Ancient Roman Recipes

The Romans were a fashionable lot with their flowing clothing and beautiful architecture. The Roman cuisine was also as interesting as the Roman culture. There were certain typical dishes that were a part of the Roman cuisine. Ancient Roman recipes often stuck to a particular code when it came to the various food items being prepared. For those who would like to get a taste of the food during the Roman times, here are some ancient Roman recipes given below.

Ancient Roman Recipes:

Isicia Omentata:
Ingredients
Minced meat (500g )
French roll - soaked in white wine (1)
Freshly ground pepper (1/2 tsp)
Liquamen (salty fish sauce) /1/2 tsp salt + a little white wine (50ml)
Baking foil
Stone-pine kernels and green peppercorns
Caroenum (This is boiled grape juice)

Preparation
First, you would need to mix the minced meat with the soaked French roll. Then, ground the spices together and mix it in the meat. Prepare small burgers out of this and place the pine kernels along with the peppercorns inside this. Place them in a baking foil. Grill it together along with the Caroenum.

Beet Green Recipe:
Ingredients
Beet greens - about 8 mid-sized beets' worth (2 bunches)
Olive oil (1-2 tsp.)
Dried basil leaves – crumbled (1/2 tsp.)
Coriander seeds – crushed (1/2 tsp.)
Red wine vinegar (2-3 tbsp.)
Black pepper – ground (1/4 tsp.)
Asafoetida powder (1/4 - 1/2 tsp.)

Preparation:
Firstly, you would need to wash the beet greens and drain the excess water. Then, slice the leaves and the stems in a crosswise fashion. This should be cut into ¼ ribbons. Then, heat a large sauté pan over a medium flame. Add some olive oil to this along with the beet greens. Then, you need to sprinkle some basil, asafoetida powder, pepper and coriander over this. Whilst you are mixing the same, toss it during the sautéing process. Steam the beet greens till the greens wilt. Pour some red wine vinegar over this and stir it so that it mixes well. Heat this preparation and once the vinegar begins to boil, remove it from the flame. Serve hot!

Honey and Watermelon Recipe:
Ingredients
Honey melon - both peeled, diced (1/2)
Watermelon (1/2)
Passum (500 ml)
Honey
Minced parsley (1 tblsp)
Freshly ground pepper (1/2 tsp)
Liquamen/dash of salt
Poleiminze (mint), Silphium (asafoetida), vinegar, if required

Preparation:
First, you would need to cook the diced melons along with the spices and herbs in a pan. Once done, you can add some silphium to this; do bear in mind that silphium has a very strong taste and smell.

Pasta and Lentil Soup:
Ingredients
Small pasta (300 g)
Lentils (300 g)
Streaky bacon (100 g)
Garlic (2 cloves)
Roman pecorino cheese
Onion (1)
Celery (1)
Tomato sauce
Pepper
Oil
Salt

Preparation:
Add the streaky chopped bacon along with some salt and pepper to a pan with some oil. You would also need to add some garlic, onion and an entire stick of celery along with ½ glass of tomato juice. Then, add some of the lentils which need to be soaked overnight in water. Cover this with lots of water and cook it slowly for at least an hour. Once the lentils are cooked, you need to check the amount of water and then add the pasta. Add some more amount of salt and pepper along with some oil and loads of Roma Pecorino cheese to this preparation.