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Glires (Stuffed Dormouse)
Glires (Stuffed Dormouse) is a traditional Ancient Roman recipe for a dish of baked dormouse stuffed with forcemeat (or use chicken breasts!). The full recipe is presented here and I hope you enjoy this classic Ancient Roman version of: Glires.
prep time
20 minutes
cook time
40 minutes
Total Time:
60 minutes
Serves:
4
Rating: 
Tags : Chicken RecipesGame RecipesFowl RecipesAncient Roman Recipes
Original Recipe
Glires: isicio porcino, item pulpis ex omni membro glirium trito, cum pipere, nucleis, lasere, liquamine farcies glires, et sutos in tegula positos mittesin furnum aut farsos in clibano coques.
Translation
Is stuffed with a forcemeat of pork and small pieces of dormouse meat trimmings, all pounded with pepper, nuts, laser, broth. Put the dormouse thus stuffed in an earthen casserole, roast it in the oven, or boil it in the stock pot.
Modern Redaction
Admittedly the
Glis glis or edible dormouse is an ingredient that's a little hard to get hold of these days (it looks like a little opossum but is an European rodent rather than a marsupial). However, this was a great delicacy on the Roman menu and it was they who introduced the
Glis glis to Britain. If you can't find the real thing, then I suggest you use chicken breasts as a replacement and 'dress' them to look like dormice. The dor in the name
dormouse has nothing to do with entranceways. Rather, it is derived from the Latin
dormire (to sleep) as, like its cousin the squirrel, the dormouse hibernates over winter.
Ingredients:
2 dormice per person (or two chicken breasts)
500g forcemeat (made from sausagemeat, 100g breadcrumbs and dormouse meat trimmings)
50g chopped nuts
80g laser (or 6 garlic cloves)
50ml broth (or ½ chicken stock cube dissolved in 50ml boiling water)
olive oil for frying
salt and pepper to taste
Method:
Gut and skin the dormouse. Finely chop any trimmings and reserve (if using chicken cut a pocket in the breast large enough to hold the stuffing). Add any meat trimmings to the forcemeat. Meanwhile add the nuts, laser (or garlic cloves) and pepper to a mortar and use a pestle to create a smooth paste. Add the chopped meat to this and mix thoroughly.
Pour in a little of the broth and a drizzle of olive oil on this and mix well. Use this meat mixture to stuff the dormouse (chicken breast).
The dormice (chicken breasts) can be prepared by either roasting in an oven at 180°C (350°F/Gas Mark 4) for 20–25 minutes or by boiling in broth for 30–40 minutes.
If using chicken breasts place these on a plate with the fat (tail) ends facing inwards. Decorate the narrow (head) end with currants for eyes and chives for whiskers to make them look more mouse-like. (Such artifices were actually quite common in early cooking.)
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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