Cookery and Dining in Imperial Rome Part 29

[1] Tor. sentence wanting in other texts.

Sch. ? No. 168.

[162] A DISH OF SEA-NETTLES _PATINA DE URTICA_ [1]

A DISH OF SEA-NETTLES, EITHER HOT OR COLD, IS MADE THUS: [2] TAKE SEA-NETTLES, WASH AND DRAIN THEM ON THE COLANDER, DRY ON THE TABLE AND CHOP FINE. CRUSH 10 SCRUPLES OF PEPPER, MOISTEN WITH BROTH, ADD 2 SMALL GLa.s.sES OF BROTH AND 6 OUNCES OF OIL. HEAT THIS IN A SAUCE PAN AND WHEN COOKED TAKE IT OUT AND ALLOW TO COOL OFF. NEXT OIL A CLEAN PAN, BREAK 8 EGGS AND BEAT THEM; COMBINE THESE WITH THE ABOVE PREPARATIONS, PLACE THE PAN ON HOT ASHES TO GIVE IT HEAT FROM BELOW, WHEN DONE [congealed] SPRINKLE WITH PEPPER AND SERVE.

[1] G.-V. _p. urticarum calida et frigida_.

[2] Tor. sentence wanting in other texts.

[163] A DISH OF QUINCES _PATINA DE CYDONIIS_ [1]

A DISH OF QUINCES IS MADE AS FOLLOWS: [2] QUINCES ARE COOKED WITH LEEKS, HONEY AND BROTH, USING HOT OIL, OR THEY ARE STEWED IN HONEY [3].

[1] G.-V. _p. de Cydoneis_.

[2] Tor. sentence wanting in other texts.

[3] This latter method would appeal to our modern notion of preparing fruits of this sort; we use sugar syrup to cook them in and flavor with various spices, adding perhaps a little wine or brandy.

III

OF FINELY CHOPPED, MINCED MEATS _DE MINUT ALIBUS_ [1]

[164] A MINCE OF SEA FOOD _MINUTAL MARINUM_

PLACE THE FISH IN SAUCE PAN, ADD BROTH OIL AND WINE [and poach it].

ALSO FINELY CHOP LEEK HEADS [the white part only of leeks] AND [fresh]

CORIANDER. [When cool, mince the fish fine] FORM IT INTO SMALL CAKES [2] ADDING CAPERS [3] AND SEA-NETTLES WELL CLEANED. THESE FISH CAKES COOK IN A LIQUOR OF PEPPER, LOVAGE AND ORIGANY, CRUSHED, DILUTED WITH BROTH AND THE ABOVE FISH LIQUOR WHICH SKIM WELL, BIND [with roux or eggs] STIR [strain] OVER THE CAKES, SPRINKLE WITH PEPPER AND SERVE.

[1] G.-V. _minutal de piscibus vel Isiciis_.

[2] Tac. G.-V. _isiciola ... minuta_--resembling our modern _quenelles de poisson_--tiny fish dumplings.

[3] Tac. _c.u.m caparis_; Tor. _c. capparibus_; Vat. Ms.

_concarpis_; List. G.-V. _concerpis_.

[165] TARENTINE MINUTAL _MINUTAL TARENTINUM_ [1]

FINELY CHOP THE WHITE PART OF LEEKS AND PLACE IN A SAUCE PAN; ADD OIL [fry lightly] AND BROTH; NEXT ADD SMALL SAUSAGE TO BE COOKED LIKEWISE.

TO HAVE A GOOD TARENTINE DISH, THEY MUST BE TENDER. THE MAKING OF THESE SAUSAGE WILL BE FOUND AMONG THE ISICIA [Nos. 60-66] [2]. ALSO MAKE A SAUCE IN THE FOLLOWING MANNER: CRUSH PEPPER, LOVAGE AND ORIGANY, MOISTEN WITH BROTH, ADD OF THE ABOVE [sausage] GRAVY, WINE, RAISIN WINE; PUT IN A SAUCE PAN TO BE HEATED, WHEN BOILING, SKIM CAREFULLY, BIND, SPRINKLE WITH PEPPER AND SERVE.

[1] G.-V. _Terentinum_, for which there is no reason.

Tarentum, town of lower Italy, now Taranto, celebrated for its wine and luxurious living.

[2] Such references to other parts of the book are very infrequent.

[166] APICIAN MINUTAL _MINUTAL APICIANUM_

THE APICIAN MINUTAL IS MADE AS FOLLOWS: [1] OIL, BROTH WINE, LEEK HEADS, MINT, SMALL FISH, SMALL TIDBITS [2] c.o.c.k'S FRIES OR CAPON'S KIDNEYS [3] AND PORK SWEETBREADS; ALL OF THESE ARE COOKED TOGETHER [4]

NOW CRUSH PEPPER, LOVAGE, GREEN CORIANDER, OR SEEDS, MOISTENED WITH BROTH; ADD A LITTLE HONEY, AND OF THE OWN LIQUOR [5] OF THE ABOVE MORSELS, WINE AND HONEY TO TASTE; BRING THIS TO A BOILING POINT SKIM, BIND, STIR WELL [strain, pour over the morsels] SPRINKLE WITH PEPPER AND SERVE [6].

[1] Tor. sentence wanting in other texts.

[2] _isitia_--_quenelles_, dumplings of some kind, mostly fine forcemeats.

[3] _testiculi caponum_; the capon has no _testiculi_, these organs having been removed by an operation when the c.o.c.k is young. This operation is said to have been first performed by a Roman surgeon with the intention of beating the _Lex Fannia_, or Fannian law, sponsored by a fanatic named Fannius. It prohibited among other restrictions the serving of any fowl at any time or repast except a hen, and this hen was not to be fattened. Note the cunning of the law: The useful hen and her unlaid eggs could be sacrificed while the unproductive rooster was allowed to thrive to no purpose, immune from the butcher's block. This set the shrewd surgeon to thinking; he transformed a rooster into a capon by his surgical trick. The emasculated bird grew fat without his owner committing any infraction of the Roman law against fattening chickens. Of course the capon, being neither hen nor rooster, was perfectly safe to eat, for he was within the law. Thus he became a huge success as an ancient "bootleg" chicken.

[4] These integral parts must be prepared and poached separately and merely heated together before the final service.

[5] Again the Plautian colloquialism _ius de suo sibi_.

[6] This dish is worthy of Apicius. It is akin to our _Ragot Financiere_, and could pa.s.s for _Vol-au-vent a la Financiere_ if it were served in a large fluffy crust of puff paste.

[167] MINUTAL a LA MATIUS [1]

_MINUTAL MATIANUM_

PUT IN A SAUCE PAN OIL, BROTH FINELY CHOPPED LEEKS, CORIANDER, SMALL TID-BITS, COOKED PORK SHOULDER, CUT INTO LONG STRIPS INCLUDING THE SKIN, HAVE EVERYTHING EQUALLY HALF DONE. ADD MATIAN APPLES [2]

CLEANED, THE CORE REMOVED, SLICED LENGTHWISE AND COOK THEM TOGETHER: MEANWHILE CRUSH PEPPER, c.u.mIN, GREEN CORIANDER, OR SEEDS, MINT, LASER ROOT, MOISTENED WITH VINEGAR, HONEY AND BROTH AND A LITTLE REDUCED MUST, ADD TO THIS THE BROTH OF THE ABOVE MORSELS, VINEGAR TO TASTE, BOIL, SKIM, BIND [strain over the morsels] SPRINKLE WITH PEPPER AND SERVE.

[1] Named for Matius, ancient author, or because of the Matian apples used in this dish, also named for the same man. Plinius, Nat. Hist. lib. XV, Cap. 14-15, Columella, De re Rustica, lib. XII, Cap. XLIIII.

This is not the first instance where fruits or vegetables were named for famous men. Beets, a certain kind of them were named for Varro, writer on agriculture. Matius, according to Varro, wrote a book on waiters, cooks, cellar men and food service in general, of which there is no trace today. It was already lost during Varro's days.

[2] Cf. note 1, above. This ill.u.s.trates the age-old connection of pork and apples.

[168] SWEET MINUTAL _MINUTAL DULCE_ [1]

IN A SAUCE PAN PUT TOGETHER OIL, BROTH, COCTURA [2] FINELY CUT LEEK HEADS AND GREEN CORIANDER, COOKED PORK SHOULDER, SMALL TID-BITS. WHILE THIS IS BEING COOKED, CRUSH PEPPER, c.u.mIN, CORIANDER OR [its] SEEDS, GREEN RUE, LASER ROOT, MOISTENED WITH VINEGAR, REDUCED MUST AND THE GRAVY OF THE ABOVE MORSELS; ADD VINEGAR TO TASTE: WHEN THIS [sauce] IS COOKED, HOLLOW OUT CITRON SQUASH [3] CUT IN DICE, BOIL AND PLACE THEM TOGETHER WITH THE REST IN THE DISH, SKIM, BIND [strain] THE SAUCE [pour it over the morsels] SPRINKLE WITH PEPPER AND SERVE.

[1] G.-V. _m. ex citriis_.

[2] At this late point Apicius commences to use the term _coctura_ which does not designate any particular ingredient but rather stands for a certain process of cookery, depending upon the ingredients used in the dish. We would here interpret it as the frying of the leeks in oil, etc. In another instance _coctura_ may mean our modern _reduction_.

[3] The fruit to be used here has not been satisfactorily identified. The texts have _citrium_ and _citrum_--a sweet squash or cuc.u.mber--perhaps even a melon, but not the citron, the _mala citrea_ as read by List. This specimen is hard to identify because of the many varieties in the cuc.u.mber, squash and the citrus families. _Citrus_, as a matter of fact, is but a corruption of _cedrus_, the cedar tree.

We are not sure whether this fruit is to be stuffed with the ragout and then baked, as is often the custom to do with such sh.e.l.ls; the texts prescribes distinctly to hollow out the fruit.