Home | Search | Products | Shopping cart | Contact Us

Ancient Roman Dishes – Collection

From: hz225wu@unidui.uni-duisburg.de (Micaela Pantke)
 

The following recipes are taken from an Ancient Roman cookbook

MARCUS GAVIUS APICIUS: DE RE COQUINARIA

It was edited and translated from Latin by Robert Maier.

First I have to introduce you to some native Roman ingredients, such as:

Caroenum: Boiled must (you have to boil the new wine or grape juice until it is only half the amount you started with).

Defritum: Either thick fig syrup, or must that's boiled until you have only a third of the amount with which you started.

Liebstoeckl: Lovage. In Latin it is called 'levisticum officinale'. It's an umbelli ferous plant with yellowish flowers. Its dried roots are used as spice. It seems to be a kind of celery.

Liquamen: a salty fish sauce. Most of the time you can replace it by salt.

Passum: Very sweet wine sauce, made by boiling the must (new wine or grape juice) to thicken it. (maybe add honey? - just my guess)

Poleiminze: A kind of mint that's growing in inundated areas. Just replace it by ordinary mint.

Saturei: Savory. In Latin it's called 'satureia hortensis'. It's a violet or white flowered kind of labiate plants which grows mainly in Southern Europe. It's used as a spice plant, especially for bean dishes; in Germany it is called the 'bean herb'.

Silphium: Its other names are 'Laser' or 'ferula asa foetida'. I've noticed that it's also called 'hing' in the Indian cuisine. It is an onion and garlic substitute and should be used rather sparingly because of its very strong taste and smell.

 Native Roman Ingredients Conversions

Conversions, by mara@kauri.vuw.ac.nz

5ml              =  1 tsp

15ml             =  1 tblsp

28.3g           =  1 ounce ( ==> 100g = 3.5 ounces )

454g            =  1 pound ( ==> 1kg = 2.2 pound )

250ml          =  1 cup

1 l                =  4 cups

180 deg C     =  350 deg F

220 deg C    =  425 deg F

Isicia Omentata (A kind of Roman Burger)

Pepones et Melones (water and honey melons)

Patina de Piris (pear souffle)

Minutal Marinum (seafood fricassee)

Gustum de Praecoquis (starter with apricots)

Pullum Frontonianum (Chicken a la Fronto)

Dulcia Domestica (Housemade Dessert)

Ova Sfongia Ex Lacte (Pancakes with Milk)

Vitellina Fricta (Fried Veal)

In Mitulis (Sea Mussels)

Sarda Ita Fit (Tuna)

Scillas (Big Shrimps)

All of those are calculated for 4 servings!

Unfortunately the exact cooking temperatures and times haven't been handed down in all cases. You have to rely on your gut feeling. But I hope you enjoy all of it nonetheless!

ISICIA OMENTATA (a kind of Roman Burgers)

Ingredients:

500g minced meat

1 french roll, soaked in white wine

1/2 tsp freshly ground pepper

50ml Liquamen (can be replaced by 1/2 tsp salt + a little white wine)

some stone-pine kernels and green peppercorns a little Caroenum

Baking foil

Instructions:

Mix minced meat with the soaked french roll. Ground spices and mix into the meat. Form small burgers and put pine kernels and peppercorns into them. Put them into baking foil and grill them together with Caroenum.

PEPONES ET MELONES (Water and Honey Melons)

Ingredients:

1/2 honey melon\ both peeled, diced

1/2 watermelon

500ml Passum a little bit of honey (or Passum)

1 tblsp minced parsley

1/2 tsp freshly ground pepper a little bit of Liquamen, or a dash of salt

Poleiminze, Silphium, vinegar, if wanted

Instructions:

Cook diced melons in a pan together with spices and herbs until done.

Sometimes Silphium is added.

PATINA DE PIRIS (Pear Soufflee)

Ingredients:

1kg pears (peeled and without core)

6 eggs

4 tblsp honey

100ml Passum a little bit oil

50ml Liquamen, or 1/4 tsp salt

1/2 tsp   ground cumin

ground pepper to taste

Instructions:

Mesh cooked and peeled pears (without core) together with pepper, cumin,

honey, Passum, Liquamen and a bit of oil. Add eggs and put into a

casserole. Cook approximately 30 minutes on small to moderate heat.

Serve with a bitt of pepper sprinkled on the soufflee.

MINUTAL MARINUM (Seafood Fricassee)

Ingredients:

500g   fish fillet (e.g. salmon)

250ml white wine

500ml beef broth

3 leek branches (I hope branch is the correct expression...)

100ml oil

Liquamen or salt, coriander, pepper, Liebstoeckl, Oregano to taste a little bit of starch or flour to thicken the sauce

Instructions:

Put the fish in a pan, add Liquamen, oil, wine and broth. Chop leek

branches and coriander. Chop fillets into a kind of fish goulash.bszRC

Cook approximately 30 minutes on small to moderate heat. When well done

ground coriander, Liebstoeckl and oregano and add to the fish fricassee.

Boil again shortly. Then thicken sauce with starch, sprinkle pepper on

the fricasse and serve.

GUSTUM DE PRAECOQUIS (Starter with Apricots)

Ingredients:

1kg firm ripe apricots or nectarines

200ml white wine

250ml Passum

1 peppermint tea bag (portion for one cup)

pepper, Liquamen or salt, cornstarch, a little vinegar and honey

Instructions:

Wash, cut and stone apricots. Put them with a little cold water in a pan.

Ground pepper and dried mint (that's where the tea bag comes handy...), add Liquamen, honey, Passum, wine and vinegar. Pour into the pan with a little oil. Cook approximately 20 minutes on small to moderate heat. After it boiled add a bit of cornstarch to thicken the sauce, sprinkle with pepper and serve.

 PULLUM FRONTONIANUM (Chicken a la Fronto)

Ingredients:

1 fresh chicken (approx. 1-1.5kg) 100ml oil

200ml Liquamen, or 200ml wine + 2 tsp salt

1 branch of leek

fresh dill, Saturei, coriander, pepper to taste a little bit of Defritum

Instructions:

Start to fry chicken and season with a mixture of Liquamen and oil,

together with bunches of dill, leek, Saturei and fresh coriander.  Then cook approximately 1 hour with 220 deg C in the oven. When the chicken

is done, moisten a plate with Defritum, put chicken on it, sprinkle pepper on it, and serve. 

DULCIA DOMESTICA (Housemade Dessert)

Ingredients:

200g fresh or dried dates

50g coarsely ground nuts or stone-pine kernels a little bit salt honey, or red wine with honey

Instructions:

Take the stones out of the dates and fill them with nuts or stone-pine kernels.  Sprinkle a bit of salt on the filled dates and stew them in honey or honey-sweetened red wine. The dates have to be cooked in on low heat until their paring starts to come off

(approximately 5-10 minutes).

Note:

You may also fill some dates with ground pepper. (I wonder how this might taste - but that's a suggestion made in the original recipe.)

 OVA SFONGIA EX LACTE (Pancakes with Milk)

Ingredients:

8 eggs

600ml milk

100ml oil

A little bit honey

A little bit ground pepper

Instructions:

Mix eggs, milk and oil until you have a pancake dough. Fry in a pan and serve topped with honey and a little pepper.

VITELLINA FRICTA (Fried Veal)

Ingredients:

800g - 1kg veal

300g        dried raisins (sultanas)

1 tblsp     honey

2 tblsp     vinegar

200ml       wine

100ml       oil

100ml       Defritum

100ml       Liquamen (or 1tsp salt)

Pepper, celery seeds, Liebstoeckl, cumin, oregano, dried onion to taste

Instructions:            

Fry veal in olive oil until well done.  Mix raisins, wine, vinegar, honey, oil, Liquamen and spices together in an extra pan, shortly boil the sauce.  Pour over the veal, then leave the meat for 10 minutes in the sauce and cook on low heat. Serve.

IN MITULIS (Sea Mussels)

Ingredients:

1kg fresh sea mussels

100ml Liquamen

1 branch of leek, finely minced

1 tsp cumin

200ml Passum

1 tblsp minced Saturei

500ml white wine

500ml water

Instructions:

First water mussels, and clean them.  Mix together Liquamen, wine, water, Passum and spices.  Boil the broth for about 20 minutes, then add mussels.  Boil additional 10 minutes. Serve.

SARDA ITA FIT (Tuna)

Ingredients:

500g cooked tuna fillet

1/2 tsp ground pepper

1/2 tsp Liebstoeckl

1/2 tsp thyme

1/2 tsp oregano

1/2 tsp rue

150g dates (without stones)

1 tblsp honey

4 hard-boiled eggs (in quarters)

50ml white wine

2 tblsp wine vinegar

50ml Defritum

2-3 tblsp green olive oil

Instructions:

Cook tuna fillet. Mesh fillet together with dates, honey, wine, vinegar, Defritum and oil. Put mass into a bowl and garnish with egg quarters. Serve.

SCILLAS (Big Shrimps)

Ingredients:

500g cooked and prepared big shrimps

1 tsp green pepper

1 tblsp Liebstoeckl (kind of celery)

1/2 tsp ground celery seeds

2-3-tblsp vinegar

100ml Liquamen (or 1/2 tsp salt)

4-5 hacked hard-boiled egg yolks

Instructions:

Cook shrimps. Then ground pepper, celery seeds and Liebstoeckl. Pour vinegar, Liquamen and egg yolks over it and mix thoroughly. Pour the mixture over the shrimps and serve.

COMMON FRUITS

Almonds, Apples, Figs, Grapes, Pears, Quinces, Walnuts, Chestnuts

• Apricots, Cherries, Cates, Lemons, and Oranges weren't grown in Italy in ancient times

COMMON VEGETABLES

Artichokes, Asparagus, Beans, Beets, Broccoli, Cabbages, Cucumbers, Garlic, Leeks, Lentils, Lettuce Melons, Marrows, Mushrooms, Olives, Onions, Parsnips, Peas, Pumpkins, Radishes, Turnips

• Beans, olives, and peas were grown in Italy
• Broccoli, leeks, artichokes and asparagus were imported
• Beans and peas were an important part of lower class diets and were sold either dried or--in tabernae or by street vendors--hot
• Cabbage was believed to prevent drunkenness, cure paralysis, and protect people from the plague
• Garlic was believed to give soldiers courage
• Legumes (beans, peas, chickpeas, lentils, etc.) were also used as cattle feed
• Lettuce was considered a laxative by the Romans
• Mallow leaves were considered good for the digestion
• Olives were eaten plain as well as with other food
• Olive oil were used both as fuel for lamps and for use in the public baths

COMMON DRINKS

• Beer was regarded as a barbarian drink (the Celts drank it)
• Wines were described as black, red, white, or yellow.
• The best wine producing region in Italy was near the border between Latium and Campania. Vintages produced were: Caecuban, Setian, Falernian, and Massic
• Sheep or goats' milk were considered uncivilized drinks; they were used mainly for making cheese and for medicinal purposes

In every great house, the wine cellar contained glass jars carefully sealed with gypsum, with labels showing when they were laid away.

Not known by the ancient Romans  

Bananas, Chili pepper, Chocolate, Coffee, Corn, Peanuts, Potatoes, Rice, Sugar, Tea, Tomatoes