Apicius 162

 

Patina de persicis

Persica duriora purgabis, frustratim concides, elixas, in patina compones, olei modicum superstillabis et cum cuminato inferes.

 
 

 

Dish of peaches

Peal and core the slightly unripe peaches, cut them into pieces, cook, arrange in a shallow dish, sprinkle with oil and serve with a cumin-sauce.

 
 

 

Notes

It's place among the recipes of Apicius suggests that it was part of the 'gustatio', but in my own kitchen it has become one of my favourite deserts.
For once peaches that aren't ripe enough have an advantage over ones that are. Pealing and cooking them in water sounds simple enough, but I prefer t follow my own instincts and place the chunks in an oiled dish and place them in the oven (220ºC) wíth the cuminatum.

For which I have used Apicius' recipe nr. 32:

Cumin sauce for oysters and shell-fish

 

Pepper, lovage-seed, parsely, dried mint, quite a lot of cumin, honey, vinegar and garumº.

Pound the herbs in a mortar and add honey, vinegar and a few drops of garumº. Fresh parsely didn't seem appropriate to me, so I used it in its dried condition. Actually, I suspect Apicius of having meant parsely seed. As to quantities: it is meant to be a cumin sauce, so cumin has to be added in a sufficient amount to come to the front. When using this sauce for this dish, it is to a great advatage if the mint also will be clearly recognised in the end. The other flavors may form a background to cumin and mint.

And then this delicious little dish comes out of the oven,fragrant, spicy, sweet, fruity, juicy and warm. Just add a dash of freshly ground pepper and enjoy.