{"id":10656,"date":"2005-04-24T11:43:27","date_gmt":"2005-04-24T09:43:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/coquinaria.nl\/?p=10656"},"modified":"2019-12-08T20:23:17","modified_gmt":"2019-12-08T19:23:17","slug":"roman-patina-quail","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/coquinaria.nl\/en\/roman-patina-quail\/","title":{"rendered":"Omelette with quail and asparagus"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"RomanPatina, a Roman dish<\/h2>\n

This is a recipe from Antiquity.It is from the cookbook that inspired me in naming my website Coquinaria. It is called\u00a0De Re Coquinaria<\/em>, although it is better known as\u00a0Apicius.<\/em>\u00a0More about his cookbook can be read at the recipe for Roman mussels<\/a>. And another recipe for Roman patina (vegetarian) can be found here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Patina, cookware and dish<\/h3>\n

This Roman dish is called\u00a0Patina<\/em>. In modern English patina means the film of green oxidation on copper or bronze, or any fine layer on a surface. In Latin\u00a0patina<\/em>\u00a0meant ‘dish’, either broad and shallow and meant to serve food on, or a multifunctional dish, in which food could also be prepared. That one was round or oval, made of earthenware or bronze, with straight upstanding sides. In modern English a\u00a0paten\u00a0<\/em>is a small dish to hold the Eucharistic bread. The dominutive of\u00a0patina<\/em>\u00a0is\u00a0patella<\/em>\u00a0which is the ancestor of the Spanish\u00a0paella<\/a>. Indeed, the pan I used for this patina is the one I use for\u00a0my paella<\/a>\u00a0as well (even though it is not an official\u00a0paellera<\/em>).<\/p>\n

Food that was prepared in the patina was also named\u00a0patina<\/em>. They were egg-dishes, comparable to modern savoury custard or omelet. There is a whole chapter devoted to these dishes in\u00a0De Re Coquinaria <\/em>in Liber IV (Pandecter<\/em>\u00a0or “many ingredients”), chapter II (Patinae piscium holerum pomorum<\/em>\u00a0or “patinae with fish, vegetables and fruit), in the edition of Flower en Rozenbaum pp.92\/111.<\/p>\n

The basic, everyday patina (patina cotidiana<\/em>) that opens the chapter is made with pounded, boiled brains. The second recipe is probably more to the taste of the modern public: it is an omelette with pine nuts, other nuts and honey. There are patina with elderberries, horse-parsley (and brains), rose petals (and brains), with anchovy, with vegetable marrows, a very opulent patina with pine nuts, sea-urchins, vegetables, several kinds of sausages, cheese, oysters and jellyfish (and brains of course!) which is simply called ‘patina with milk’ (patinam ex lacte<\/em>), another opulent patina ‘\u00e0 la Apicius’ (Patinam Apicianam sic facies<\/em>, in which stuffing is layered with pancakes) with sow’s udder, breasts of turtle-dove, fillets of fish, and “whatever other good things you can think of” (“et queacumque optima fuerint”), there are several patinae with fish, with sorb-apples (and brains), with pears, peaches, stinging nettles, quinces. Of all these I have chosen two patinae with asparagus. The patina with asparagus and songbirds is on this page, the one with asparagus and green herbs can be found here.<\/p>\n

\"SylviaSongbirds<\/h3>\n

The recipe on this page is titled ‘Cold asparagus patina with quails’. Originally other birds were used in this recipe, small songbirds called\u00a0ficedulae<\/em>, ‘fig-peckers’ (Sylvia hortensis<\/em>). These are very small, about the size of a robin. Faas mentions other possibilties, like the Garden Warbler (Sylvia borin<\/em>), Dunnock or Hedge Warbler (Prunella modularis<\/em>) and the Pied Flycatcher (Ficedula hypoleuca<\/em>). When you imagine these small birds plucked of their feathers they are even smaller. Translated to the fishworld you might say: anchovy-sized. In most parts of Europe we let the cute little songbirds live in peace -at least with regards to cooking. The smallest bird to end up on our dinnerplates is the quail. Not a songbird, but very tasty. That is why I have replaced the\u00a0ficedulae\u00a0<\/em>in my adaptation with quails (to return to the comparison of sizes: sardine instead of anchovy). On the picture above a Roman still life with trussed songbirds and a dish with eggs.<\/p>\n

The original recipe<\/h2>\n

The original recipe, taken from\u00a0De Re Coquinaria<\/em>\u00a0(more about this cookbook<\/a>), in the beautiful edition of Christopher Grocock and Sally Grainger (pp.178\/179, see bibliography<\/a>).<\/p>\n

aliter patina de asparagis frigida:
\naccipies asparagos purgatos, in mortario fricabis; aqua suffundes, perfricabis; per colum colabis, et mittes fecitulas curatas; teres in mortario piperis scrupulos sex, adicies liquamen; fricabis; uini ciatum I, passi ciatum I; mittes in caccabum olei uncias tres; illic ferueant. perungues patinam; in ea oua VI cum enogaro misces; cum suco asparagi inpones cineri calido. [mittes inpensam super scriptam]* tunc ficetulas conpones, coques; piper asparges et inferes.<\/em>
\n*\u00a0According to Grocock\/Grainger this passage is corrupt and added by a later scribe.<\/span><\/div>
Another cold asparagus patina.
\nTake cleaned asparagus, pound in the mortar, add water, beat thoroughly and pass through a sieve. Next put in a saucepan fig-peckers which you have prepared for cooking. Pound in the portar\u00a0 6\u00a0scruples<\/a>\u00a0of pepper, moisten with\u00a0liquamen<\/a>, grind well, add one\u00a0cyathus<\/a>\u00a0of wine and one cyathus\u00a0passum<\/a>. Put in a saucepan 3 oz. oil. Bring the mixture to the boil. Grease a\u00a0patina pan<\/a>, and mix in it\u00a0 6 eggs with\u00a0oenogarum<\/a>, put it with the sparagus pur\u00e9e in the hot ashes, pour on the mixture described above, and arrange the birds on top. Cook it, [let it cool], sprinkle with pepper, and serve.<\/div>
<\/div><\/p>\n

Modern adaptation of the recipe<\/h2>\n

In his book\u00a0Around the Table of the Romans<\/em>\u00a0Faas provides us with the other recipe for patina with asparagus, and he remarks that it is almost the same as this recipe. So: simply put quails in the patina with green asparagus, and you have made this one.\u00a0In my opinion these two recipes are not interchangeable, the eggs are tempered differently.
\nI have prepared the\u00a0aliter patina de asparagis<\/em>\u00a0on the picture for six eaters as a main dish, with six quails and eight eggs which was more than enough. And I used white asparagus instead of green asparagus (more on asparagus<\/a>).
\nFor 4 personsn<\/span>\u00a0as first course, for 2 persons as main dish;\u00a0preparation in advance<\/em>\u00a030 minutes<\/span>;\u00a0preparation<\/em>\u00a035 minutes<\/span>.<\/p>\n

\"Roman500 gr\u00a0white asparagus<\/span>
\n2 Tbsp\u00a0white wine<\/span>
\n2 Tbsp\u00a0Vino Santo<\/span>\u00a0(see note for\u00a0passum<\/a>)
\nfreshly\u00a0ground pepper<\/span>\u00a0to taste (but please use less than the original recipe, because that is half a tablespoon full)
\nfish sauce<\/span>\u00a0to taste (this is the salt. Use Eastern fish sauce, or home made), 1 tsp to 1 Tbsp
\n3 Tbsp\u00a0olive oil<\/span>
\n4\u00a0eggs<\/span>
\n2\u00a0quails<\/span><\/p>\n

Preparation in advance<\/h3>\n

Soak the asparagus in cold water for an hour before peeling them. Then peel the asparagus, and cut off the wooden ends of the stalks. Cut off the asparagus heads (5cm\/2\u00bd inches) and keep them apart. Boil the asparagus stalks in salted water for about ten minutes (very thick ones fifteen) (when you add the asparagus peel you’ll end up with an excellent base for asparagus soup). Take the stalks out of the water, boil the heads in the same liquid for five minutes. Green asparagus do not have to be peeled, you can either boil them a few minutes, or fry them in olive oil.<\/p>\n

Pur\u00e9e the asparagus stalks. It is very important that you have removed ALL the peel from the stalks, because any leftover peel will remain in the pur\u00e9e as hard, disagreeable strings.
\nFry the quails in olive oil for twenty minutes (or poach them, or roast them). Leave them whole or cut them in two.
\nTemper white wine with Vino Santo and fish sauce (this is called\u00a0oenogarum<\/em>). Add pepper and olive oil. According to the original recipe you should bring this to the boil and then mix it with the eggs. This would cause the eggs to curdle. It is best to add the oenogarum in small quantities at the time, stirring the eggs all the while. When this is done, add the asparagus pur\u00e9e.<\/p>\n

Preparation<\/h3>\n

Preheat an oven to 200 \u00b0C (392\u00a0\u00b0F). Grease a round or oval dish with olive oil and pour in the egg-mixture. Divide the saved asparagus heads over the eggs (they will probably sink into the eggs), and the quails. Cover the dish with aluminium foil, and place it in the middle of the oven for 20 to 30 minutes. Remove the foil after 10 to 15 minutes.
\nWhen preparing this dish in larger quantities the dish needs more time in the oven (and use a larger dish).<\/p>\n

To serve<\/h3>\n

The patina is served in the dish in which it is prepared. According to the title of the recipe it must be served cold (that is, at room temperature), but it is also very tasty when hot.<\/p>\n

Roman expressions<\/span><\/h2>\n

\"Patina<\/a>Caccabus<\/strong>\u00a0– Small kettle
\n<\/a>Cyathus<\/strong>\u00a0– Half decilitre (50cc, a little over 3 tablespoons)
\n<\/a>Patella<\/strong>\u00a0– Diminutive of patina (see below). The word\u00a0pa\u00eblla<\/a>\u00a0is derived from this
\n<\/a>Patina<\/strong>\u00a0– Round or oval dish with upright sides for in the oven or on the fire
\n<\/a>Scrupulum<\/strong>\u00a0– 1,137 gram, a little less than \u00bc teaspoon
\n<\/a>Uncia<\/strong>\u00a0– Roman ounce, 27,3 gram (the modern ounce equals 28,35 gram)<\/p>\n

Bibliography<\/h2>\n

The editions below were used by me. Links refer to available editions.<\/p>\n