Tag Archives: Roman

Violatium

“I’d give you some violets, but they withered all when my father died.” -Ophelia, Hamlet

Violatium

Thoughts:

So get this: The Ancient Romans actually made this beverage where they immersed violet blossoms in wine. Naturally, I had to try it.

The finished product is quirky. As the mixture ages, the color leaches out of the violets, leaving them looking sort of like wispy ghost-flowers.

The flavor, when all is said and done, is… quirky. It was described by our tasters as a combination of vegetal, green, and like a cheap rose with floral overtones. A smidge of wildflower honey compliments the hint of violets quite nicely. Really, though, the big appeal is in the appearance and uniqueness. 

Were I to try it again (which I probably will), I’d pick off the green parts, and mix in the honey from the beginning.

Why it should be in the Next Book:

Doesn’t it just sound like something from a GRRM book? I mean, come on.

Violatium. 

It’s got all the inherent threat of sinister syllables, and the exotic flair of being made with flowers. It’s a recipe from Ancient Rome, a culture fabulously known for their decadent fare. I imagine it being served across the Narrow Sea, where they have other exotic fare such as persimmon wine and honeyed locusts.

Get the recipe on the brew blog, Game of Brews.

Mustard recipe from Oldtown

Roman Mustard

“‘There’s cold beef in the kitchens. And mustard in a big stone jar, from Oldtown.’ The thought of that mustard made the old woman smile.” -Feast for Crows

Modern Mustard

Our Thoughts:

I have a confession to make.

I don’t actually like mustard.

I’ve tried to cultivate an appreciation for it over the years, but without any great success. Thankfully, the Inn is filled with mustard fiends, all of whom were more than happy to be tastetesters for this particular post.

Because it is hand ground, the Roman mustard is very coarse, with a bit of a crunch lent it by the larger pieces of mustard seed. The ground nuts combined with the vinegar and honey to make a sort of binder for the seeds, tying the whole condiment together. The resulting spread has a notable bite to it, and is deliciously rustic. Even I could learn to love it.

The modern mustard also has a bite, but like any good mustard, the bite is not cumulative. Not as coarse as many imported French mustards, it has just enough graininess to give it a pleasant old world feel. Rich and profoundly mustardy, it i  Is particularly delicious with a sharp cheddar, and would pair brilliantly with ham. It tastes like an expensive blend from a rural farmer’s market, one that you would have no regrets about purchasing.


Roman Mustard Recipe

[204] MUSTARD BEANSALITER: FABACIÆ EX SINAPI[The beans previously cooked are seasoned with] CRUSHED MUSTARD SEED, HONEY, NUTS, RUE, CUMIN, AND SERVED WITH VINEGAR. – Apicius

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup black or brown mustard seeds
  • 1/2 cup almonds, chopped fine
  • 1/2 cup pine nuts, chopped fine
  • 2-3 teaspoons salt
  • a pinch of cumin
  • honey to taste (I used about 2 Tbs.)
  • 1 cup cold water
  • 1/2 cup red wine vinegar

Grind the whole mustard seeds for a few seconds in a spice or coffee grinder, or by hand with a mortar and pestle. You want them mostly whole. Add the chopped nuts and grind into a paste. Move everything to a bowl and add the salt, cumin, honey, and cold water. Mix well and let stand for 10 minutes. Pour in the vinegar and stir well. When the vinegar is incorporated, pour into a glass jar and store in the fridge. Wait at least 24 hours before using. Mustard made this way will last several months in the fridge.

Modern Mustard Recipe

  • 1/2 cup yellow mustard seeds
  • 3 Tablespoons dry mustard
  • 1 cup water
  • 3/4 cup tarragon vinegar (or any other herb vinegar)
  • 1 Tablespoon honey
  • 2 teaspoons salt
  • 2 Tablespoons chopped fresh thyme (or any mixture of fresh herbs that you enjoy)

Put the seeds, dry mustard, and water in a bowl.  Let this mixture stand 2 hours or until the seeds become soft.  Stir mixture every 15 minutes or so. When the seeds are soft, put the mixture in the food processor and run until the mixture is smooth.  This took about 5 minutes.  I wanted some texture to remain in my mustard so I left some seed pieces. Add the vinegar, honey, salt and herbs.  Place in a lidded jar and allow to stand at room temperature to mellow.  This mixture will be very hot.  Once the mustard is to your taste (mine took about 1.5 hours) keep it in the fridge.  It will keep in the fridge for several months, but could be stored if you choose to use the proper canning technique.

 

Cod Cakes

Roman Cod Cakes

“The wedding guests gorged on cod cakes and winter squash, hills of neeps and great round wheels of cheese, on smoking slabs of mutton and beef ribs charred almost black…” -A Dance with Dragons

Modern Cod Cakes

Our Thoughts:

The Roman cod cakes are quirkier than what we’re used to when we think of fish cakes, but they’re also quite good. The cod is a nice, mild white fish, which lets the other flavors and textures have a turn in the spotlight. The cilantro is not overpowering, and the wine imparts a subtle sweet flavor. The leeks give an overall crunchiness, while the occasional caper provides a pop of vinegar. We weren’t great fans of the sauce, however; It’s a little too peculiar a pairing for our taste!

The modern cakes were excellent. Just a little crispy on the outside, but with a moist cod-potato filling on the inside. A little salt and a dash of lemon complete the meal, and they’re equally good right out of the frying pan as they are straight from the fridge.

Winner? I’m really not sure. The modern cakes win for general likeability, but the Roman cakes are unique and special. My personal ideal might be a combination of the two, with turnips swapped in for the spuds, and the sauteed leeks added in.


Historical Cod Cakes Recipe

Minutal marinum: pisces in caccabum, adicies liquamen, oleum, uinum, cocturam. porros capitatos, coriandrum minutatim concides, isiciola de pisce minuta facies et pulpas piscis cocti concerpis, urticas marinas bene lotas mittes. haec omnia cum cocta fuerint, teres piper, ligusticum, origanum, fricabis. liquamen suffundes, ius de suo sibi, exinanies in caccabum. cum ferbuerit, tractam confringes. obligas. cum ferbuerit, agitas. piper aspargis et inferes. [Place the fish in a saucepan, add broth, oil, and wine. Also finely chop leek heads and coriander. Form it into small cakes, adding capers and well-cleaned sea nettles. These fish cakes cook in a liquor of pepper, lovage, and crushed oregano, diluted with broth and the above fish liquor. Skim well, bind, stir over the cakes, sprinkle with pepper and serve.] – Apicius, 4th Century

Cook’s Notes: Sea Nettle is a jellyfish. Although there were a few washed up on the beach when I went to photograph the dish, I left out it out for simplicity’s sake. I also opted for the more traditional route of frying the cakes, as they fell apart completely when I tried to cook them strictly according to the recipe.

Ingredients:

  • 1/2 lb. cod, cut into large chunks.
  • 1/2 cup broth
  • 1 Tbs. olive oil
  • 1/2 cup wine (I used a semi-sweet red)
  • 1 leek, diced
  • 1-2 Tbs. fresh cilantro, diced
  • 2 Tbs. capers
  • 2 eggs
  • 1/2 – 1 cup breadcrumbs
  • olive oil for frying

For sauce:

  • pinch of pepper
  • 1 tsp. lovage root
  • 1 tsp. oregano
  • remaining broth, from above
  • roux (1 Tbs. oil, 1 Tbs. flour)

Poach the cod in the broth until it is flaky, around 5 minutes.  Fish out the cod, place in a bowl, and crumble. Add the leek, cilantro, and capers, then the eggs and 1/2 cup breadcrumbs. Mix this thoroughly by hand, and try to make a few patties with them. Add more breadcrumbs as needed.

Once you have a consistency that will work, form the mixture into cakes and fry in oil over medium heat. The cakes should be golden brown, and just a tad crispy. Place on a plate covered with paper towel to drain.

To the poaching broth, add lovage, oregano, and pepper. Simmer until this sauce has reduced slightly, about 5 minutes. Strain, then thicken with a roux.

Serve cod cakes while still warm, with sauce on the side, or drizzled over.

Modern Cod Cakes Recipe

Cook’s note: This recipe is “modern” because of the inclusion of potatoes, a decidedly non-Westerosi ingredient.

Ingredients:

  • 1 lb of cod fillets
  • 2 medium-sized russett potatoes
  • 1 cup bread crumbs
  • 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
  • 2 Tbsp freshly grated Parmesan cheese
  • 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon pepper
  • 2 eggs, lightly beaten
  • Grapeseed oil, or other high smoke point oil such as canola oil, for frying

Boil and mash the potatoes, set them aside. Boil the codfish until it flakes easily. Drain and flake the fish with a fork. Be sure to remove all bones. Mix the flaked fish, the potatoes and the rest of the ingredients together well by hand. If the mixture is too crumbly, add another egg. If too sticky, add some more bread crumbs. Form the mixture into cakes and fry them on medium high heat in a skillet coated with oil, until nice browned on one side, then flip them over and continue to cook until well browned on the other side. Yield: Makes 12 fish cakes. Serves 4-6.

Roman Sweets

“…next I sing of honey, the heavenly ethereal gift…” -Virgil

Roman Stuffed Dates

Our Thoughts:

These are a purely natural, gluten and sugar free powerhouse of nominess. The texture of chewy date is complimented by the crunchy nut filling, and the whole is dripping with honey. They fit perfectly with my mental preconceptions of Ancient Roman dining. Imagine reclining on elegant couches, opulent fabrics rippling underneath you toward the exquisite mosaic on the floor. Course after course of decadence is served, yet this dish stands apart as the epitome of simple, delicious sweets.

Go on. You know you want to.


Roman Stuffed Dates

DULCIA DOMESTICA: LITTLE HOME CONFECTIONS (WHICH ARE CALLED DULCIARIA) ARE MADE THUS: LITTLE PALMS OR (AS THEY ARE ORDINARILY CALLED) DATES ARE STUFFED—AFTER THE SEEDS HAVE BEEN REMOVED—WITH A NUT OR WITH NUTS AND GROUND PEPPER, SPRINKLED WITH SALT ON THE OUTSIDE AND ARE CANDIED IN HONEY AND SERVED.

Ingredients:

  • Dried dates, pitted
  • crushed nuts – hazelnuts and cooked chestnuts are perfect
  • cinnamon and long pepper (or black pepper), 1 tsp. per 1/2 cup of nuts
  • honey to cover the stuffed dates
  • a jar to store them in

Chop the nuts small, and mix with cinnamon and pepper. Carefully stuff this mixture into the pitted dates, taking care to not overstuff and tear the fruit. Place the stuffed dates in a jar, propping the dates up to keep the nuts from spilling out. Continue this process until the jar is full. Pour honey over the stuffed dates until all the crevices are filled.

Melon and Hard Cooked Eggs

“But the only sound was the wind in the fruit trees, and the only creatures in the gardens were a few pale moths. Missandei returned with a melon and a bowl of hard-cooked eggs, but Dany found she had no appetite.” (Dance with Dragons)

Roman Melon and Boiled Tea Eggs

Our Thoughts:

We paired a Roman recipe for melons with a previously successful recipe for tea eggs. The result is a very quirky, flavorful light breakfast, full of unexpected tastes. The sweetness of the melon competes with the spicy, peppery sauce, finishing with just the slightest tang of vinegar and mint. The eggs are a subtle experience, dark and smoky with a great spiced flavor. If you can come by duck eggs, they up the ante on this dish, but it’s also wonderful made with chicken eggs.

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Rich Beet Soup

Modern Beet SoupModern Beet Soup

“Sweet beets were grown in profusion hereabouts, and were served with almost every meal. The Volantenes made a cold soup of them, as thick and rich as purple honey.” -A Dance with Dragons

Thoughts:

The Roman recipe is the stranger of the two, and more rustic. The vegetables, especially the leeks, don’t quite puree completely down, giving the soup a hearty texture with an earthy taste.

The modern version is more familiar to many, as it’s basically a borscht. It’s simple, wholesome, hearty, with a lovely smooth texture. This soup showcases all the best aspects of root vegetables. yum.

The winner?  The beauty alone of these soups make them worth a try. However, the wonderful earthiness of the Roman recipe can’t quite beat out the overall winning qualities of the modern dish. Some things just improve over time!

Recipes available in the Cookbook.

Tyroshi Honeyfingers

“…we seldom had enough coin to buy anything…well, except for a sausage now and again, or honeyfingers…do they have honeyfingers in the Seven Kingdoms, the kind they bake in Tyrosh?”

-A Game of Thrones

Our Thoughts

The Roman recipe is a curiosity. They fried to a crispily crunchy on the outside while still leaving a bit of chew on the inside.  The pieces were easy to cut into shapes, and could probably even be rolled into logs. The flavor is really all about the honey, but the pinch of pepper and cinnamon on top adds a slight level of complexity.

The Modern recipe knocked our socks off.  These fritters are like Winnie-the-Pooh-gasms.  Between the spiced sauce and the incredibly luscious texture, we ended up gobbling them and shamelessly licking our fingers.

The winner?  We had imagined Tyroshi Honeyfingers to be sort of a tasty sweet street food.  The Roman variety is fun because of its historical significance and ease of shaping, but wouldn’t be easy to make in a dusty alleyway.  The modern version is SO good and is made basically like carnival fried dough, so fits our loose criteria for a great honeyfinger.  Modern Wins!

Get the recipes in The Cookbook!

Mereneese Lamb with salad of raisins and carrots, hot flaky bread

“That night her handmaids brought her lamb, with a salad of raisins and carrots soaked in wine, and a hot flaky bread dripping with honey.  She could eat none of it.  Did Rhaegar ever grow so weary? she wondered.  Did Aegon, after his conquest?” -A Storm of Swords

Roman Lamb and Carrots

 Thoughts:

This was a delicious dish.  Hands down one of our favorites so far.  The sweetness of the sauces suited carrots, raisins, and lamb alike, while drawing out their natural flavors.  We served our with Naan bread, warmed in the oven, and iced milk sweetened with honey.

Make it at Home!