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Betaceos Varronis (Beets à la Varro)
Betaceos Varronis (Beets à la Varro) is a traditional Ancient Roman recipe for beets cooked with chicken pieces in a mead sauce. The full recipe is presented here and I hope you enjoy this classic Ancient Roman version of: Betaceos Varronis.
prep time
20 minutes
cook time
40 minutes
Total Time:
60 minutes
Serves:
4
Rating: 
Tags : Chicken RecipesFowl RecipesVegetable RecipesAncient Roman Recipes
Original Recipe
[Aliter betacios Varrones. Varro: betacios, sed nigros, quorum detersas radices et mulso decoctas cum sale modico et oleo vel sale, aqua et oleo in se coctas iusculum facere et potari, melius etiam si in eo pullus sit decoctus.]
Translation
Beets à la Varro: Varro beets, that is, black ones (beetroot) of which the roots must be cleaned well, cook them with mead and a little salt and oil; boil them down in this liquor so that the roots are saturated thereby; the liquid itself is good drinking. It is also nice to cook a chicken in with them.
Modern Redaction
Ingredients:
10 baby turnips (or 8 small beetroot if following the original recipe)
100ml mead (or sweet white wine with a tablespoon of honey)
40ml olive oil
Chicken pieces part-cooked in the oven (about 15 chunks)
sea salt and black pepper to taste
Method:
Put whole small turnips in a saucepan and add the mead, olive oil and enough water to cover. Bring the liquid to the boil, add the chicken and continue cooking until the turnips are done. Drain and serve immediately.
A variant on this recipe uses beetroot. These will take longer to cook and they will colour the chicken red (as a result you will get a far more spectacular dish).
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.
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