[Sca-cooks] ancient Roman cookery

[lilinah at earthlink.net]

Aurelia Coritana wrote:
>  I decided it really was about time for me to officially speak up on this
>  list! I am Aurelia Coritana in Ansteorra, a 1st c. Roman-Brit.
>
>  My culinary interests are ancient Roman recipes (with fresh ingredients, of
>  course, har har.) Does anyone else out there experiment with ancient
>  cookery? If you've ever made anything with garum, I'd love to hear from
>  you.

Giano answered:
>Me, I did. Regularly do. Not that being 'pre-period' is regarded highly in
>central Drachenwald, but my secondary persona, Titus Flavius T.f. Artemidorus
>is something of a gourmet.
>
>I find that garum is a matter of quality and quantity. If you are using
>Philippine 'bagoong balayam' as your substitute (barely filtered stuff,
>grey-brown and opaque, quite nasty) it goes only with savoury fish or meat
>dishes, and even then it usually 'tastes through' more delicate flavours.

Yeah, bagoong is way too strong, in my opinion, for Roman food - at 
least that of the upper classes...

I prefer Thai fish sauce, much more delicate. The common brand around 
here (California) is Tiparos - the Thai company that makes it, also 
makes at least 1/2 dozen fish sauces.

>I only use it in dishes with plenty of onions and/or garlic. A good (filtered,
>liquid, brownish-red) Nuoc Mam or Nam Pla, on the other hand, harmonises
>with almost any dish. I used a dash of it instead of the obligatory pinch of
>salt with a honeyed pear patina, and eveybody praised it highly (unawares.
>Nobody ever eats anything they know contains garum...)
>
>Have you ever managed to get a Roman feast served? They're dead against it in
>my Shire.

Whoa! Really?

I made a somewhat expansive Greco-Roman feast a few years ago - no 
problem. A couple people (ok, three) were squeamish about fish sauce, 
but most people (close to 100) had no such problem.

Here's my menu for around 26 dishes:

**** Ab Ovo Ad Malum ****


* Promulsis - Hors d'Oeuvres *
- Panis : Fresh Bread (made by a Laurel for bread)
- Caseum : Fresh Aged Cheese
- Epityrum : Chopped Seasoned Olive Relish [Cato the Censor, de 
Agricultura, 119]
- Ius cum Ovis Hapalis : Boiled Eggs in Pine Nut Sauce [Apicius, Book 
VII, Chapter XIX, Recipe 3]
(the autocrat has asked me to cook this for his wedding dinner, which 
is not a period meal)


* Gustatio - Appetizers *
- Panis : Fresh Bread
- Moretum : Garlic, Herb, and Cheese Spread [The Ploughman's Lunch, 
anonymous Latin poet]
- Aliter Carduos : Herb Marinated Artichokes [Apicius, Book III, 
Chapter XIX, Recipe 2]
- Ius in Cordulla Assa : Grilled Tuna with Date Sauce [Apicius, Book 
IX, Chapter X, Recipe 5]
(i used fresh tuna i got from a Japanese fish market - a little less 
than 1 ounce per person, cuz it's expensive)


* Intermezzo Primo *
- Granita di Limone : Lemon Ice
(Not really period, but it was *hot* that day and the hall was hot 
and stuffy, so i wanted something refreshing)


Primera Mensa, Cena Prima
First Course, First Table
- Ius cum Pullo : Chicken with Plum Sauce [Apicius, Book VI, Chapter 
V, Recipe 1]
- Acetaria : Mixed Greens Salad
- Hypotrimma : Cheese Sauce [Apicius, Book I, Chapter XIX]
- Boletos : Another Mushroom Dish [Apicius, Book VII, Chapter XIII, Recipe 6]
- Erebinthoi Knakosymmigeis : Saffron Chickpeas [Piloxenus, The 
Dinner, quoted in Anthenaeus (circa AD170-239), The Partying 
Professors]


* Intermezzo Secundo *
- Granita di Melograno : Pomegranate Ice
(Not really period, but it was *hot* that day and the hall was hot 
and stuffy, so i wanted something refreshing)


* Primera Mensa, Cena Secunda *
* First Course, Second Table *
- Pernam : Ham with Figs in Pastry [Apicius, Book VII, Chapter IX, Recipe 1]
(i ended up not wrapping the ham with figs in dough. I suspect that 
part of the reason for cooking it that way in Roman times was to make 
sure it was juicy and sweet, but our ham was already cooked and 
tender...)
- Lucanicae : Smokey Sausages of Lamb [Apicius, Book II, Chapter IV]
(should be pork, but the Prince keeps kosher so i wanted something he 
could eat. I couldn't find non-pork casings, so i formed the ground 
lamb into sausage shapes and baked them. We had a small earthquake 
while i was making these and there i was, trying to decide if i 
should flee downstairs to the street with raw lamb up past my wrists)
- Sinapim : Mustard Sauce with Nuts [Columella 12, 57]
- Cuminatum in Patina de Persicis : Peaches in Cumin Sauce [Patina: 
Apicius, Book IV, Chapter II, Recipe 34]
(this was amazingly popular - really really really sweet delicious 
ripe peaches tossed with fish sauce and cumin seed - i toasted the 
cumin before i ground it - fabulous - but in large measure because 
the peaches were absolutely superb)
- Cabbage in the Style of Athens [Mnesitheus (4th c. BCE), quoted by 
Oribasius, in Medical Collections, Book IV, Chapter 4, part 1 (4th c. 
CE); another version in Cato (c. 234-149 BCE) and quoted by Pliny the 
Elder (24-79 CE)]
- Pulentium : Barley Polenta [Pliny, Naturalis Historia, 18, 73]
(i couldn't find barley grits in any stores that used to carry them - 
i have since found i must order them directly from the producer. We 
gamely tried to grind the whole hulled barley i'd bought - didn't 
work too well, but the dish came out ok)


* Seconda Mensa, Cena Prima *
* Second Course, First Table *
- Conditum Paradoxi Compositio : Spiced White Grape Juice Surprise 
[Apicius, Book I, Chapter I, Recipe 1]
(since we can't serve wine)
- Patina Versatilis : Pine Nut Patina - [Apicius, Book IV, Chapter 
II, Recipe 2]
(the cook who made it does it like a delicate custard (Hi, 
Cordelia!). I'm certain this was not the Roman way, but her Patina is 
so incredibly delicious, which is why i asked her to do it. It was 
sucked up by the crowd - one person had, oh, i'm forgetting, like 5 
helpings - or was it 8?)- Mustei : Sweet Must Cakes [Cato the Censor, 
de Agricultura, 121]
(i found that the expensive must i bought tasted a lot like "raisin 
juice" which is cheap - next time i substitute it for must and put 
more into the recipe)


* Seconda Mensa, Cena Seconda *
* Second Course, Second Table *
- Savillum : Roman cheese cake [Cato the Censor, de Agricultura, 84]
- Almond Paste Peach Pits in Sugar Plate Chariots
(not period, but i wanted some sort of sotiltie)
- Fresh Fruit Salad
(Period fruits, but cut up and tossed together, since whole fruits 
would be too much after all this food)

My recipes and comments are at
http://home.earthlink.net/~lilinah/2003-Mists_Bardic/2003-Greco-Roman0.html

-- 
Urtatim (that's err-tah-TEEM)
the persona formerly known as Anahita