Roman food for the ides of March
Julius Caesar was hanging out with his pals, getting ready to watch a race.
Suddenly, from the crowd, a soothsayer called out to him: “Beware the ides of March.”
Caesar chose to ignore him — on the whole, maybe not one of his better decisions — and went back to casting dice or whatever he did in his spare time. Then, midmonth (the ides), he went to a political meeting at a hall next to the Theatre of Pompey, where he was stabbed to death by more than 40 conspirators, sort of like what happens in “Murder on the Orient Express.”
March 15 is the ides of March, the anniversary of the death of Caesar. We thought we would celebrate by re-creating the dishes of ancient Rome.
This, however, is easier said than done. Although plenty of ancient Roman recipes can be found, including those in Apicius’ seminal cookbook, “De Re Coquinaria,” it is less easy (or perhaps just undesirable) to come up with some of the ingredients the Romans were so fond of.
Sow’s udders stuffed with salted sea urchins was a popular appetizer, flamingos were sometimes boiled with dates, ostriches were cooked whole and if you weren’t too hungry you could nibble on a stuffed dormouse.
The Romans also used to take snails out of their shells, put them in a dish of milk so that was all they could eat and, when the snails had become so fat they could no longer fit back in their shells, they would fry them in oil and serve them with a wine sauce.
I’ll admit that sounds pretty good. But it’s so cruel.
The other problem with making Roman dishes is that their recipes can be infuriatingly vague. Typically, they just list the ingredients, without ever giving the amount of each, an idea of how to combine them or a hint for how long to cook them.
Our modern versions of these recipes are therefore just a guess of what they might have been like. But it’s the ides of March, so it’s worth a try.
I began with a posca, a drink so popular in Rome that apparently everyone knew how to make it and no one thought to write down the recipe. What we know for certain is that it is a little vinegar diluted in a lot of water.
Because many Roman recipes pair vinegar with honey, some modern efforts to make posca add honey, so I did, too. The result is a drink that is a little sweet, a little tart and surprisingly refreshing.
Vinegar and honey are part of the next dish I made, too, Beans à la Vitellius, which is named for the man credited with inventing it, Vitellius, the ninth emperor of Rome. A drunkard and a glutton, he reigned for only eight months, when he was assassinated before he had the chance to resign.
Beans à la Vitellius is a dish of mashed beans blended with a mixture of ginger, broth, vinegar, honey and hard-cooked egg yolks. More flavour comes from lovage, an herb that tastes sort of like celery.
Lovage is used in many Roman dishes, which can be a problem because, while you can grow it yourself, it is impossible to find in grocery stores. In its place, I used celery leaves; you could also mince celery, which would create the right flavour if not the right texture.
At any rate, I’ll have to admit that I am not a fan of Beans à la Vitellius. One wonders if the people who assassinated that emperor felt the same way.
Finally, I made dessert, a Pear Patina. This is basically a pear custard, especially if you add milk as I did (it’s not in the Roman recipe, but a new version suggests it).
You begin by poaching the pears in sweet wine; originally it was a raisin wine called passum, but a good modern substitute would be Vin Santo.
Or so I am told. Vin Santo costs $58 a bottle for the good stuff, and $48 a bottle for the less-good stuff, and I am on a budget. So I used Moscato, which is also sweet but more affordable.
You purée the poached pears and mix them with honey, eggs, milk, a touch of cumin and more of the wine. When baked in the oven, it is light and refreshing, with a satisfying pear flavour.
It’s a dessert for the ages.
Posca
Makes 1 serving 8 ounces water 1 tablespoon honey 1 tbsp red wine vinegar
Stir together the water and honey until the honey dissolves. Stir in the vinegar. Serve over ice, if desired.
Per serving: 14 calories; no fat; no saturated fat; no cholesterol; no protein; 3 grams carbohydrate; 2 g sugar; no fibre; 4 milligrams sodium; 4 mg calcium
Beans à la Vitellius
Makes 4 servings 1 can white beans, rinsed and drained
½ cup chicken or vegetable broth
2 tablespoons white wine 1½ teaspoons honey
½ cup celery leaves
2 tsp red wine vinegar 2 hard-cooked egg yolks, passed through a sieve
1 tsp olive oil
Freshly ground pepper
Heat the beans in a small pot over medium heat. Mash with a fork. Stir in the broth, wine, honey, celery leaves, vinegar, egg yolks, oil and pepper to taste. Heat to serve.
Per serving: 182 calories; 4 grams fat; 1 g saturated fat;
104 milligrams cholesterol;
10 g protein; 26 g carbohydrate; 4 g sugar; 5 g fibre; 335 mg sodium; 73 mg calcium
Adapted from “De Re Coquinaria” by Apicius, translated by Joseph Dommers Vehling.
Pear Patina
Makes 9 servings 1 bottle Moscato wine, divided, see note
4 pears, peeled
2 tablespoons honey ½ teaspoon cumin
Freshly ground black pepper 1 tbsp olive oil
3 eggs, beaten
1½ cups milk, optional
Note: Ancient Romans used a sweet wine called passum to make this dish. A closer modern substitute would be Vin Santo, but it is expensive.
1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Pour out and reserve ½ cup Moscato wine.
2. Place the rest of the wine in a pot big enough to snugly fit all the pears. Bring to a light boil over medium-high heat, and add the pears. Add a little water as needed to bring the level of liquid just over the top of the pears, and bring to a simmer. Simmer until a fork or knife inserted into the pears meets little or no resistance.
3. Remove the pears and discard the poaching liquid (drinking it would be an acceptable way to discard it). Remove the cores and place the rest of the pears into a blender. Purée until smooth.
4. Pour pear purée into a large bowl and stir in the reserved ½ cup of wine, honey, cumin, pepper to taste and olive oil. Mix together thoroughly, then add eggs and milk, if using. Mix together thoroughly again, then pour into a 2-quart or larger casserole.
5. Bake until custard is mostly set and the centre jiggles only a little, around 35 minutes. Cool on a wire rack before serving or refrigerating.
Per serving: 181 calories; 4 grams fat; 1 g saturated fat;
185 milligrams cholesterol;
4 g protein; 19 g carbohydrate;
14 g sugar; 2 g fibre; 48 mg sodium; 72 mg calcium
Adapted from a PBS adaptation of Apicius’ “De Re Coquinaria.”