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Petasonem ex Musteis (Shoulder of Pork with Sweet Wine Cakes)
Petasonem ex Musteis (Shoulder of Pork with Sweet Wine Cakes) is a traditional Ancient Roman recipe for a classic method of cooking ham by boiling with figs and barley, browning the meat in the oven with honey and serving with wine cakes saturated in a wine, passum, pepper and rue sauce. The full recipe is presented here and I hope you enjoy this classic Ancient Roman version of: Shoulder of Pork with Sweet Wine Cakes (Petasonem ex Musteis).
prep time
20 minutes
cook time
150 minutes
Total Time:
170 minutes
Serves:
6
Rating: 
Tags : Sauce RecipesPork RecipesAncient Roman Recipes
Original Recipe
Petasonem ex musteis: petasonem elixas cum bilibri hordei et caricis XXV. cum elixatus fuerit, decarnas et arvillam illius candenti vatillo uris et melle contingis. quod melius, missum in furnum, melle oblinas. cum coloraverit, mittis in caccabum passum, piper, fasciculum rutae, merum, temperas. cum fuerit temperatum, dimidium in petasonem perfundis et aliam partem piperati, buccellas musteorum fractas perfundis, cum sorbuerint quod mustei recusaverint, petasoni refundis.
Translation
Shoulder of Pork with Sweet Wine Cakes: Boil the shoulder of pork with 900g of barley and 25 dried figs. When it is done, take off the skin and scorch the fat on a red-hot brazier, before coating in honey. But, it is better to coat with honey and put in the oven to brown. In a saucepan mix passum, pepper, a small faggot of rue and unmixed wine. Pour half [of this sauce] over the shoulder of pork and the other half over pieces of sweet wine cake. When these are saturated pour any remaining sauce over the meat. [Heat the wine cakes through and serve with the meat.]
Modern Redaction
Ingredients:
1 ham (about 2.5kg)
300g pearl barley
100g dried figs
120ml runny honey
must cakes (made with about 300g flour)
For the Sauce:
120ml
passum
120ml must or grape juice
1/2 tsp freshly-ground
black pepper
2 sprigs of
rue (or
rosemary)
Method:
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 barley 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 either allow to cool, remove the skin and trim the fat. Score the remaining fat deeply and spread over the honey. Place on a roasting tin, transfer to an oven pre-heated to 180°C and bake for about 30 minutes, or until the surface of the ham is well browned.
In the meantime, combine the passum, must, black pepper and herb sprigs in a pan. Bring to a boil then reduce to a simmer and cook for 10 minutes. Dip the must cakes in the sauce until saturated then arrange these around the pork and bake until heated through. To serve, arrange the pork on a dish and pour over the remaining sauce. Accompany with the warm must cakes.
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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