Ancient Recipes: Apricot Dessert (Apicius, De re coquinaria)
Did you know when you Google Apicius, they call him a professional chef?
Given that he was the closest thing Ancient Rome had to Betty Crocker or Martha Stewart, we guess it makes sense. These apricots are a fantastic dessert from De re coquinaria (c. 5th cent. CE), arguably the best-known Ancient Roman cookbook. They likely would have been enjoyed at room temperature, but taste fantastic after being chilled. We make this at every rendition of our Ancient Food Day, and it's always a hit.
Latin: duracina primotica pusilla precoquiis purgas, enucleas, in frigidam mittis; in patina conponis; teres piper mentam siccam; suffundis liquids; adicies mel passum uinum et acetum; refundis in patina super precoquia, olei modicum mittis et lento igni ferueat, cum ferbuerit, amulo obligas, piper aspargis et inferes. (De re coquinaria, 4.177)
Translation (by John Liao): Wash firm, early or small apricots, pit them, and put them in the cold [water]. Arrange them in a pan. Crush pepper and dried mint, pour over liquamen and add honey, passum, wine and vinegar. Pour over the apricots in the pan. Add a little oil and heat on a low flame. Thicken [the sauce] with starch while it simmers. Sprinkle with pepper and serve.Â
Ingredients
10-12 apricots (pitted and halved if fresh, rehydrated in water overnight if dried)
1 ½-2 tbsp freshly cracked black pepper (plus extra for garnish)
1 tbsp dried mint flakes
1 tsp garum/liquamen (substitute fish sauce if you can't find/make it yourself)
3-4 heaping tbsp of honey
3/4 cup of red wine
3/4 cup of passum (also known as raisin wine. Substitutes can include cranberry juice (less sweet), grape juice (more sweet), or ice wine (if you don’t have to make this for a school event).
1 tsp of vinegar (2 tsp if you're not using passum/alcoholic passum substitute)
1 ½ tbsp of olive oil
½ tsp corn starch
3-4 tbsp cold water
Our Recipe
Soak halved, pitted fresh apricots in cold water for 15 minutes (skip if using rehydrated fruit)
In a wide pan (at least 3 inches deep), lightly toast the black pepper and mint at medium heat until fragrant.
Add the liquids: honey, passum, wine, vinegar, and liquamen. Bring to a simmer and stir until well incorporated, and the honey has dissolved. Continue simmering to cook off the alcohol. If the mixture begins to reduce too much, add water in small amounts.
Once the desired amount of alcohol has been cooked off, add the apricots. Continue simmering until apricots reach your desired texture (usually 8-12 mins).
Remove the apricots from the pan. Mix cornstarch with cold water into a slurry, and add to the remaining liquid. Stir and cook until thick, then pour over reserved apricots. Let cool.
Serve chilled or at room temperature, with fresh black pepper sprinkled on top.
Below, we served them with libum (Roman cheesecake) and statites (Ancient Greek spelt crepes).
Some more anachronistic ways to serve this can include using it as pie or tart filling, mixing it with Greek yogurt, or serving it with vanilla ice cream while it's still hot (sort of like a poached pear situation).
Some FAQs
Q. "How long do I actually boil the sauce?"
A. As long as you want, depending on how much alcohol you want in the dish (we serve these at school events, so we have to boil it to hell and back to get rid of all the alcohol).
Q. "The ancient recipe says to cook the apricots first, why do you make the sauce first?"
A. When we tried the apricot-first method, the apricots fell apart and turned the whole thing into a jam-like stew because of how long we had to cook the sauce. It tasted great but lacked the nice texture of the whole apricots.
Q. "Can I substitute ingredients 1-1?"
A. Generally, yes. For our passum substitute, we use cranberry juice for its tartness, but any of the three substitutes work. However, if you have the ability to make/buy garum and passum, definitely give it a try!
