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The product
What ventricina teramana is
A soft, fatty cured meat for spreading.
Ventricina teramana is a spreadable pork product, pale in colour and spicy. The mixture is very fatty, about 50–60%: ham, cheek, belly and lard finely minced and seasoned with salt, garlic, pepper, rosemary and sweet and hot peppers; many add orange zest and fennel seeds.
Traditionally it was stuffed into the pig’s stomach or bladder; today it is also often sold in jars. It is listed among Abruzzo’s traditional food products.
Territory
Where it comes from
It is typical of the province of Teramo, from the hills towards the coast to the villages at the foot of the Gran Sasso and the Monti della Laga, where every family made it when the pig was slaughtered.
From field to table
How it is made
- In winter, at the pig slaughter, fat and lean parts are chosen: ham, cheek, belly and lard.
- They are minced very finely into a soft paste.
- It is seasoned with salt, garlic, pepper, rosemary, sweet and hot peppers and, depending on the family recipe, orange zest and fennel.
- It is stuffed into casing, the pig’s stomach or bladder, or put into jars.
- It can be eaten after a few days or left to mature in a cool place for a few weeks.
In the kitchen
How to use it
Ventricina teramana is a starter: it is spread, not sliced.
- Spread on toasted country bread, still warm
- Melted in the pan as a base for tomato sauces and pasta
- On bruschetta with a drizzle of Teramo hills olive oil
- With cheeses and preserves on a starter board
Tips
How to choose and store it
- Keep it in the fridge and eat it soon once opened.
- Take it out of the fridge a few minutes beforehand so it spreads better.
- Ask the butcher how spicy it is: every family has its own recipe.
- If it is in a casing, remove the skin before spreading.
Good to know: it is a seasonal, artisan product; the best is found in winter in the butchers’ shops of the province of Teramo.
Ordering
Where to buy it and whom to contact
Contacts checked on the official websites in October 2026: check availability and prices before ordering.
Discover Teramo
The tourism portal of the province of Teramo has a page on ventricina teramana and the area’s other products. Ventricina is sold in the butchers’ shops and curing houses of the Teramo area, above all in winter: ask for the homemade kind.
- Website: discoverteramo.it
Gallery
Photos
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The image is an illustration drawn for abruzzoparchi.it: we could not find free photos showing the Abruzzo product itself. If you have a photo to share, write to us.
Tradition
History and trivia
Like many mountain cured meats, ventricina was born from wasting nothing of the pig: the fatty parts, minced and spiced, became a store to spread on bread all winter.
The name comes from «ventre», the pig’s stomach in which it was once stuffed. Today the recipe changes from village to village, above all in the choice of spices.
Did you know? in Abruzzo the same name is used for two very different cured meats: the soft, spreadable Teramo ventricina and the compact Vastese one, which is sliced.