Dish of honor of the deipnon (festive dish placed at the center)
Nile Fish Roasted with Garum, Coriander, and Cumin
FestiveReconstruction🍄 🫙 🧂moyen50 min
A whole roasted fish, brushed with a mixture of garum, oil, wine, and spices, scented with coriander and cumin. The quintessential reception dish of ancient Alexandria.
Dish of honor of the deipnon (festive dish placed at the center)
A whole roasted fish, brushed with a mixture of garum, oil, wine, and spices, scented with coriander and cumin. The quintessential reception dish of ancient Alexandria.
Here is the dish served when one wishes to honor those who share one's table. Our fishermen bring up from the Nile and the sea fish that the cook rubs with garum — that fish brine cherished by all the Mediterranean — with a little wine, oil, and fragrant seeds from the garden. It is laid whole on the embers, and we watch for the precise moment when the flesh flakes: neither too soon nor too late, for in cooking as in geometry, everything is a matter of right proportion. For my part, I take only a modest portion — but I leave my guests the joy of the feast.
Ingredients
- •Whole river or sea fish — a fine specimen (centerpiece)
- •Garum — as needed (umami seasoning)
- •Olive oil — generous (cooking and binder)
- •White wine — a little (marinade)
- •Coriander and cumin seeds — crushed (spices)
- •Rue or oregano — a few sprigs (herb)
- •Honey — a drizzle (roundness)
How it was made : Apicius devotes an entire book to fish and garum sauces (liquamen). Garum, made by fermenting fish and salt, was the king condiment of Roman antiquity; Egypt produced and consumed it widely. Lemon, still rare and ornamental in the ancient Mediterranean, is suggested here as a modern serving touch, not period-accurate.
Sources : Apicius, De re coquinaria, Book X (fish) · Athenaeus of Naucratis, The Deipnosophists (banquets and fish)