If cooks can be said to have a ‘muse’ – an ethereal confidant and enabler- this season mine is Apicius the 1st century Roman gourmand. Several hundred telegraphic descriptions of his favorite party dishes have survived him, though with a cautionary tale. Apicius is said to have spent his entire fortune on extravagant entertaining and incessant traveling to find the best ingredients. When his funds ran out he committed suicide rather than starve. The take-away message? Practice excess in moderation.
The challenge when working with the recipes of Apicius is in the selection of seasonings. Some are archaic. Others like lovage is easily replaced by celery seed. On the other hand I simply delete the herb rue, having grown it and found it bitter and fetid smelling. Then there is the garum issue. Apicus added it to almost every dish, but I crossed it off the list. Let me explain why. Garum was made from the mixed gills, intestines and blood of mackerel, salted, seasoned with wine and herbs, then exposed to the sun until it ripened into a thick sauce. It was the soy sauce or even ketchup of the day. Should you be curious to try modern garum yourself, simply purchase a bottle of Thai nam pla or Vietnamese nuoc nam.
I invite you share my delight with the easy, holiday-ready recipe for Mulled Wine Apicius. All one has to do is simmer white wine simmers with black pepper, bay leaf, cinnamon and honey. Served hot, this drink is wonderfully restorative and, undoubtedly free of alcohol (if that matters).
I conjured the sauce to serve with a Salmon En Croûte using my favored Apician seasonings. To a simple red wine and shallot reduction, I added pepper, cumin, celery seed and stock. Raisins and honey added at the end finish and balance the reduction. It’s not your regular sauce bordelaise. Specifics follow, but, in the end, you can adjust them to your own taste.
‘Lo Saturnalia’ to you and yours!
MULLED WINE APICIUS
Ingredients:
2 bottles white wine
1/2 cup honey
1 cinnamon stick
1/4 teaspoon freshly, ground black pepper
Pinch of saffron
1/2 bay leaf, torn into small pieces
1 date, halved and pitted.
Directions:
Heat 1 cup wine with the honey and other seasonings. Stir to dissolve the honey. Add remaining wine and simmer until reduced by half. Strain and serve hot.
SALMON EN CROÛTE
Ingredients:
Salmon:
1 2 pound fresh salmon, cod or mahi mahi
2 bunches chard
1 cup Jasmine rice
1 pound frozen puff pastry
Salt and pepper to taste
1 egg yolk
Sauce:
1 1/2 cup pinot noir
1 cup fish or chicken stock
1/3 cup minced shallots
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
/4 teaspooon celery seed, crushed
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 cup raisins
1 tablespoon cornstarch mixed with 2 tablespoons cool water
1 tablespoon honey, or to taste
Ask your fish vendor to remove the fish skin if present. Move the puff pastry from the freezer to the refrigerator the night before cooking. Remove the salmon from the refrigerator 1 hour before baking.
Plunge the chard into 4 quarts boiling salted water, one bunch at a time. Cook for 5 minutes. Remove to an ice bath to quickly cool. Remove, squeeze out the water, chop and season the chard with salt and pepper. Reserve. Cook the rice according to directions on the packaging. Fluff the warm rice and season with salt and pepper. Cool.
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Place a sheet of parchment on a bake sheet long enough to hold the encased fish. Unfold and divide the puff pastry in half along its length. Refrigerate half.
Lightly flour a work suface, flour the dough and roll out into a rectangle one inch larger than the fish fillet. Move the dough to the parchment and spread one-half of the rice over the dough. Place the fish fillet on the rice. Season with salt and pepper. Cover the fillet with remaining rice and all of the chard. Roll out the other half of the pastry. Place it over the salmon and roll up the edges. Seal the edges with the tines of a fork. Dilute the egg yolk with 1/2 teaspoon water and paint the entire surface of the dough.
Bake for 20 to 30 minutes - allow 10 minutes cooking time for each inch thickness, measuring the fish at its thickest point. Allow to stand for 10 minutes before serving.
Sauce:
Combine the wine, stock, shallots, pepper, celery seed and cumin in a heavy saucepan. Simmer until reduced by half.
Pour some liquid into the cornstarch slurry and reverse it into the sauce. Return sauce to the simmer. Stir in the raisins and honey.
Taste, and adjust seasonings adding salt and pepper to taste. Nap slices of the fish en croûte with the sauce and serve.
