Cave Garum:
An Introduction to Roman Cuisine
By Lord Heinrich von Holstein
CLASS HANDOUT
Period Sources
- Naturalis Historia (~77 AD) – Gaius Plinius Secundus “Pliny the Elder” (~23-79 AD)
- Martial’s Epigrams – Marcus Valerius Martialis “Martial” (~38-~102 AD)
- The Satyricon (1st century AD) – Gaius Petronius Arbiter (27-66 AD)
- Di Agri Cultura (2nd century BCE) – Marcus Porcius Cato “Cato the Elder” (234-149 BCE)
- De Re Coquinaria (1st century AD) – Unknown Author
Modern Sources
- Cooking and Dining in Imperial Rome
- Roman Farm Management, The Treatises Of Cato And Varro
- Historical Italian Cooking
- Ancient Roman Cooking, by Marco Gavio de Rubeis, 2020
- https://historicalitaliancooking.home.blog/english/recipes/
- https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCsDUyQI88LLvpu9RCevwQEA
- Tasting History with Max Miller
Recipe Redactions
Example Gustatio
Ingredients
- Olives
- Cheese (just about any Italian cheese)
- Hard boiled eggs
- Romaine hearts, quartered
- White wine vinegar
- Wine
- Olive oil
- Garum
- Cumin
- Black pepper
- Asafetida
Arrange the olives, cheese, boiled eggs cut in half, and romaine hearts on a serving platter. Dust the olives with cumin. Dress the lettuce with a mixture of 2 parts vinegar to 1 parts garum. Dress the eggs two ways: first, with 1 part olive oil, 1 part wine, 1 part garum. The second, with a little garum and then sprinkle with black pepper and asafetida.
Parthian Chicken
Ingredients
- Chicken
- Olive oil
- Wine
- Garum
- Caraway
- Black pepper
- Lovage
- Asafetida
Mix the asafetida with a bit of warm water. Grind the remaining spices in a mortar. Prepare the chicken in a container for braising, either quartered or spatchcocked. Add wine, olive oil, and garum about halfway up the chicken. Pour over the asafetida and its water. Season with the ground spices. Cook in the oven at 350 degrees until done.
Minutal Terentinum
Ingredients
- Ground pork
- Chopped leeks
- Lasagna sheets or farfalle pasta
- Olive oil
- Wine
- Garum
- Raisin wine, or some defrutum
- Black pepper
- Lovage
- Oregano
- A little flour
Make small meatballs with the pork, olive oil, garum, and some black pepper. Boil water with the leeks and olive oil. Add the meatballs and cook for 10-15 minutes. Make a sauce with the wine, raisin wine, olive oil, and garum. Grind the spices in a mortar. Add the sauce and spices to the pot. When it returns to a boil, break the lasagna into pieces and add to the pot. Boil until the pasta has absorbed as much liquid as it can (this should not be “al dente” as generally modern pasta is prepared). Add flour as necessary to thicken remaining broth. Serve with a little more black pepper sprinkled on top.
Savillum
Ingredients
- 1 lb fresh goat cheese
- ⅓ cup flour
- ¼ cup honey
- 1 egg
- Olive oil
- Poppy seeds
- Fresh bay leaves (OPTIONAL)
Mix the cheese, flour, honey, and egg and knead into a dough. Coat your baking sheet with olive oil, or optionally a layer of fresh bay leaves and olive oil on top. Form the dough into a cake, about an inch thick. Bake in the oven at 350 for about 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and drizzle honey on top. Then sprinkle the poppy seeds on to the cake. Return to the oven for about 5 more minutes. Remove it and let it cool a bit before serving.