|
Pullus Vardanus
Pullum coques iure hoc:
liquamineº, oleo, uino, <cui mittis> fasciculum porri, coriandri,
satureiae. Cum coctus fuerit, teres piper, nucleos cyathos duos
et ius de suo sibi suffundis et fasciculos proicies. Lac temperas,
et reexinanies [in] mortarium supra pullum, ut ferueat. Obligas
eundem albamentis ouorum tritis, ponis in lance et iure supra
scripto perfundis. Hoc ius candidum appellatur.
|
|
|
Chicken Vardanus
Cook the chicken in the following sauce:
garumº,
oil, wine, togheter with a bundle of leeks, coriander and savory. When
done, grind pepper with two cups of pine-kernels, add some of the stock
and remove the bundle of herbs. Dilute with milk. Add the contents of
the mortar to the chicken and make it simmer. Thicken the sauce with
ground egg-whites, serve on a platter and pour the sauce over it. This
is called a white sauce.
|
|
|
Notes
For this recipe we need a plump chicken, preferably
from an organic farm and a pan that will hold it. Next apicius' bundle
of herbs: a smallish leek and a handfull of fresh coriander wil pose no
problems, the savory might. The variety that traditionally accompanies
broad beans (at least with us in the Netherlands) is not what is meant
here. Instead of Satureia hortensis we need some Satureia montana,
which is sometimes sold as a garden plant, but ccan be held in a
pot on our balcony if you like.
As for wine, I used a white one here, and a rather mild one at that, just
to keep the sauce from becoming too sour. We cook the chicken in the wine,
togheter with the bundle of herbs. When nearly done, we grind in a mortar
3 oz. of pine-kernels with a it of pepper. Add some milk.
In a bowl we beat three egg-wites untill stiff. Apicius probably meant
the whites of hard-boiled eggs, but I doubt wheter they have the thickening
prperties needed for this recipe.
We then take the chicken from the pan and keep it warm. The stock is sieved
and boiled down to slightly less than half. With a few table-spoons of
this we stir the ground pine-kernels into a thickish sauce and add this
to the restof the stock. While letting it simmer gently, we see how it
startsto thicken because of the pine-kernels.
Just before serving we take the sauce from the fire and mix in the beaten
egg-whites. Mind that the sauce shouldn't be too hot, or else the egg-whites
will cause it to curdle instead of becoming smooth.
Finally place the chicken on a platter and pour the white sauce over it.
A sprig of fresh coriander on top will prove a lovely decoration when
serving it.
When I first tried this recipe, I conveniently
boned and cut up the chicken before serving. The result was a kind of
ragoût, mildly sour with a distinct aroma of fresh coriander.
|
|