Ventricina teramana (spreadable Teramo salami)

History and origin

In Abruzzo ventricina changes from area to area in technique, texture and flavour. Around Teramo, where it is also called ventresca, it stands out for its high fat content, for spices that give it a round, spicy taste and for a soft, spreadable texture.

The habit of preserving meat by stuffing it with salt and spices into the pig's stomach is old. Already in Boccaccio's Decameron, in the fourteenth century, a passage about Abruzzo folk who «dress their pigs in their own innards» may allude to this kind of cured meat. In the eighteenth century Teramo ventricina is said to have been appreciated by the King of Naples, and in the nineteenth century Gennaro Finamore, in his dictionary of Abruzzo usage, defines it as a pork salami stuffed into the tripe of the same animal.

Since the dried pepper of the Vastese version spread only in the nineteenth century, the «white» ventricina may be older than the «red» one. On Abruzzo's list of traditional products Teramo ventricina has its own entry, separate from the Vastese one, and it is recorded in Slow Food's Ark of Taste.

Sources: Fondazione Slow Food, Arca del Gusto — Ventricina teramana · Regione Abruzzo — Elenco dei prodotti agroalimentari tradizionali dell'Abruzzo, aggiornamento 2023 · Masaf — Elenco nazionale dei prodotti agroalimentari tradizionali, XXVI revisione (2026)

Area and method of production

It is made in the province of Teramo, in the mountain, foothill and hill belts of the Monti della Laga and the Gran Sasso. Trimmings of ham and head are used, about 30 per cent, with pancetta and lard, about 40: all bled, skinned, boned, cleaned of tendons and finely ground, sometimes twice to make the texture even finer.

The mix is seasoned with salt, white and black pepper, sweet and hot chilli, garlic, fennel seeds, rosemary and orange zest. It is then stuffed into the pig's belly, the bladder or the stomach, tied and hung for about a week in a room warmed by the fireplace, before moving somewhere cool to age.

It is made in the coldest months, mainly in autumn. Since the 1950s some producers have also packed it in glass jars of about 300 grams.

Sources: Fondazione Slow Food, Arca del Gusto — Ventricina teramana

How to recognise it

It is a spreadable, very fatty cured meat, with fat making up 50-60 per cent of the mix. The colour is pale and pinkish, flecked with the more coarsely chopped ingredients such as spices and orange zest.

The flavour is round; the nuances from the spices and natural aromatics make it distinctly hot. Its soft texture and pale colour set it apart from the ventricina of the middle and upper Vastese, recognisable instead by its ground sweet pepper.

It can be eaten just a few weeks after it is made, but ideal maturity comes after three months. Made in winter, it is on sale all year, whole or in jars.

Sources: Fondazione Slow Food, Arca del Gusto — Ventricina teramana

In the kitchen

The most common way to enjoy it is spread on a slice of country bread: the soft fat and spices find their natural partner in the bread.

Ventricina also goes into pasta sauces, but only the kind made a few days earlier, still fresh, is used for this. In the villages of the Gran Sasso and Monti della Laga National Park, cured-meat making, in which ventricina has a prominent place, goes with a cuisine of scrippelle timballo, chitarra pasta and grilled arrosticini.

The cured meat is much sought after where it is made, but few businesses produce it by hand for sale; family production, on the other hand, remains widespread.

Sources: Fondazione Slow Food, Arca del Gusto — Ventricina teramana · Italia.it — Parco Nazionale del Gran Sasso e Monti della Laga

Where to taste it

Its territory is the province of Teramo, from the hills to the mountains, at the foot of the Monti della Laga and the Gran Sasso, in the landscapes of the Gran Sasso and Monti della Laga National Park and its surroundings.

Here ventricina comes from the few artisans who make it for sale, while in families the tradition is still alive. It is prepared in autumn, but the cured meat is available all year.

A trip to the Teramo side of the park, among mountain villages, woods and pastures, is the chance to taste it in its homeland, alongside the area's other products: pulses, chestnuts, cheeses and mountain honeys.

Sources: Fondazione Slow Food, Arca del Gusto — Ventricina teramana · Italia.it — Parco Nazionale del Gran Sasso e Monti della Laga

Protection

• Traditional agri-food product (PAT) — Abruzzo, n. 31, 26th revision (Masaf — Elenco nazionale dei prodotti agroalimentari tradizionali, XXVI revisione (2026) · Regione Abruzzo — Elenco dei prodotti agroalimentari tradizionali dell'Abruzzo, aggiornamento 2023)

When

• The sources consulted give no months.

Where

Abruzzo

Read more