Pass the Garum goes on holiday!

In just a few days time I'll be hopping on the next trireme to SE Asia to start a summer full of adventures.  I've thought and pondered about how I might keep Pass the Garum up-to-date, but in the end have decided that the website will take a break for the next 7 or 8 weeks.  That means there will be no new recipes until mid-August at the earliest.  Not to worry though, you have a whole 30 Roman recipes to keep you going until then!

If you can, like us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter, or subscribe via email or RSS to be the first to find out when we get cooking once more.

Lentil and Root Veg Mash with Spelt Lagana (Part 2 of 2)

Roman food, as the picture suggests, was a bit hands on - our favourite soldiers and senators didn't use cutlery very much, preferring instead to tuck in with their fingers and toes (ok, not toes) instead.  That makes eating Lentil and Root Veg Mash a bit tricky, which is why we shall serve it with some lagana - a type of Roman flatbread.

Flatbread is great stuff - all you need is flour, water, and a hot surface.  With no need for yeast or fancy ovens, this is the kind of bread which anybody, rich or poor, could eat.  I'm making mine with Spelt flour, a type of flour used in Roman Britain.  I know Spelt can be quite tricky to find though, so feel free to use whatever flour you can find.

Laganum

(Makes 4)

Ingredients

• 100g Spelt Flour (+ extra for dusting)
• Water

Methods

• Prepare a work surface by sprinkling over some flour.
• Sieve 100g of flour into a bowl, and add just enough water to form a dough.  Knead this by hand, adding more flour as necessary, until it is neither too wet nor dry.
• Divide the ball of dough into four equal pieces.  Roll these one at a time until they are flat, disc-shaped, and uniformly thin.
• Add a drop of oil to a frying pan, and when it is hot enough, set a laganum in.  As it cooks, it will start to puff-up in places as pockets of air are formed.  When dark spots start to form on the underside, flip it over.  Each side should take about a minute to cook.  If needs be, press down on the top side to speed things up.

Results

Despite being just flour and water, these lagana are great eaten straight out of the pan; the nutty flavour of spelt works wonderfully in this instance (in fact, it left my kitchen smelling vaguely of popcorn!)  When eating with the mash, just rip a bit of bread off and use it to pick up some of the lentil & root veg goodness - it tastes good, and keeps your fingers nice and clean!

Lentil and Root Veg Mash with Spelt Lagana (Part 1 of 2)

The sun has now been shining for the fifth day in row (a rarity here in Northern Ireland!), and feeling inspired by all the bright colours, I thought we'd give this lentil and root vegetable mash a try.  As you can see, it looks lovely and bright and cheery, but does it taste that way too?

In this first post we'll make the mash itself, and in the next we'll cook up some simple spelt-flour flatbread to eat it with.  The original recipe only calls for parsnip (and we know how good they taste!), but I see this as a perfect opportunity to cook some carrots too.  (Fun fact: Carrots were purple in antiquity!)  To make this recipe more accessible, we'll be leaving out 'fleabane', a daisy-like plant which is no longer used in cooking.

Lentil and Root Veg Mash

(Serves 2)

"Boil the lentils in a clean pan with some salt.  In the mortar, crush some pepper, cumin, coriander seed, rue, and fleabane.  Add vinegar, honey, liquamen, & defrutum.  Mix this with the lentils.  Cook and mash parsnips, and add to the lentils.  When it is cooked, add some extra virgin olive oil and serve appropriately." - Apicius, 5.2.1

Ingredients

• 1 Parsnip
• 1 Carrot
• 100g Split Red Lentils
• 1 tsp Coriander Seeds
• 1 tsp Rue
• 1/2 tsp Cumin Seeds
• 1/2 tsp Black Pepper
• 1 tsp Liquamen
• 1 tbsp White Wine Vinegar
• 1.5 tbsp Honey
• 3 tbsp Caroenum
• 1 tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Methods

• Add the lentils to a saucepan and pour in enough water to cover them.  Throw in a pinch of salt, and bring to the boil.  This will take approximately 20-30 minutes, and will require you to add more water every once in a while.
• Peel and chop up the carrot and parsnip, set them into a saucepan full of water, and bring to the boil.
• Whilst everything is boiling away, toast the various herbs and spices in a dry frying pan for around a minute, being careful not to burn them.  Grind them all up together in a mortar and pestle.
• Once the lentils have turned to mush and the liquid has largely boiled away, add the spice mix and pour in the various liquids (except the oil).  Stir it all together and let it simmer while you sort out the root vegetables.
• When the parsnips and carrots are cooked, drain the water from the pan and mash them up.

• Mix the lentils and root vegetables together with the tbsp of olive oil.  Heat in the pan for a little while longer until the liquids have mostly evaporated.  Serve and enjoy!

Results

This mash makes for a remarkably filling meal - I had intended this recipe to serve just one, but it quickly became apparent that I would need help to finish it!  Besides being filling, the dish was delicious.  The lentils added a subtle, salty flavour to the meal, providing a wonderful backdrop to the sweetness of the parsnips and carrots.  The sweetness of the root vegetables was further emphasised by the caroenum and honey, and the saltiness of the lentils by our friend the fish sauce.  The dish was afforded some warmth by the cumin and coriander seeds, but rather amazingly, the stand out flavour and aroma came from the rue, despite so little being used.  Final verdict?  Filling and flavoursome - always a good combination.

Parsnip Mash and Salt Pork

There is little which compares to the smell and taste of honey-roast parsnips lifted straight out of the oven; here is a food which gets me giddy with excitement!  Not necessarily so for those ancient Romans and Greeks.  Pliny's advice is to boil the life out of them so that you might rid them of their pungent flavour.  Aretaeus, the ancient Greek physician, describes them as "bad, even when boiled... (The parsnip is) flatulent and swells in the stomach."  On the plus side however, Pliny reckons that if you simply carry one with you, you'll never be stung by serpents, and it does offer at least some excitement; it is a well known fact, apparently, that it is a powerful aphrodisiac!

We're lucky that somebody decided parsnip was worth a go - the Apicius volume contains quite a lot of parsnip recipes.  Let's see how they taste.

Parsnip Mash with Salt Pork

(Serves 1 - multiply quantities accordingly for more)

"Mash the parsnips, then add cumin, rue, liquamen, passum, oil, coriander leaves, and leeks.  Serve.  Goes well with salt pork." - Apicius, 3.20.4

Ingredients

• 2 Slices Of Bacon or Salt Pork
• 1 Parsnip
• 1 Inch Of Leek
• 1 tsp Coriander
• 1/4 tsp Cumin Seeds
• 1/2 tsp Rue
• 1 tbsp Liquamen
• 1 tbsp Olive Oil
• 1/2 tbsp Passum

Methods

• Chop the parsnip up into chunks - this makes for easier boiling and mashing.  Add them to a pan of boiling water for 15-20 minutes, or until done.
• Meanwhile, toast the cumin seeds and grind with the rue, coriander, and leek.  Mix this with the liquamen, passum, and olive oil.
• If using bacon, grill or fry it.  If you are using salt pork, boil it in water for a few minutes before frying it, or else it will be unbearably salty.
• When the parsnip is boiled, drain away the water and mash it up.  Add all of the herbs, spices, and liquids.  Mix this together so that it is well blended.  Serve with the pork and enjoy.

Results

Bacon and parsnip make for good bed-fellows - the sweetness of the parsnip compliments (and counteracts) the saltiness of the meat, making this an ideal pairing, even without the addition of the various herbs and spices.  In fact, when I first tried this dish I was convinced I couldn't even taste the added ingredients - it tasted just like parsnip!  I tried cooking it again, this time adding more of each herb and spice, but the result was the same - all I could taste was parsnip.  It was only when I ate mashed parsnip, without any additions, did I realise the effect these extra ingredients were having; they don't change the flavour of the vegetable, but rather they enhance it, emphasising its sweetness.  This is a simple meal, but an enjoyable one which I heartily recommend.

I also wish to point out (and I cannot do this enough) that this parsnip mash is, without a doubt, the perfect accompaniment to the remarkably popular dill chicken recipe.

Honey and Poppyseed "Dormice"

Several weeks ago Caroline Lawrence very kindly sent me a copy of The Secrets of Vesuvius, book 2 of 17 in her 'Roman Mysteries' series.  The Roman Mysteries are works of historical fiction aimed at kids, introducing them to the people and places of the ancient world - they're the kind of books I wish I had growing up!  In my eyes, anything which makes history more accessible to children is great, so this week I'm going to take inspiration from Caroline and create a kid-friendly dish.  These "dormice" are easy to make, very tasty, and most importantly, they're fun.

My inspiration comes from a passage in Caroline's first book, The Thieves of Ostia (used with the permission of the author of course):

'For our next course we're having dormice stuffed with chopped sows' udders,' she announced brightly.

Mordecai and his children froze in horror.

Nubia looked blank.

'Flavia...' said her father with a warning look.

'Just joking,' giggled Flavia. 'My favourite food is really roast chicken.  You do like roast chicken, don't you?'

I love this scene - there's something truly Trimalchian about playing tricks with food!  Of course, like Flavia, we're not really going to be serving up dormice - they're not exactly easy to come by in the shops!

Honey and Poppyseed Dormice

"The dishes for the first course included... some small iron frames shaped like bridges supporting dormice sprinkled with honey and poppy seed." - Petronius, Trimalchio's Feast

Ingredients

• Chicken Thighs & Drumsticks
• Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• Honey
• Poppy Seeds
• Salt
• Pepper

Methods

• Rinse the chicken and cut off all the nasty bits.  Leave the skin on if you want the 'mice' to be nice and crispy!  Once rinsed, pat the chicken dry.
• Set the chicken onto an oiled/greased baking tray, making sure to rub some of the oil into the skin. Season with salt and pepper and place into the oven, uncovered, for 30 minutes at 180 Celsius.

• Just before the chicken is due to come out of the oven, gently heat some honey in a pan, and sprinkle some poppy seeds out onto a plate.

• Whenever it looks ready, roll the cooked chicken around in the honey and then the poppy seeds.  When all is done, pour the remaining honey and poppy seeds over the top of the chicken.
• To make our thighs and drumsticks look more 'mousey' we're going to add some tails - stick a cocktail stick into each bit of chicken, as shown below.  Having the mouse on a stick also makes it much more easy to eat!  The drumsticks are already rather mouse-shaped, so you can leave them be.

Notes

• Ingredient quantities depend entirely on how many mice you mean to make!

Results

Our 'dormice' are sweet and crispy, with a slight crunch coming from the poppy seeds.  In short, they're delicious, and I dare say Flavia would be pleased.  Much more than that, they're seriously simple to make, allowing you to add a taste of ancient Rome to your dinner/party/classroom without the hassle of chopping herbs and grinding spices.

Asparagus Patina

Future historians will no doubt be equal parts amused and confused by the Asparagus Festival, an eight week celebration of the British asparagus season which sees people wear all manner of silly costumes and paint themselves several shades of green.  To celebrate this season I think it's only appropriate to cook up a Roman Asparagus Patina, given that it was the Romans who brought this most delicious of plants to Britain in the first place!

The 'Patina' is rather difficult to explain; all Patinas are egg-based, however some resemble oven-baked custards, whilst others are closer to frittatas and omelettes.  Regardless of how they turn out, they make for very tasty eating all the same.  So, whilst asparagus is at its finest, I urge you to go out, buy some, and get baking.

Asparagus Patina

(Serves 4)

"Make Asparagus Patina as follows: put asparagus tips into a mortar and add pepper, lovage, green coriander, savory and onions.  Dilute this with wine, liquamen, and olive oil.  Add this mixture to a well greased pan, adding some beaten eggs to thicken it if you like.  Cook without boiling the eggs and serve with finely ground pepper." - Apicius, 4.2.6

Ingredients

• 10-15 Asparagus Spears
• 180 ml White Wine
• 25 ml Fish Sauce (Liquamen)
• 25 ml Raisin Wine (Passum)
• 40 ml Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 1/2 tsp Black Pepper
• 1/2 tsp Lovage Seeds
• 1/2 Small Onion
• 2 tbsp Fresh Coriander

Methods

• Using just the tips of the asparagus seems rather wasteful, so we're going to prepare the whole lot.  Set 4 spears to the side for garnishing the dish at the end, and steam what is left for just a few minutes until tender.  Make sure to chop off the woody ends.
• Grind up the peppercorns and lovage and chop up the onions and coriander. Add these, alongside all of the liquids (leaving a bit of oil for later), to a food processor.  The following magical transformation should occur.

• Pour this mixture into an oiled baking dish of some sort.  I am using the base of my tajine, but any oven proof dish should do the trick.  After spreading the mixture out, crack two eggs onto the top and beat them in thoroughly.

• This will take approximately 25 minutes in an oven set to 180 Celsius.
• The dish is cooked when it is omelette-like in consistency.  Use the asparagus spears you left over at the beginning to garnish the dish.  Sprinkle with a touch of pepper and serve straight away.  One similar recipe in Apicius (an Asparagus Patina with the addition of cooked bird embryos - no thanks!) suggests that it can be eaten cold, so refrigerate any leftovers and give that a go if you think you might enjoy it.

Notes

• Rather unusually, this Asparagus Patina recipe seems to suggest that the eggs are optional.  The asparagus patina listed just prior to this one in Apicius (the one with the bird embryos) doesn't!  My explanation is that if you cooked the Asparagus mush without adding the eggs, you'd end up with an omelette-like consistency anyway.

Results

The patina was light, fluffy, and full of subtle flavours.  The initial taste is of the fragrant coriander, followed by the bitter, celery-like taste of the lovage seeds.  As you might expect, we finish on delicious, delicious asparagus.  This is a great and unusual way to cook the plant, and one which would work well as a starter to meals both ancient and modern.  Although you would lose some of the subtle flavours, you could very easily leave out the fish sauce, lovage seeds and raisin wine if needs be.  Enjoy it whilst asparagus is at its finest!

Roman Seafood Sauce

The Greek manner of preparing fish is, as we have learnt, simple yet successful - cook it as you catch it, and if you absolutely have to touch it, stick to a sprinkle of cheese or a pinch of cumin.  Now, it's back to the beautiful complexity of Roman recipes, with lists of ingredients as long as your sword and a journey of flavours as epic as the Illiad.

At first glance, Apicius offers a vast array of seafood sauces, but a closer look reveals that they are all virtually identical!  Common to almost all of them are pepper, mint, lovage, rue, dates, honey, oil, and vinegar.  The Romans clearly liked their fish to be swimming with sweetness.  Let's see how well that works.

Roman Seafood Sauce

(Serves 2 as main, or several as a starter)

"Pepper, Lovage, Celery Seed, Mint, Rue, Figdate or Date Syrup, Honey, Vinegar, Wine.  Also suitable for sardines." - Apicius, ix.10.5

Ingredients

This is without the mint, and plus soap
(which you probably shouldn't use)

• 2 Mackerel Fillets
• Small Handful Fresh Mint
• 1/2 tsp Lovage Seeds (or Celery Seed)
• 1/2 tsp Black Pepper
• 1 tsp Rue
• 1 tbsp Date Paste
• 1 tbsp Honey
• 2 tbsp White Wine Vinegar
• 2 tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 50 ml White Wine

Methods

• Add the rue, lovage and pepper to a dry frying pan and heat them until they start to give off an aroma.  At this point, remove them and grind them up.
• Combine all the liquids, herbs and spices in a food processor and let loose.  If you wish to use a mortar and pestle, make sure to chop the mint up first.

• This is what you're going to marinate the fish in for a few hours, so once you have prepared the fish fillets, combine everything together in a shallow casserole dish.  This goes into the fridge for a couple of hours.

• I cooked the fish, sauce and all, in an earthenware dish on a gas hob for around 25 minutes.  If you want, you can place the whole lot in an oven at 180 Celsius for 20 minutes to achieve the same effect.  Grainger suggests removing the fish from the marinade, cooking it on a griddle, then heating and pouring over some of the sauce.

Notes

• The recipe isn't much of a recipe, but rather a list of ingredients.
• I chose not to use both celery seed and lovage, because their flavours are remarkably similar.  Instead, I chose to use more of just one, rather than a little of each.
• As ever, I advise you to use caution with the rue - if in doubt, leave it out!

Results

I couldn't wait to try this, so dropped the knife and fork and tucked straight in with hands and fingers.  It was beautiful, sharing that same 'tangy-sweetness' common to so much Roman cooking.  The fish was delicate and soft and had soaked up a lot of sweetness from the honey and date paste.  The initial taste came from the sharpness of the vinegar and wine, but was soon tempered by the fragrance of the mint.  This fish was surprisingly rich in comparison to the cheesy-fish of the Greeks, which is why I reckon it would do two people as a main - I would be inclined to serve it as a starter for several people instead.  Overall, I think that my favourite ancient fish recipe is last week's ancient Greek Mackerel with Cumin, Cheese, and Oil, but it's up to you to decide which you prefer.