Archaeology Magazine - November/December 1990 - 123

Leeks: cooktheleeksin waterandserve. . .
Leeks should be served with oil,
liquamen, and undiluted wine.
Saucefor boiledSpanishmackerel:pep, cumin, green rue, onion,
per; lovage
; liquamen, a little oil.
honey,vinegar
Wfercit boils, thickenwith wheatstarch.
After boiling the mackerel, try
the following proportions for the
sauce: ¡4 tsp white peppercorns,
% tsp lovage seed or 1 tsp of
chopped green lovage, 1XAtsp cumin, 5 small sprigs of rue (about
Vi tsp), 1 tsp chopped onion, 3 tbs
honey, 3 tbs vinegar, a little oil.
Saucefir salt catfishand salt tuna: pepper. lovage cumin, onion, mint, rue,
hazelnuts
; mustard,
, vinegar
, dates,honey
oil.
For salting fish, I recommend
the Turkish recipe in A. Davidson's
MediterraneanSeafiod: debone fish,
cut it into thick slices, soak in sea
water or brine for several hours,
then salt it lightly, put it in a barrel with weights to press it flat for
a week, then rinse off salt and serve
with the recommended sauce. Try
the following proportions for the
sauce: lA tsp black peppercorns,
pinch lovage seed or J4 tsp
chopped green lovage, XAtsp cumin, 2 tsp chopped onion, 1 tsp
dried mint or 2 tsp fresh mint, 2
small sprigs rue, 1 date, 'XA tbs
hazelnuts, 1Vitbs runny honey, 1XA
tbs vinegar, lA tsp black mustard
seed, 1Vi tbs oil. If you don't fancy
salting your own tuna, you can try
this sauce with canned tuna although the taste and texture are
rather different.
ENTREES:
Kid or lamb[spiced]raw: Rub with oil
andpepper,and sprinkletheoutsidewith
puresalt witha lotofcorianderseed.Put
it in theoven
* andserveit whenit is roasted.
Porkchops:fry themwell until theyare
nearlydone.A cyathusof bestliquamen,
a cyathusof water,a cyathusof vinegar,
a cyathusof oil. When they have been

mixedtogetherand put in a shallowearthernwaredish,fry and serve.
A cyathus is equivalent to 4 54
tbs. When the pork chops are
nearly done move them to a clean
saute pan, add the sauce, and fry
until done.
ViteUian
peasor broadbeans:cookthepeas
[beans], removethe lumps. Poundpepginger; andontopoftheflavorper, lovage,
hard, threeounces
ingsput eggyolkscooked
of honey,wine and vinegar.Put all this
intoa cookingpot and theseasonings
you
havepounded.Add oil and put to boil.
Seasonthepeas, removethelumps.If the
tasteis astringent,put in honey,and serve.
This recipe is for dried split peas
with the skins removed. They
should be soaked for 24 hours before being cooked in a little water
over a low heat for several hours,
adding water if necessary. When
the peas are done fold in the following: 1 tsp black peppercorns, XAtsp
lovage seed or 4 tsp chopped green
lovage, VA tbs ground ginger, XA
cup wine, 1XAtbs liquamen, 3 tbs
oil and enough vinegar to acidulate
the mixture to your taste. Add
yolks of hard-boiled eggs to taste.
Cabbageshoots: cumin,salt, whitewine,
and oil.
Try boiling or steaming broccoli
shoots and then coat with the
dressing. The Romans ate a variety of vegetable shoots, such as
asparagus, for which Apicius gives
two elaborate recipes. Another
popular vegetable shoot was that
produced by a variety of cabbage:
broccoli is the nearest modern
equivalent.
ChickenVardanus:Cookthechickenwith
this sauce: liquamen, oil, wine [with
whichyou put] a bouquetof leeks,coriander; savory.Whenit is cooked,pound
pepper,2 cyathiofpine kernelsand pour
on thecookingliquor[and takeoutthebouquet]. Mix in a suitableportionof milk.
Emptythecontentsof themortariumover
the chicken,so that it comesto a boil.
Thickenwithpoundedeggwhite,put in
the serving dish and pour the sauce

describedover it. This is calledwhite
sauce.
A free-range chicken is the
closest to a oman chicken. For the
cooking liquid try the following:
3 tbs liquamen, 1lA tbs oil, 1 cup
wine. After the chicken is done
pour off and reserve cooking liquid. For the white sauce put into a
sauce pan the following: XAtsp
white peppercorns, % cup pine
kernels, the whites of two hardboiled eggs, XAcup cooking liquid,
54 cup milk if you want a stiff
sauce, or Vi cup for a more liquid
one. Cook stirring constantly.
Place chicken on a serving dish and
pour white sauce over it. The instructions for the version of white
sauce given in another recipe are
to pound the cooked egg whites in
a mortar at the same time as the
pepper and pine kernels.
Ham: After boilinga ham with a large
numberoffigs and threebayleaves,remove
theskin, cut a pattern of squaresandfill
with honey.Then coverinflour kneaded
with oil giving it a crust, and whenthe
flour is cookedtakeit out of theovenas it
is and serve.
Try the following proportions
for the crust: 3Acup oil, 1 lb flour.
Bake ham until crust is brown.
DESSERT:
In addition to the wine and apples mentioned by Martial the
following is recommended:
four
Egg spongewith milk:Mix together
eggs, halfpint ofmilkand an ounceofoil
so that theyare completely
homogenized.
Put a littleoil into a thin shallowdish,
makeit boilinghotandput in themixture
whichyou have prepared. When it is
cookedon oneside,turn it outon toa servingdish,pour honeyover,sprinklewith
pepper and serve.
Roman eggs would have been
smaller than modern standard
eggs (I use the small bantam eggs),
and the Roman pint (2 ]Acups) was
larger than the American pint; the
ounce, however, is the same.

November/December
1990 61
Archaeology Magazine - November/December 1990

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