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Oxyporium (Oxyporium Salad Dressing)

Oxyporium (Oxyporium Salad Dressing) is a traditional Ancient Roman recipe for a salad dressing made from spiced dates and honey flavoureed with fish sauce and white wine vinegar. The full recipe is presented here and I hope you enjoy this classic Ancient Roman version of: Oxyporium.

prep time

20 minutes

cook time

10 minutes

Total Time:

30 minutes

Serves:

4

Rating:

Tags : Sauce RecipesSpice RecipesAncient Roman Recipes

Original Recipe

Oxyporium (from Apicius' De Re Coquinaria)

Oxyporum: Cumini unc. II, gingiberis unc. I, rutae viridis unc. I, nitri scripulos VI, dactilorum pinguium scripulos XII, piperis unc. I, mellis unc. IX. cuminum vel Aethiopicum aut Syriacum aut Libycum aceto infundes, sicca et sic tundes. postea melle comprehendis. cum necesse fuerit, oxygaro uteris.

Translation

2 ounces of cumin, 1 ounce of ginger 6scruples of saltpeter, a dozen scruples of plump dates, 1ounce of pepper and 11[List.9]ounces of honey. The cumin may be either Aethiopian, Syrian or Libyan, must be first soaked in vinegar, boiled down dry and pounded. Afterwards add your honey. This compound, as needed, is used as oxyporum.

from Martial's Invitation to friends for dinner)

This recipe, though not entirely 'authentic' it is derived from period sources. This is a dressing for lettuce or other salad greens. Though based on the work of the Roman fourth-century CE gastronome, Apicius this recipe is derived from a description given in a poem by the first-century CE poet, Martial.

Ingredients:

60g cumin
30g ginger, grated
30g rue (or celery leaves) finely chopped
15g stoned dates finely chopped
30g freshly-ground pepper
270g clear honey
3 tbsp white wine vinegar
2 tbsp liquamen

Method:

Pound the cumin to a paste in a pestle and mortar. Add the white wine vinegar and blend then leave aside until the vinegar dries out.

Once the cumin is dry scrape into a bowl and add the remaining ingredients. Pour the finished sauce over lettuce or other salad greens.

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.