Brǣdan Fisc: Reconstructing Apicius' Roman Fish Baked with Coriander
Fish seasoned with coriander and finished with vinegar, served as the Roman centerpiece of the third course at Ceilidh XVI, March 29, 2003.
Some historical recipes disappear and leave us to reconstruct dinner from shells, seeds, tools, and scraps of language. Others survive, but the reconstruction slowly wanders away from them.
Brǣdan Fisc belongs to the second category. I served this fish more than twenty years ago as part of an Anglo-Saxon-inspired feast, but I knew even then that the dish itself was Roman. The recipe came from the collection traditionally known as Apicius. Over time, however, the written version on Give It Forth became simplified. Olive oil and black pepper appeared as if they belonged to the ancient recipe. The fish was baked uncovered. The vinegar finish disappeared completely.
Going back to the Latin tells a different story. Apicius calls for fish coated with pounded salt and coriander seed, placed in a dish, covered, sealed, baked in an oven, and finished with very sharp vinegar. That method is much closer to what I remember actually serving than the simplified recipe currently preserved in the feast post. This article is therefore not about inventing a Roman fish dish. It is about recovering one.
Brǣdan Fisc – fish baked with crushed coriander seed and finished with sharp vinegar, reconstructed from the Roman recipe collection traditionally known as Apicius.
