Aliter cucurbitas frictas tritas (Purée of Squash)

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Aliter cucurbitas frictas tritas (Purée of Squash)

Aliter cucurbitas frictas tritas (Purée of Squash) is a traditional Ancient Roman recipe for a dish of boiled artichokes served drizzled with a spiced dressing. The full recipe is presented here and I hope you enjoy this classic Ancient Roman version of: Purée of Squash (Aliter cucurbitas frictas tritas).

prep time

20 minutes

cook time

35 minutes

Total Time:

55 minutes

Serves:

Rating:

Tags : Spice Recipes Vegetable Recipes Ancient Roman Recipes

Original Recipe

Aliter cucurbitas frictas tritas (from Apicius' De Re Coquinaria III,4,7)

Aliter cucurbitas frictas tritas: piper, ligusticum, cuminum, origanum, cepam, vinum, liquamen et oleum. amulo obligabis in patina, et inferes.

Translation

Another squash [dish], fried and chopped: Pepper, lovage, cumin, oregano, onion, wine, liquamen and oil. Thicken with starch in the pan and serve.

Note: This recipe would originally have employed green melons, snake melons or edible gourds (new world squashes being unknown at the time). But you can use whichever squash you prefer. It should also be noted that in Roman terms 'frying' can refer either to cooking in oil, or to cooking in the absence of any liquid. So dry frying or baking could be referred to a s 'frying'.

Ingredients:

1kg squash, peeled, de-seeded and cubed
black pepper, to taste
1 tsp lovage seeds (or celery seeds)
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp dried oregano, crumbled
1 onion, minced
120ml wine
120ml liquamen (fish sauce (Nam Pla))
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp semolina (to thicken, if needed)

Method:

Place the prepared squash on a roasting tin, place in an oven pre-heated to 180°C and bake for about 30 minutes, or until very soft. Either mash to a paste or pass through a vegetable grinder.

Combine all the remaining ingredients to form a sauce and stir into the cooked squash. Place in a pan and bring to a simmer. If the mixture looks a little thin add the semolina and cook for 5 minutes. Serve hot.
Find more recipes from Apicius' De Re Coquinaria along with information on Apicius and his cookbook, all part of this site's Ancient Roman recipes collection.