Ventricina di Montenero di Bisaccia

Molise and Abruzzo were a single region until Molise split off in 1963, and the ventricina is one of the things that mark the two apart; its heartland runs along the Trigno valley, on the old border with the Vasto district of Abruzzo. The name comes from the 'ventre', the pig's belly or stomach, once used as the casing. Of the Molise ventricine the most representative is that of Montenero di Bisaccia, listed in the national register of traditional food products (PAT) and carried by Slow Food in its Ark of Taste. The ground sweet pepper does double duty, seasoning the meat and, by drawing off moisture, helping it to keep.

Sliced across the ball, it shows a coarse red mosaic flecked with white fat. It is soft and yielding rather than hard, sweet with paprika before any heat, rounded by the aniseed note of fennel flower, with the mellow depth of long-aged pork behind. The lard seal keeps the fat sweet and fresh.

Casing the paste in the tight bladder and pressing it into a ball slows the loss of water from the centre, so the ventricina dries slowly and stays soft rather than hard. Beside the hearth the first days' gentle warmth lets lactic bacteria ferment the meat's sugars to acid, lowering the pH; over the following year the muscle enzymes break the proteins into savoury amino acids and the fat matures into aromatic compounds. Ground sweet pepper is strongly hygroscopic, pulling water out of the meat to lower its water activity while its own sugars and paprika colour deepen, and fennel's anethole scents the fat. Sealing the finished sausage under melted lard shuts out air, so it does not oxidise or dry hard through the summer heat.