Aliter patina de asparagis frigida
(Cold Asparagus Dish with Woodock)

Origin: Roman      Period: Traditional

Original Recipe

Aliter patina de asparagis frigida (from Apicius' De Re Coquinaria IV,2,5)

Aliter patina de asparagis frigida: accipies asparagos purgatos, in mortario fricabis, aqua suffundes, perfricabis, per colum colabis. Et mittes ficedulas curatas. teres in mortario piperis scripulos VI, adicies liquamen, fricabis, vini cyathum unum, passi cyathum unum, mittes in caccabum olei uncias III, illic ferveant, perunges patinam, in ea ova VI cum oenogaro misces, cum suco asparagi impones cineri calido, mittes impensam supra scriptam. tunc ficedulas compones coques, piper asperges et inferes.

Translation

Another cold asparagus dish. Take cleaned asparagus, pound in the mortar, add water, beat thoroughly and pass through a sieve. Next put in a saucepan fig-peckers which you have prepared for cooking (small game birds). Pound in the portar 6 scruples of pepper, moisten with liquamen, grind well, add one cyathus of wine and one cyathus passum. Put in a saucepan 3 oz. oil. Bring the mixture to the boil. Grease a patina pan, and mix in it 6 eggs with oenogarum, put it with the sparagus purée in the hot ashes, pour on the mixture described above, and arrange the birds on top. Cook it, [let it cool], sprinkle with pepper, and serve.

Note: As you can see, the original recipe calls for 'fig-peckers' small Italian game birds. I've substituted woodcock in this redaction but you can use any small game bird (eg qualis, partridge or even poussin).

Ingredients:

500g white asparagus
50ml white wine
50ml passum
1 tsp freshly-ground black pepper (or to taste)
garum (fish sauce), to taste (but add at least 1 tsp)
50ml olive oil
4 eggs
50ml oenogarum (this is a condiment made from a 1:1 mixture of fish sauce with sweet white wine that's been boiled to reduce its volume to about 60% of the original volume)
1 bird for each person, roasted

Method:

Prepare and roast or boil the birds beforehand then keep warm. Meanwhile, soak the white asparagus in a bowl of cold water for at least 1 hour. When this time is up, peel the asparagus, snap-off the woody bases of the stalks then cut off the heads and reserve. Plunge the stalks in lightly-salted boiling water and cook for 10 minutes, or until tender. Remove the stalks with a slotted spoon and set aside to cool then blanch the heads in the same water for 5 minutes before removing and setting aside.

Puree the stalks (either by pounding in a mortar, passing through a sieve or in your food processor [add the wine to make this easier]) then set aside. Combine the passum, black pepper, olive oil, fish sauce and oenogarum in a casserole (or a flame-proof ceramic dish) and bring to a low simmer. Whisk together the eggs and pour slowly into the dish, stirring all the time.

Still stirring, continuously add the asparagus puree and cook until the mixture thickens then take off the heat and add the reserved asparagus tips. Allow to cool to room temperature then add the birds and serve.

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