Fried Peacock? Flamingo Tongue? Stuffed Dormouse? I decided to hold off on the more adventurous recipes in Apicius De Re Coquinaria, the oldest cookbook in the west, and opted for a simple steamed mussels using some classic Roman ingredients.

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LINKS TO INGREDIENTS**
Colatura di Alici: https://amzn.to/3ffitDJ
Summer Savory: https://amzn.to/2UC5lAO

LINKS TO SOURCES**
The Roman Cookery Book by Barbara Fowler & Elisabeth Rosenbaum: https://amzn.to/2UvJdrN

Cooking and Dining In Imperial Rome by Apicius: https://amzn.to/2XWlZgG

Food: A Cultural Culinary History by Ken Albala (Audiobook): https://amzn.to/30zK3Y8

https://coquinaria.nl/en/roman-mussels/

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MAKING GARUM EPISODE
https://youtu.be/5S7Bb0Qg-oE

IN MITULIS (MUSSELS)
ORIGINAL FOURTH CENTURY RECIPE (From Apicius De Re Coquinaria)
"lN MITULIS: liquamen, porrum concisum, cuminum, passum, satureiam, vinum, mixtum facies aquatius et ibi mitulos coques."

“ Mix liquamen, chopped leek, cumin, passum, savory, and wine, dilute the mixture with water, and cook the mussels in it.”

MODERN RECIPE
INGREDIENTS (Amounts are approximate)
- 2 lbs of Live Mussels
- 1 tablespoon Liquamen/Garum/fish sauce
- ⅛ cup of Passum or Vin Santo or fortified sweet wine
- 1 cup of chopped leek
- ¼ tsp cumin
- ½ tsp dried savory (I’ll link to that in the description as well)
- ¼ cup of white wine
- About ¾ cup Water (Or substitute more wine)

METHOD
1. Wash the mussels and make sure that all are alive
2. Combine all ingredients except the mussels in a large pot. Depending on the pot, there should be about 1/2 inch of liquid at the bottom. Add more wine or water if necessary. Set over medium high heat until simmering.
3. Add mussels to the pot and cover and let steam for 5 minutes.
4. Once the mussels have opened, remove from the heat and serve. Any mussels that have not opened should be discarded.

Photo Credits
Apicius Manuscript - By Bonho1962 - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=5626800
De Re Coquinaria - Wellcome Library / CC BY (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0)
Carthage - damian entwistle / CC BY-SA (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)
Peacock - Jatin Sindhu / CC BY-SA (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)
Boar Mosaic - By Jerzy Strzelecki - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=3208546
Sea Urchin - Filip Maljković from Pancevo, Serbia / CC BY-SA (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)
Dormouse - Zoë Helene Kindermann / CC BY (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0)

Music Credits
Music: Feather Duster by Shane Ivers - https://www.silvermansound.com

#tastinghistory #ancientrome #apicius #derecoquinaria #foodhistory