[Sca-cooks] Apicius' polenta recipe

[Terry Decker]

You already have it in the Florilegium.  I posted it almost 8 years ago 
during a discussion we were having.  Just to refresh the list, here are the 
recipes:

Fried Creamed Wheat



(Apicius 301, as taken from Giacosa, A Taste of Ancient Rome)



Aliter dulcia:  Accipies similam, coques in aqua calida ita ut durissimam

pultem facias, deinde in patellam expandis.  Cum refrixerit, concidis quasi

dulcia et frigis in oleo optimo.  Levas, perfundis mel, piper aspergis et

inferes.  Melius feceris, si lac pro aqua miseris.



Another sweet dish:  Take flour, cook in hot water so that it becomes a very

firm polenta, then spread it on a plate.  When it has cooled, cut it as for

sweet cakes and fry in oil of the finest quality.  Remove, pour honey over,

sprinkle with pepper and serve.  You will do even better if you use milk

instead of flour.



Barley Polenta



(Pliny, Naturalis Historia, 18, 73, as taken from Giacosa, A Taste of

Ancient Rome)



Vicenis hordei libris ternas seminis lini et coriandri selibram salisque

acetabulum.



For each 20 librae of barley, 3 librae of linseeds and 1/2 libra of

coriander, in addition to an acetabulum of salt.



Serves 4.



12 oz. ground barley

3 Tbs. linseeds

2 tsp. coriander

sufficient salt



Boil 1 quart of water, gradually add the ingredients, and leave to cook for

approximately 1 hour.  Add more boiling water if the barley consumes too

much.  A more flavorful polenta can be obtained by cooking the barley in

meat stock or vegetable broth instead of water.



Baric's Polenta



Take 1 cup of millet and crush it (I ran mine through a spice grinder).

Put 3 cups of water and 1 teaspoon of salt in a pan. Bring to a boil.

Dissolve 1/4 cup honey in the boiling water.

Add the millet and cook until the mixture is stiff and the water is

absorbed.

Scrape the mixture into a bowl and allow to cool and set up (refrigeration

works best, but the loaf can be cooled on the counter).

When the loaf is cool, put a plate over the bowl and invert plate and bowl.

The loaf should drop onto the plate.

Slice the loaf with a fine cord and serve it forth.



Millet is slightly sour to my taste, so I chose to the honey to smooth the

flavor.

Millet is very granular and tends to be crumbly.  I am thinking of adding

some wheat flour for the cohesiveness of the gluten.



Bear


> Are there multiple recipes in Apicius for polenta? If there is only  one I 
> may already have it. But if there are multiple recipes could  you give the 
> recipe? I'm losing track of which are your modifications  and what Apicius 
> originally calls for. Also, more detailed  instructions might help someone 
> else in the future follow this recipe.
>
> Stefan