A melting fish custard baked in a terrine, bound with eggs, perfumed with wine and garum, balanced by honey and defrutum: the pinnacle of sweet-sour-salty refined Roman cuisine.

Why this dish? In Clodia's gardens on the Tiber and at her villa in Baiae on the Bay of Naples, fresh fish abounded. This patina, a fish custard bound with eggs and seasoned with garum, was exactly the kind of dish a prominent hostess would serve at banquets where the art of pleasing was cultivated.

At Baiae, on my terrace overlooking the bay, the fish arrives still wriggling from the fishponds — one must do it honor. You crumble the cooked flesh, bind it with beaten eggs, moisten with wine and a dash of garum, sweeten with honey and defrutum, then let it all cook gently until it sets like a firm cream. Cicero may drag me through his court and call me every name; my guests, however, will forget neither my verses nor my table. Serve it warm, and let the cups be filled.

How it was made : Patinae are savory custards very common in Apicius. Garum, made by fermenting small fish in salt for months, provided saltiness and umami; defrutum and honey created the sweet-sour balance the Romans cherished. They were baked in low ovens or under ashes, in earthenware molds.

The contemporary twist : Bake in individual ramekins and unmold, like a 'sea flan,' with a dash of colatura di alici (the direct heir of garum, still produced in Cetara).

Sources : Apicius, De re coquinaria, book IV (Patinae)

Clodia Metella · Charactorium