available. While not allowed to raid the zoo for ostriches, flamingos or pheasants, be content with chicken, duck or other available poultry. Most of us prefer to hear and not eat songbirds.
At first glance, Roman and contemporary Italian cuisine seem to have little in common; however, hints of the former remain in layered and/or stuffed dishes, salads and some egg dishes. Since many ingredients came later from the Americas or Middle East, they were absent from Roman recipes until much later. However, a few of these ingredients have admittedly found their way into the appended recipes, i.e., like tomatoes. Your food drama can be mildly fictional without despairing.
Finally, ask your guests not to bring their slaves, unless they promise to help clean-up afterwards. They would only overburden the guest list and might try to become part of the show. Although types of pasta were known in Rome well before Apicius’ time, it is more interesting to serve a Classical Roman feast with minimal pasta. The earliest pastas were probably made from strips or beads made of dough, much like couscous is made today. Whether or not pasta first happened in China or farther west is moot. Who knows actually? It could have happened as a side-product of Roman or Chinese military campaigns, but certainly preceded Marco Polo’s return from Asia.
As for making your Roman feast crazy, that part is up to you. Actually, serving some of the following ancient dishes might be crazy enough to qualify. Roman-type music is available on CDs, and might help set the mood without throwing coins in your fountain. But given a fountain, one could make an amusing game out of that scenario too. Forget the trick ceilings, although rose petals scattered on the table would be consistent with Roman practices. Our phrase sub rosa derives from the Roman practice of sharing private secrets truthfully while seated at a table decorated with red roses. They were and remain important as sacred flowers. Use them wisely. And if you must discuss digestion, try to keep it general.
Note: All included recipes serve six unless otherwise noted.
Menu for a Classical Roman Feast
Mulsum and Antipasto
Mulsum (lightly honeyed wine)
Medium to hard-boiled Eggs with Caper-pine nut Sauce
Hearts of Artichokes with Lentil Stuffing
Mixed Mediterranean Olives
Onion and Chicken Appetizer
Pear Patina
Mensa Prima
Duck with Prune Sauce
Ham in Pastry
Roast Lamb with Savory Sauce
Side Dishes
Cabbage and Leeks
Beets in Mustard Sauce
Mensa Secunda
Imperial Cheesecake
Stuffed Dates Apicius
Fried Wheat Cakes
Fresh Fruit
Two ingredients merit explanation: garum and lovage. Lovage was a popular herb, which Romans considered medicinal. While lovage (an umbelliferous plant) is still popular and easily grown, I’ve never seen it in a supermarket. So I agree with others that chopped celery leaves make a fair substitute. You can also easily grow lovage, which is seasonal and requires little special care.
For garum, you have two alternatives. One is to use the Southeast Asian fermented fish sauce or nuoc mam available in Asian markets. These sauces are also made of fermented fish, sea salt and herbs; however, dilute them slightly with water and/or a few drops of light soy sauce. The other alternative is adding 1 teaspoon of anchovy paste to one cup of white grape or apple juice with a dash of light soy sauce and chopped oregano (see Edwards, p.305 for other suggestions). I’ve used the anchovy paste alternative with a dash of asafetida (sorry there’s no extinct silphium), and found it quite acceptable. A variety of Asian fish sauces are easily available now. You can make your garum in a small jar with a screw on lid and keep the remainder in the refrigerator.
The following adaptations rely heavily on tested recipes from two translations of Apicius’ Latin book De Re Coquinaria: A Taste of Ancient Rome, Ilaria Gozzini Giacosa, trans. Anna Helklotz; and Romanae Artis Coquinariae Liber (The Roman Cookery Book), Barbara Flower and Elizabeth Rosenbaum. Also of interest for reference is Andrew Dalby and Sally Grainger’s The Classical Cookbook, as well as The Roman Cookery of Apicius by John Edwards. I also consulted the Dover edition of Apicius, reprinted from Vehling’s translation. Then too, there’s our ever-handy Google, to which recipes are added constantly. (See the bibliography for details, or check out Stefan’s Florilegium on-line).
Mulsum and antipasto service
Mulsum: Lightly Honeyed Wine
Add 3 - 4 Tablespoons of honey to each bottle of dry wine. Stir to blend and refrigerate for at least 3 days. Warming the honey before adding it to the wine helps it to blend. Although I have no idea how this practice traveled, it resembles an old Scandinavian trick my family used to sweeten overly dry wine. Decant and serve the wine from a pitcher. With care choosing, you don’t need to sully a truly fine wine this way, because Roman wine was probably not that ‘refined’. I have no idea whether or not Romans used blush wines, but they did add water and juices to their wines, so the effect was probably the same.
Medium to Hard-boiled Eggs with Caper-Pine nut Sauce (adapted from Apicius)
8 medium to hard-boiled eggs (cook 8 in view of possible accidents)
½ cup pine nuts soaked in 4 Tablespoons wine vinegar 4-6 hours & drained
½ cup dry white wine
2 Tablespoons finely chopped celery leaves or lovage
1 ½ teaspoons honey
1 medium size anchovy mashed (more if you like them)
Season, but careful with salt. A dash of white pepper if needed.
Soak the pine nuts in vinegar as noted. Cook the eggs until almost hard-boiled over a medium flame. Peel and let cool. For the sauce, process all the other ingredients (except the eggs) in a blender.
Serve the eggs halved lengthwise with the sauce topping on the eggs, or on the side for dipping at room temperature. If preferred, process the yolks too and fill the white halves with the yolks mixed with the sauce.
Hearts of Artichoke with Lentil Stuffing
12 large canned artichoke bottoms, rinsed. Cook your own if large enough
½ cup cooked lentils (little more if needed) prepare using package guidelines.
¼ cup white onion, finely minced
2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 Tablespoon wine vinegar
1 teaspoon garum sauce - your choice as to
