What if the ancestor of Ligurian stuffed breast of veal was made with pork and garum??! “Clean out the pig of its entrails and fix the meat. Grind lovage pepper, oregano, spill with garum and add cooked brain as much as needed. Whisk the eggs with garum and cut cooked sausages into small cubes. Meanwhile soak the pork into the garum (..), stuff it and fix it with staples. Put it in a basket that you will dunk in a marmite full of boiling water (..)”…word of Apicio!
Here below the Ligurian recipe; I can assure you that the way to prepare it it’s not so different, as for complexity and steps, from many old recipes!
Directions: ask the butcher to cut a breast of veal into a pocket for stuffing that you will wash and well dry. Melt the butter and brown all the pieces of meat; mince the veal, the udder and the sweetbread, chop brain and back. Put the meats in a bowl together with peas, minced garlic, pine nuts, marjoram and mushrooms. Add beaten eggs, grated Parmesan, spices and salt. Beat until they are well mixed and fluff. Stuff the pocket leaving some space. Sew up the opening of the pocket. Envelop cima into a white cloth and tie the ends. Heat up the vegetable broth, previously prepared, add the pocket. Summer it for 3 hours covering with a lid. When the pocket is cooked, take it from the broth, put it on a cutting board with a heavy weight on top and let it cool. Serve thinly sliced.
Ingredients
600gr veal flank
100gr veal
50gr veal’s udder
1 sweetbread
50gr calf’s brain
1 veal back piece
30 gr butter
Pine nuts to taste
Freshly minced marjoram as much as needed
4 eggs
1 clove garlic
40gr grated Parmesan
50gr peas
20gr dried mushrooms (porcini), steeped in cold water, drained and minced
1l vegetable broth
Salt to taste
