A Mediterranean fish roasted, basted with a sauce of garum, white wine, coriander and cumin. The garum melts into the flesh, giving it a salty-umami depth characteristic of fine Greco-Roman cuisine.

Why this dish? At official banquets of the Mouseion or dinners among scholars, fresh fish was served — a luxury in Alexandria despite the nearby sea. Heron, a man of the scholarly city, shared these meals where geometry was discussed around a fine fish glazed with garum.

For feast days, I leave nothing to chance: a fish is treated with the same rigor as a theatrical mechanism. A few drops of garum — no more, for excess spoils the balance like a misplaced counterweight ruins an automaton — a little wine, coriander, cumin. I entrust it to the fire just long enough, no more, no less. And when my guests debate lines and circles, the dish has already made its demonstration.

How it was made : Refined Greco-Roman cuisine often paired garum with wine, honey, and spices like coriander and cumin — a salty-sweet-aromatic balance found in recipes later compiled by Apicius. Fresh fish remained a prestige dish, even near the sea.

The contemporary twist : Served as fillets napped with the reduced garum sauce, with a nod to "the aeolipile fish," since the oven steam cooks it as steam turned his sphere.

Hero of Alexandria · Charactorium