These are the recipes from Perna, Fici et Mel, our film about preparing a Roman which might have been eaten at the time the Froam Hoard was buried.  Our first showing of the filem during the Frome Festival 2011 was very successful and we are planning another showing later this year.

1)   Starter

Hypotrimmma – Cheese and fruit dip

This has been adapted from Grainger, S. “Cooking Apicius” Reference - Apicius 1.33. She describes it as a rich sauce suitable for eating with bread or crudités. We thought the amount of cream cheese was far too little (50g) and even wondered if it was a printing error. Hence we increased the amount several fold and used half cream and half cottage cheese. Lovage seed was not available and so we substituted celery seed. For fish sauce use Thai fish sauce. Another book suggests pounding anchovies with oil as a fish sauce. Some authors suggest that the prevalence of fish sauce in Roman dishes was actually a way of ensuring a salty flavour. So we could perhaps substitute salt!

½  teasp lovage/celery seeds
freshly ground black pepper
3 heaped teasp freshly chopped mint
50 g raisins softened in hot water
50 g pine kernels
250 g cottage cheese
250g cream cheese
1 tbsp date syrup
1 tbsp honey
1 tbsp fish sauce
2 tbsp vinegar
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp grape juice
100 ml white wine

Roast and grind the lovage/celery and mix with chopped mint

Add raisins and pound/process to thick paste

Add cheese, date syrup and honey and mix again

Dilute gradually with wine, date syrup, fish sauce and grape juice.

Taste and balance sweet and sour.

Decorate with lovage leaves and offer bread, cucumber and carrot sticks for dipping.

2)   Main Course

Ham cooked with figs and wrapped in pastry.

Adapted from Sally Grainger. The principle changes were the use of Spelt flour to make a shortcrust pastry instead of the filo style pastry made with white flour that she suggested.

1 kilo piece of gammon – soak for a few hours if necessary
Dried figs enough for each person to have at least 2
3 bay leaves
250 g spelt flour – half white to half brown works well
¼ teasp salt
2 tbsp olive oil
100 ml water
100 g honey
olive oil for brushing
fish sauce or salt and honey for seasoning

Cover gammon in cold water and add figs and bay leaves. Simmer for 20 minutes per 500 g and 20 minutes over. Remove from heat and allow to cool in water.

Meanwhile make pastry as follows. Sieve flour and salt in bowl. Mix in oil and gradually add water until a dough is formed. Place in the fridge at least half an hour or until the ham is cool. Remove cold ham from the water and take off the skin. Score the fat with a sharp knife cutting down to the flesh and making a chequered pattern. Rub in the honey ensuring it goes in the cracks. Spread the honey over the lean parts also.

Roll out the pastry dough making a piece large enough to wrap the piece of gammon. Trim away any extra pastry. Wrap the gammon up like a parcel and seal the pastry with water if necessary. Brush with olive oil. Place on a baking tray in a medium oven and bake until brown – about an hour. 

Remove and allow to stand for at least 10 minutes. Meanwhile reduce some of the ham liquor to make a thin sauce, add the figs and warm gently.  Serve in thick slices hot or cold with some of the liquor and at least 2 figs per person.  The figs proved to be very popular.

Lentil Stew

Taken from Grainger but whereas she suggested thickening this with cornflour we omitted this as lentils seem to generate their own thickening agent.

250 g brown lentils
3 medium leeks
2 tbsp olive oil 2 tbsp white wine vinegar
1 tbsp honey
1 tbsp defrutum (red grape juice that has been cooked with figs – here grape juice and ham liquor would do)
20 g coriander seed
pinch of asafoetida
3 teasp chopped mint
green coriander
teasp chopped fresh rue
ground pepper

Cook lentils in water or white wine until soft.

Add cleaned chopped leeks and cook until soft

Add olive oil, vinegar and defrutum

Dry roast coriander seeds, grind and add

When all is cooked add fish sauce, fresh coriander, rue and mint

Taste and adjust flavours

Cabbage  and Cumin from Apicius 3.9.1 and 3(variation denotes fish sauce/salt)

500 g cabbage
2 tbsp olive oil
2 teasp roasted and ground cumin seeds
2 tbsp sweet wine
Salt to taste /fish sauce
1 small leek chopped and briefly steamed
Handful chopped coriander seeds
Freshly ground black pepper

Wash and shred cabbage

Place in colander to drain

Heat oil in heavy pan with lid

Add cabbage, stir briskly over heat, cover and steam briefly.

Add wine, cumin and fish sauce/salt.

Serve with steamed leek and coriander sprinkled on top.

Peas and Beans Vitellian with Leeks and Fennel

From “The Roman Cookery of Apicius” translated and adapted by John Edwards

2 cups of shelled peas or beans – we used a mixture
2 leeks thinly sliced
1 teasp coriander
5 small grape/cabbage leaves

Steam peas and beans

Add leeks, coriander and leaves and cook for further 10 minutes

Sauce ½ teasp ground pepper, 1 teasp celery seed or lovage, 1 teasp oregano, pinch of fennel seeds, ½ cup vegetable stock, ¼ cup white wine, olive oil/butter

In a mortar grind pepper, celery, oregano and fennel.

Combine with stock and wine. Bring to boil slowly and simmer for twenty minutes.

Pour over vegetables, and turn together gently.

Sprinkle with oil/butter.

3 DESSERT

Greco-Roman Spelt Milk Pudding

Sally Grainger in Cooking Apicius gives an almond and semolina pudding. We made 2 changes. First, we use spelt ground in the coffee grinder in place of  wheat semolina. Second, we cook the nuts and spelt in butter instead of just boiling them in milk. Evidently the local Britons did use butter. This method is taken from a packet of semolina and it was called Greek semolina pudding.

2 oz / 60 g butter
4 oz / 120 g spelt
¾ pt /475ml goats, sheep’s or cow’s milk
1 tbsp honey and warm honey for serving
2 oz / 60 g almonds
Freshly ground black pepper
8oz / 250g alpine strawberries or other fresh fruit

Grind the spelt until it looks like coarse semolina

Chop the almonds roughly. Leave the skins on as they give flavour.

Melt the butter in a pan and add nuts and ground spelt.

Cook gently, stirring with wooden spoon.

Have ready hot but not boiling milk.

When nuts and spelt are lightly toasted add the heated milk. Stir gently to help absorption of milk. Put the lid on to allow the milk to become completely absorbed and cooking to complete.

 Add honey to taste.

 Pour into a dish or ramekins.

 Serve cold with runny honey, ground black pepper and wild (alpine) strawberries

In the winter or when fresh fruits are not available soak a handful of raisins in warm water, grape juice or wine and add these to the hot pudding before pouring it into dishes.

Then the nuts may be better toasted and mixed with the runny honey at the end.

Alexandrine Dates

from Edwards J. See above

20 stoned dates
20 almonds
Ground cinnamon
Sea salt
 liquid  honey

Roll almonds in cinnamon. Stone the dates. Place an almond in each date

Place dates on greased pan.

Sprinkle dates with salt.

Drizzle with honey

Grill or place in moderate oven for about 10 minutes.

Can be eaten hot/cold. Keep well in cool place.

References

Apicius ( around the first century AD)   The Roman Cookery of Apicius – translated and adapted by John Edwards

Grainger, S. 2006 Cooking Apicius. Prospect books

Wood, J. (2009)    Tasting the Past  The History press