Pisam coques (Peas in Herb Sauce)

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Pisam coques (Peas in Herb Sauce)

Pisam coques (Peas in Herb Sauce) is a traditional Ancient Roman recipe for a dish of boiled peas served in a spiced leek-based sauce. The full recipe is presented here and I hope you enjoy this classic Ancient Roman version of: Peas in Herb Sauce (Pisam coques).

prep time

20 minutes

cook time

50 minutes

Total Time:

70 minutes

Serves:

Rating:

Tags : Sauce Recipes Spice Recipes Bean Recipes Ancient Roman Recipes

Original Recipe

Pisam coques (from Apicius' De Re Coquinaria V,3,1)

Pisam coques. cum despumaverit, porrum, coriandrum et cuminum supra mittis. teres piper, ligusticum, [careum hoc est caravita] careum, anethum, ocimum viride, suffundis liquamen, vino et liquamine temperabis, facies ut ferveat cum ferbuerit, agitabis. si quid defuerit, mittis et inferes.

Translation

Cook the peas. When they produce a froth, put in leek, coriander and cumin. Grind pepper, lovage, caraway, dill and fresh bail. Moisten with liquamen, mix with wine and liquamen and bring to a boil. When it boils, stir. If anything should be lacking, add it and serve.

The expectation that the peas should froth indicates that dried rather than fresh peas should be used in this recipe.

Ingredients:

1 1/2kg dried peas
1 leek, finely chopped
2 tsp ground cumin seeds
1 tsp ground coriander seeds
1 tbsp olive oil
pepper, to taste
1 tsp lovage seeds (or celery seeds)
1 tsp caraway seeds
1 tsp dried dill
2 tsp fresh basil, shredded
1 tsp liquamen (fish sauce (Nam Pla))
1 tbsp white wine

Method:

Wash the peas and add to the boiling water. Cook for about 40 minutes, or until almost done (just starting to break down) then drain and set aside. Meanwhile, combine the lovage, caraway, dill and basil in the wine and fish sauce. Whisk to combine and season with black pepper.

Add the olive oil to a frying pan and when hot stir-in the cumin and coriander then add the leek and fry until soft (about 8 minutes). Stir-n the peas then pour the sauce over the top. Stir to combine then allow to heat through (about 2 minutes) before serving.
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.