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Cervinae Conditura (Sauce for Venison)

Cervinae Conditura (Sauce for Venison) is a traditional Ancient Roman recipe for a classic sauce of pepper, cumin, herbs, parsley, onions, rue, honey, stock, mint, passum and caroenum that's boiled, chickened with starch and served with venison. The full recipe is presented here and I hope you enjoy this classic Ancient Roman version of: Sauce for Venison (Cervinae Conditura).

prep time

20 minutes

cook time

50 minutes

Total Time:

70 minutes

Serves:

4

Rating: 4.5 star rating

Tags : Sauce RecipesSpice RecipesGame RecipesVenison RecipesAncient Roman Recipes


Original Recipe


Cervinae conditura (from Apicius' De Re Coquinaria) VIII, ii, 4


Cervinae Conditura: piper, cuminum, condimentum, petroselinum, cepam, rutam, mel, liquamen, mentam, passum, caroenum et oleum modice. amulo obligas, cum iam bulliit.

Translation


Sauce for Venison: [Mix] pepper, cumin, green herbs, parsley, onions, rue, honey, stock, mint, passum, caroenum and a little olive oil. Bring to a boil and thicken with starch.

Modern Redaction

Ingredients:

2kg joint venison (either boiled until tender and roasted to colour or roasted)

For the Sauce:
1/2 tsp freshly-ground black pepper
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp fresh basil, shredded
1/2 tsp fresh thyme, shredded
1 tbsp fresh parsley, shredded
1/2 tsp rue (or rosemary)
1 tsp fresh mint, shredded
2 tbsp onions, chopped
2 tsp honey
250ml game or beef stock
60ml passum
60ml caroenum
2 tsp olive oil
2 tsp cornflour, to thicken (originally wheat starch would have been used)

Method:

Prepare the meat by boiling with a few root vegetables and a bunch of herbs for about 2 hours, or until tender then drain, place on a roasting tray and roast for about 30 minutes to colour.

About 40 minutes before the meat is due to be ready prepare the sauce. Combine the black pepper and cumin in a mortar. Grind finely then add the herbs and onion. Pound until smooth then blend in the, honey, passum, caroenum and olive oil.

Scrape the mixture into a pan and whisk in the game stock. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer and cook for about 10 minutes to blend the flavours. Whisk the cornflour with 2 tbsp water to form a smooth slurry. Whisk this slurry into the sauce and cook until thickened

Arrange the meat on a serving dish, pour over a little of the sauce and serve the remainder to accompany.

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.