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Cucurbitas cum gallina: duracina, tubera, piper, careum, cuminum, silfi, condimenta viridia, mentam, apium, coriandrum, puleium, careotam, mel, vinum, liquamen, oleum et acetum. This is a recipe from De re coquinaria, Apicuis' book of Roman cookery, quoted in A Taste of Ancient Rome by I. Giacosa and translated to English by A. Herklotz. I enjoy this book very much, but this one recipe does tend to illustrate the problem in slavishly following someone else's redaction. The squash as we define it, be it of a summer variety or a winter variety, is a New World plant. Since Columbus did not cross the Atlantic until 1492, it is completely impossible for Apicus 80 to be calling for squash; some translations even translate cucurbitas as pumpkin, a fruit so far removed from ancient Rome that it might as well have been growing on the moon. The Romans were eating a variety of edible gourd. However, an average person looking at this recipe would just quietly head to the grocer and buy squash, secure in the knowledge that it was available to the Romans. When we first started playing with these recipes, edible gourds were not available, leaving us with a decision: use a squash and go for a late period feel to the recipe (certain squash crossed the atlantic and landed on European tables early in the 16th c) or try something else? Well, we love squash. And so we futzed with Ilaria Giacosa's redaction, and came away with this: A Dish of Chicken with Squash Take two or three squash and cut them in half and clean them and place them in a pan with a little butter or oil rubbed upon the inside flesh and place it in covered pan in a baker's oven until it is done, and you shall know it is done by the texture of the squash, which shall go from firm to soft, but not so soft that you can not cut it to smaller pieces. And so remove it from the oven and let it cool enough. And take a chicken that you have cleaned and cut it into pieces. Place the chicken into a pan with a little olive oil and white wine or red wine or what wine you have and begin to cook it gently, seeth it quickly if you will but it is better baked in the same way as the squash. And as it cooks gently, get your squash, which you have peeled and cut into cubes, and when the chicken is done enough, add the squash and sprinkle some pepper and a little salt thereon and cook it until it is done. And while the chicken and squash cooks, take a pan and cut into it several peaches that you have peeled and cut and seeth them in good white wine with pitted dates cut fine, mushrooms cut fine, and such herbs as you may have; mint and thyme go well, as does rosemary, but use what fresh and well-scented herbs as you have and chop them and cast it all into the wine with the peaches. Add a little oil and honey and a very small amount of vinegar if you wish, and seeth it until the peaches are tender. And when the sauce is done, place the chicken and squash upon a platter and pour the sauce over it, and serve it forth still hot. We have had a lot of fun with this recipe, and have made it with so many variations that we can't really replicate some of them anymore. We like it so much that we have it in our everyday menus. One of our favorite variations is to use two chickens and three squash--an acorn, a butternut, and a pumpkin. We usually pre cook the squash about half-done to avoid having to peel it; the flesh can be scored with a knife to create the cubes, and then the skin turned inside out to pop the cubes off the skin. We also sometimes substitute canned peaches with a little of the peach syrup for fresh peaches and honey; sometimes you just can't get good peaches. Both variations are tasty. And lastly, try it with or without the vinegar, and with several varieties of vinegar, and with Worcestershire sauce; even though it's just a dash, it can make an amazing difference. I tend to prefer balsamic, just a little. The sauce should be slightly thick, to cling to the chicken when poured upon it, so be careful not to use too much wine. It's darn pretty served on a bed of lightly cooked spinach, and spinach is oh so yummy and oh so period! If you prefer a precise redaction, please refer to the above cited cookbook. There is an online version of De re coquinaria at the University of Chicago. This link takes you to the section that includes Apicus 80. Do remember to check the ingredients; this translation is from 1936, and much has been learned since then. Questions, comments, suggestions, thoughts? I welcome correspondence at merouda (at) hotmail (dot) com. Use your back button, or {Elyse Boucher} {Arts and Sciences Top} {A&S Heraldry} {Poopie the Pirate} {Help Support This Site} (old link bar, some still active): {Elise Boucher} {Sept Pendray} {Merouda Pendray}
This document created May, 2005 |
