Ancients bequeath their culinary arts

January is named for the ancient Roman God Janus, the God of all beginnings. The beginning of the day, month or year are all dedicated to this God who is usually depicted with two faces, one looking forward and the other backwards. In ancient Rome the festival of Janus was celebrated on January 9th.
At the feast of Janus the Romans might have cooked food from a book titled "Apicius". This book is the oldest surviving cookbook in the world and was probably written in the 1st century. The two surving manuscripts copies of "Apicius" were transcribed in the 9th century. From these handwritten transcriptions come the many printed editions from the Renaissance and beyond.

"Apicius" contains 467 recipes divided into 10 chapters. Candied nuts, rich stews and gilded chickens are just a few of spectacular recipes captured in the pages of this interesting book. The following custard recipe is so easy even an apprentice could make it. Unlike the traditional sweet custard, this one is savory and goes perfectly as a side dish to the Roman meatball recipe. This recipe was translated out of Latin from the 1490 Milan edition of "Apicius" by my friend Nicholas Welch. If you prefer a more modern rendition of this custard use cinnamon and nutmeg in place of the cumin and pepper.

To Make an Apprentice's Dish
You will put milk into a dish as you think fit. You will mix the milk with honey as if for feeding to children, and put in five eggs to the pint. If a half-pint, break three eggs into the milk. Thus make one mass of it. Strain in a cuminata and cook slowly over the fire. When it has set sprinkle with pepper and serve.

Roman Custard
1 1/2 cups whole milk 4 tablespoons honey
1/2 cup cream cumin, to taste
5 eggs pepper, to taste

Pre-heat oven to 300 degrees.
Mix milk, cream, eggs and honey until well blended. Pour into a baking dish, or if you prefer individual baking dishes. Sprinkle the top with cumin. Bake for an hour and a half or until well set. Sprinkle with pepper and serve hot. Serves four. This meatball recipe was named after the Roman town of Tartanto, a town noted for wine and good living. Lovage, a delicate celery flavored herb, is an essential part of the sauce for these meatballs. Unfortunately it is not readily available in most grocery stores so if you don't have a generous neighbor with an herb garden substitute two teaspoons of crushed celery seed.

Tarentine Minutal
(Meatballs in Tarentine Sauce)
3 large leeks 1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped
1 teaspoon olive oil 1 cup beef broth
1/2 lb. ground pork 1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/2 lb. ground beef 1/4 cup fresh lovage, chopped
1 teaspoon crushed pepper 1 teaspoon oregano
1/2 teaspoon cumin 1/4 cup dry red wine

In a large frying pan lightly sauté the leeks in the olive oil. In a bowl combine the pork, beef, pepper, cumin and parsley. Form into small (approximately 1 inch) balls. Fry them with the leeks until cooked all the way through.
Remove meatballs and leeks from pan and turn up the heat. Deglaze the pan with beef broth. Add pepper, lovage, oregano and red wine. Return the meatballs and leeks to the pan. Simmer over medium heat for 15 to 20 minutes. Stirring the meatballs occasionally so the sauce coats all sides. Serve hot, as an appetizer or a main course.

To learn more about ancient Roman cookery read A Taste of Rome by Illaria Giacosa or Apicius; Cooking and Dining in Imperial Rome by Joseph Dommers Vehling.

Food is life. May the plenty that graces your table truly be a vast repast.