Kitchen scene from Bartolomeo Scappi’s Opera (1574). Library of Congress.
Polpettoni alla Romana – Renaissance Beef Skewers (Scappi, 1570)
Updated with historical context, vegetarian/vegan alternatives, and TOA interlinks.
At my Tournament of the Arts (2024) luncheon, these went fast. Adapted from Bartolomeo Scappi’s Opera (1570), they’re not meatballs but “fingers”—chunky strips of lean beef, larded, marinated in sweet–sour must and rose vinegar with warm spices, then skewered with sage and bacon and roasted. They’re dramatic, portable, and perfect for camp kitchens, dayboards, or a roast platter. Think Renaissance barbecue—minus the smoke ring, plus saffron glaze.
Original Recipe (Scappi, Opera 1570)
Per fare polpettoni alla romanesca di lombolo di boue, o di uaccina
Get the leanest part of the tenderloin… sprinkle with ground salt and fennel flour or coriander with common spices. Set four lardoons of marbled salt pork in each piece. Place them in a press with that mixture and a little rose vinegar and must syrup for three hours. Then mount them on a spit with a rasher of bacon and a sage or bay leaf between each piece; cook over a moderate fire. When done, serve hot with a sauce of their drippings together with what exuded from them in the press, somewhat thick and saffron-coloured.
Baked Gammon of Bacon in pastry crust — savory, spiced, and rich with herbs and egg yolk.
Gammon of Bacon comes from A Book of Cookrye (1591), a popular Elizabethan cookery book. It calls for a “gammon of bacon” — essentially a salt-cured leg or large cut of pork — stuffed with parsley, sage, and hard-cooked egg yolks, seasoned with cloves and mace, then wrapped in pastry. This dish blurs the lines between what we’d call ham, bacon, and meat pies today.
The Original Recipe (1591)
To bake a gammon of Bacon. Take your Bacon and boyle it, and stuffe it with Parcely and Sage, and yolks of hard Egges, and when it is boyled, stuffe it and let it boyle againe, season it with Pepper, cloves and mace, whole cloves stick fast in, so then lay it in your paste with salt butter.
Modern Recipe
This adaptation is based on Dan Meyers’ version with a few tweaks to better match the period instructions. Using a ham or gammon joint (rather than belly bacon) and re-simmering after stuffing brings it closer to the original Tudor technique.
Ingredients
2 lbs. cured ham or gammon joint (not belly bacon)
1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley
1/4 cup chopped fresh sage
6 hard-boiled egg yolks, mashed
1/2 tsp. ground black pepper
1/4 tsp. ground cloves
1/8 tsp. ground mace
6–8 whole cloves (for studding)
1 pie crust
2 tbsp. salted butter
Instructions
Place ham/gammon in a large pot, cover with water, and boil gently for 30 minutes.
Mix parsley, sage, mashed egg yolks, pepper, and mace in a bowl.
Remove meat from the pot, cut open or slice, and stuff with the herb–egg mixture.
Optional (for authenticity): Return the stuffed meat to simmering water for 15 minutes before baking.
Stud the surface with whole cloves.
Wrap in pie crust, dot butter around the filling, and seal well.
Bake at 350°F (175°C) for about 1 hour, until the crust is golden and the meat heated through.
Cook’s Note: For individual portions, thin slices of ham can be stuffed and rolled into “olives,” then wrapped in pastry. This makes charming hand-sized pies.
Why two boilings? The 1591 recipe has you boil the gammon once to draw out excess salt, then again after stuffing to help set the filling and balance the flavors. In Tudor kitchens this also “cleansed” the meat under humoral theory, making it more wholesome. Modern hams are milder, so the second boil is optional.
Gammon vs. Bacon vs. Ham
One reason this recipe confuses modern cooks is that “gammon of bacon” in the 16th century does not map neatly onto modern terms:
Gammon (period): A hind leg of pork cured by salting, sometimes smoked.
Bacon (modern US): Thin slices from pork belly, usually smoked.
Canadian Bacon: Back bacon, leaner, closer to period cuts but not salt-cured the same way.
Ham: Cured hind leg of pork, closer to “gammon” but often sweeter/brined differently.
Best substitute for period gammon: a smoked ham or unsliced back bacon joint. Pork belly strips are too fatty for this recipe, while Canadian bacon is too lean and small.
Re-Creating Period Gammon at Home
If you want to try something closer to the Elizabethan flavor profile, here’s a simple historical-style curing method:
Dry cure: Rub a pork hind leg or large roast with salt, brown sugar, and a little black pepper. Cover loosely and refrigerate 5–7 days, turning daily.
Optional smoke: Cold-smoke over oak, applewood, or hickory for several hours.
Cook: Once cured, boil as the recipe instructs, then proceed with stuffing and baking.
This is not a full preservation cure (as Elizabethans might have done for winter storage), but it gives a flavor much closer to “gammon” than store-bought ham.
Historical Notes
A Book of Cookrye (1591) was a popular English cookbook printed for household use — much shorter than elite works like The Good Huswifes Jewell or The English Huswife.
Meat baked in pastry (coffins) was a hallmark of Tudor cooking, both as preservation and presentation.
Egg yolks were considered warming and nourishing under humoral theory — appropriate for a “strengthening” dish.
Dietary Notes 🥕
Contains: Pork, eggs, gluten, dairy.
Vegetarian/Vegan: Not suitable. A meatless option could use mushrooms or seitan with the parsley-sage-egg mixture (or vegan yolk substitute).
Gluten-free: Use a gluten-free pie crust.
Why Try This Dish?
This “gammon of bacon” makes a rich centerpiece for a Tudor-themed meal or SCA feast. The herb-egg stuffing is fragrant and holiday-like, while the crust keeps everything moist and sliceable. It’s a savory hand pie that bridges the world of bacon, ham, and pastry.
Dayboard Notes
Is this suitable for a dayboard? Yes! This savory pie is hearty, portable, and slices neatly, making it an excellent choice for an event lunch spread.
Stability: The ham/gammon is already cured and cooked, and the pastry crust helps protect the filling.
Risk: The egg yolk stuffing can spoil if left too long at warm temperatures.
Safe window: Best served within 2–4 hours at cool room temperature (<70°F/21°C). Treat it like quiche or sausage rolls.
Tip: Keep pies chilled before transport and bring out only what you plan to serve within the hour.
