Cucurbitas cum Gallina (Gourds with Chicken)

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Cucurbitas cum Gallina (Gourds with Chicken)

Cucurbitas cum Gallina (Gourds with Chicken) is a traditional Ancient Roman recipe for a classic dish of whole chicken cooked slowly with apricots, mushrooms, spices, herbs, dates, wine, honey, olive oil and vinegar. The full recipe is presented here and I hope you enjoy this classic Ancient Roman version of: Gourds with Chicken (Cucurbitas cum Gallina).

prep time

20 minutes

cook time

180 minutes

Total Time:

200 minutes

Serves:

Rating:

Tags : Vegetarian Recipes Spice Recipes Chicken Recipes Fowl Recipes Vegetable Recipes Ancient Roman Recipes

Original Recipe

Cucurbitas cum Gallina (from Apicius' De Re Coquinaria) III, iv, 8

Aliter cucurbitas cum gallina: duracina, tubera, piper, careum, cuminum, silfi, condimenta viridia, mentam, apium, coriandrum, puleium, caryotam, mel, vinum, liquamen, oleum et acetum.

Translation

Another: Gourds with Chicken: [Place the gourds and chicken in a pan then add] apricots, truffles, pepper, caraway, cumin, silphium, fresh herbs, mint, celery, coriander, pennyroyal, dates, honey, wine, olive oil and vinegar.

Modern Redaction

Ingredients:

1 medium-sized squash, gourd, pumpkin or small vegetable marrow
1 whole, prepared, boiling chicken
100g ready to eat apricots
100g mushrooms, sliced
1 tsp freshly-ground black pepper
pinch of caraway seeds
1/4 tsp ground cumin
generous pinch of asafoetida powder (hing)
1 tsp dried mint, crumbled
1/2 tsp celery seeds
1/2 tsp coriander seeds
40g dates, finely chopped
1 tbsp honey
120ml white wine
200ml chicken stock or vegetable stock
1 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp white wine vinegar

Method:

Peel the squash and cut into pieces. Combine in a casserole dish with the chicken, apricots and mushrooms.

Grind together the pepper, caraway seeds, cumin, asafoetida, mint, celery seeds and coriander seeds in a mortar. Mix in the honey, olive oil and wine then pound in the dates until your have a smooth mixture. Add the stock and vinegar then pour this into the casserole with the chicken. Bring to a gentle simmer, cover with a tight-fitting lid and cook gently for about 3 hours, or until the chicken is cooked through and very tender. 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.