[Sca-cooks] Plums was: Lammas 1005 menu

[lilinah at earthlink.net]

Lyse wrote:
>Are red plums or reg. plums used in this sauce?
>I did not know that the reg. plums had made it so far west of the orient by
>this time.
>Would love source.
>
>-----Original Message-----
>
>>Anahita, I was reading old email and found your recipe for the Apicus
>>plum sauce, thank you for sharing it.  I'm leaving out the fish
>>sauce, but otherwise it fits what I know about Hiberno-Viking
>>cooking. I've read that they loved plums.
>>
>>Ranvaig

Well, the Romans imported dried plums (aka prunes, but that's so old 
fashioned) from Syria - which was a Roman province at the time...

I used a mix of fresh and dried, and it needed more honey than i'd used.

It's on my website... gee, this is getting to be a refrain :-)
<http://home.earthlink.net/~lilinah/2003-Mists_Bardic/2003-Greco-Roman3-4.html#chicken>

But i'll post it here:

Pollos cum Iure : CHICKEN WITH PLUM/PRUNE SAUCE

Original:
Sauce for Various Birds. Pepper, grilled cumin, lovage, mint, stoned 
raisins or damsons, a little honey; blend with myrtle wine, vinegar, 
fish sauce, and oil. Heat up and stir with celery and savory.
[--- Apicius, Book VI, Chapter V, Recipe 1]


My Version:

Plum/Prune Sauce
60 pitted Prunes
warm Water to cover
40 fresh Plums
1 gallon Red Wine
1-1/4 cups Red Wine Vinegar
1-1/4 cups Tiparos (brand) Thai Fish Sauce
1-1/4 cups Olive Oil
1/4 cup & 3 Tb. Honey
2 Tb. fresh Mint
2 Tb. Lovage Herb or Chinese Celery Leaves
1 Tb. ground roasted Cumin Seeds
1-1/2 tsp. ground Black Pepper
5-10 leafy stalks Celery
1 container fresh Savory Herb

Soak prunes in lukewarm water.
Plunge fresh plums in boiling water.
-- Drain and remove and discard skins.
-- Cut in half and discard pits.
Drain and chop prunes, saving liquid.
Tie celery and savory into bouquets.
Put all ingredients in saucepan, bring to boil and simmer 20 min., 
stirring with bouquet, and mashing prunes and plums occasionally. 
Taste and adjust seasonings.
When done, leave bouquet in sauce until ready to serve.

NOTE:
Plums didn't grow in Italy at the time. Rather, dried plums were 
imported from Syria, where they grew. I assumed a sauce entirely of 
prunes would be too sweet, so I mixed fresh and dried in hope that 
the sauce would be less cloying... see note below.

In fact the sauce was not sweet enough and needed more honey. Shoulda 
just done all prunes. And, hey, I really like prunes.

Chicken
36 lb. Chicken Thighs and Legs

Put pieces in a single layer in enough roasting pans.
Sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper.
Roast at 375 degrees Fahrenheit, turning so they brown evenly until 
cooked through, between 30 and 45 minutes.

To serve, plate cooked chicken and pour sauce over.

Also, note, that i didn't have access to fresh myrtle to flavor my 
wine, so i just used a nice red. Anyone know where to get myrtle 
berries?
-- 
Urtatim (that's err-tah-TEEM)
the persona formerly known as Anahita