It happens often. Someone orders ventricina, receives it, opens it, and is surprised: "But this isn't spreadable?"
No. It's not spreadable.
And no, it's not a defect.
It's simply a completely different product from what they might have tasted before, or what they might have seen in a shop in Teramo. The same name, the same region, two cured meats that have very little in common.
It's worth understanding why.
Same Abruzzo, two separate traditions
Ventricina is a cured meat from Abruzzo. So far, so clear. The problem is that under this name, two products coexist, born in different areas of the region, with different raw materials, different techniques, and a production philosophy that couldn't be more opposite.
On one side, the Vastese, in the hinterland of the province of Chieti, bordering Molise. On the other, the Teramano, between the mountainous and hilly areas of Gran Sasso and Monti della Laga. Same region, same word, two worlds.
Teramana ventricina: spreadable by design
Teramana ventricina is produced using trimmings of ham and head, pancetta, and suet which, once cleaned, are minced with a fine-grind meat grinder. The mixture is then seasoned with salt, white and black pepper, sweet and hot chili pepper, garlic, fennel seeds, rosemary, and orange peel.
It's that fine grinding process, sometimes repeated twice, that makes it spreadable. It's not an aesthetic choice: it's a direct consequence of the raw materials and the processing.
Teramana ventricina is produced with a fat percentage ranging from 60 to 70% of the mixture. Sixty, seventy percent fat. That percentage gives it the creamy consistency that characterizes it, and makes it perfect for spreading on a warm bruschetta.
The result is a light, rosy-colored cured meat, dotted with the minced ingredients. On the palate, it has a round flavor, with nuances of spices and natural essences that give it a pleasant character, sweet or spicy depending on the version.
Curing is short: the product is ready for consumption after just a few weeks, although the ideal curing is reached around three months. It is often stored in glass jars.
Vastese ventricina: a different concept
Ours is a different thing.
In the artisanal Vastese version, the main ingredient consists of noble cuts of pork for about 80%, and the remaining from fatty cuts. Eighty percent lean meat. The exact opposite of the Teramana.
It's not minced. It's cut by hand, into large, irregular pieces. The heterogeneous texture you see when you open it is not a processing error: it's proof that it was made by hand, by someone who took a knife and worked the meat piece by piece.
The spices are simpler: dried sweet or hot pepper, fennel seeds, pepper. No garlic, no rosemary, no orange peel. Dried red pepper is the real trademark: it's what gives it that intense red color that distinguishes it at a glance from its much paler Teramana cousin.
Curing lasts no less than 100 days. A minimum of one hundred days. It cannot be shortened: this is the time that dries the meat, concentrates the flavors, and transforms a cured meat into something complex, with a structure that holds up when sliced and is recognizable from a distance.
It's not spreadable. It's sliced, and eaten.
The difference in a table
| Ventricina Vastese | Ventricina Teramana | |
|---|---|---|
| Area | Upper and Middle Vastese (CH) | Gran Sasso and Monti della Laga (TE) |
| Meat | 80% lean noble cuts | 30-40% trimmings, head, pancetta |
| Fat | 20% | 60-70% |
| Processing | Knife-cut, coarse grind | Fine, repeated grinding |
| Spices | Dried pepper, fennel, pepper | Garlic, rosemary, orange peel, chili pepper |
| Color | Intense red | Light, pinkish |
| Texture | Firm, sliceable | Soft, spreadable |
| Curing | Minimum 100 days | A few weeks, ideal 3 months |
| Storage | In natural casing | Casing or glass jar |
| Slow Food Presidium | Yes | No (Ark of Taste) |
Why they are often confused
The same name causes confusion. Someone who has tasted the spreadable Teramana on a crouton at a bar, and then orders "Abruzzese ventricina" online, expects the same thing. They receive ours, open it, and find it red, firm, and smelling of pepper. Different.
It's not worse. It's a different product.
Vastese ventricina is the most awarded Italian cured meat nationally, having won the Italian Salami Championship of the Accademia delle 5T in 2009, 2016, and 2017. Three titles. These are earned with meat, not with fat.
We produce the Vastese version. We have always produced it. Nicola and Alfredo make it with the same cuts as always, hand-cut, without preservatives, with curing that is not rushed for anyone.
If you are looking for something to spread on bruschetta, the Teramana is the right answer and has every right to exist.
If you are looking for a cured meat to slice thickly, to put on a platter, to use in ragù, to taste to understand what well-worked and properly cured meat can achieve: that's ours.