:
1/2 tsp freshly-ground black pepper
1/2 tsp lovage seeds (or celery seeds)
250ml meat stock
2 tbsp passum (or to taste)
1 tsp cornflour mixed to a slurry in 1 tbsp water (originally wheat starch (amulum) would have been used)

Method:

Take a good piece of meat and cut into sections about 3cm thick then cut these pieces into squares. Place these pieces in a bowl.

Pound together the black pepper, lovage (or celery) seeds, aniseed, cumin, asafoetida and bay berry (or cloves) in a mortar then work in a little meat stock. Now blend the spices with enough stock to cover the meat. Pour this marinade over the meat, cover the bowl then set aside in the refrigerator to marinate over night.

The following day, drain the meat, place in a roasting tin then transfer to an oven pre-heated to 160°C and cook for 1 hour.

In the meantime, prepare the sauce. Pound together the black pepper and lovage (or celery) seeds in a mortar. Moisten with a little of the meat stock then turn into a pan and whisk in the remaining meat stock. Add passum to sweeten to taste and bring to a boil. Cook for 10 minutes then whisk in the cornflour slurry. Return to a boil, reduce to a simmer and cook until thickened.

Once the meat is ready, turn into a serving dish. Pour over the thickened sauce and serve as a starter.
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.