Ancient Roman Rutabaga Stew – A Plebeian Recipe

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Today we prepare the plebeian version of an ancient Roman recipe for rutabaga from the 3rd book of De Re Coquinaria.

Ingredients:
rutabaga
vinegar
lard
muria
honey
cumin
asafoetida
rue

Medieval rutabaga https://youtu.be/Jvc0bmHxadc
Pork chops https://youtu.be/5YgSseJxJ04
Beef skewers https://youtu.be/b7JclMhWf-Y
Puls fabacia https://youtu.be/USvIR13oQ_Q
Bread with poppy seeds https://youtu.be/FzdynsqqVYo
Garum https://youtu.be/qWg6R43iRj8
Muria https://youtu.be/H6GCKyc1_rw

For more info about this recipe check out our blog: http://historicalitaliancooking.home.blog/english/recipes/ancient-roman-rutabaga-stew-a-plebeian-recipe

If you liked the music on this video check our music and art channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/LiliumAeris
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Music by Lilium Aeris
Andrea Tuffanelli – tympanum
Serena Fiandro – flute
First Delfic Hymn – Athenaeus 128 BCE

#ancientrome #ancientromanrecipe #ancientromanfood

Welcome to our kitchen. Today we prepare the plebeian version of an ancient Roman recipe for rutabaga from the 3rd book of De Re Coquinaria. We start with the ingredients. We need rutabaga, vinegar, lard, muria, honey, cumin, asafoetida, and rue. To make a plebeian version, we used only honey instead of honey and defritum, which is concentrated grape juice, and replaced garum with muria and olive oil with lard, taking inspiration from Columella, who writes in De Re Rustica that the rutabaga and turnip fill the peasants. Muria is a sauce cheaper than garum, obtained by salting fish, and is a typical plebeian condiment. Lard, instead, is mainly used in the countryside and is absent from high-end recipes such as those of De Re Coquinaria, which always use olive oil. To learn how to make muria and garum from scratch and the traditional use of pork fat in rural Roman culture, watch the videos listed in the description below. As an alternative, you can use a South-East Asian fish sauce, colatura di alici, or just salt. We peel the rutabaga and chop the leaves. Then, we boil the rutabaga for about 30 minutes, add the leaves, and cook for another 10 minutes. This recipe calls for either rutabaga or turnip, napus and rapa in Latin, two tubers that are prepared in the same way in ancient and medieval sources. They are used by all social classes, but in particular by peasants, in addition to being and important source of food for farm animals. In another recipe from De Re Coquinaria, rutabaga and turnip are simmered and dressed with olive oil and vinegar to taste. It is interesting to note that this recipe is almost identical to one in Anthimus’ De Observatione Ciborum, written in the 6th century, in which the boiled rutabaga can be eaten with salt and oil or cooked with meat or pork fatback, with the addition of vinegar. Other typical preparations for either turnip or rutabaga are found in Columella’s De Re Rustica, where the tubers are preserved with salt and vinegar or salted and preserved in mustard. The latter is a recipe very similar to those for turnips in Palladius’ Opus Agriculturae and De Re Coquinaria. The leaves aren’t used in the original recipe, but since we’re making a plebeian version, we added them anyway, especially since Pliny writes that turnip leaves were commonly eaten. Meanwhile, we grind the cumin, grate the asafoetida, and mince the rue. Rue can be substituted with another herb, such as parsley or mint. The result will be different but still good. Asafoetida corresponds to the cheapest variety of silphium produced in the Antiquity, which is silphium Parthicum, as described in detail by Theophrastus and Dioscorides. This type of silphium is the one recommended in the original recipe. We melt the lard in a pan and cook the rutabaga with the leaves for a couple minutes, adding the vinegar, the muria, a bit of honey, the spices, and the rue. To learn more about ancient food, read our book Ancient Roman Cooking, where you find recipes selected from the original sources and information on ancient meals, preservation techniques, historical farming, and ingredients. For more information on vegetables in historical cooking, read our book Early Italian Recipes. Vegetables, fruit, herbs, and flowers. For the transition between ancient and medieval cuisine, we recommend De Observatione Ciborum. Early-medieval recipes at the court of the Franks. On our Patreon page, you also find articles on historical food and translations of sources such as the De Re Coquinaria and the recipes from Cato’s De Agri Cultura. See the description below for a list of all our books and the links to buy us a beer and our merchandise. This rutabaga was delicious, with the slightly bitter taste of rutabaga and rue perfectly balanced by the aromas of cumin and asafoetida, the sapidity of muria, and the sweetness of honey. A dish that is perfect to accompany meat, such as pork chops or beef skewers, or also puls fabacia or bread with poppy seeds to make a traditional peasant meal. You find all the links in the description below. If you’re interested in ancient foods and flavors, subscribe our channel and consider supporting us on Patreon.