Pullus Parthicus - Ancient Roman Roast Chicken

Welcome to our kitchen. Today we prepare ancient Roman roast chicken from De Re Coquinaria. We start with the ingredients. We need a chicken, white wine, garum, and the spices, long pepper, lovage, caraway, and asafoetida. First, we grind in the mortar long pepper, lovage, and caraway, and dilute them with a bit of garum and wine. Long pepper is one of the three kinds of pepper ancient Romans had at their disposal. According to Pliny, more expensive than black and white pepper, but intense and aromatic, perfect for the simple recipe we are making today. In any case, you can choose the kind of pepper you prefer. Common black pepper works perfectly well for this dish. The pairing of pepper and lovage turns very spicy, so we suggest keeping the quantities in check, unless you want a strongly spiced dish. Lovage and caraway are among the most common Mediterranean spices used in ancient Roman cuisine. If you don't have them, you can use cumin, fennel, or anise seeds instead. The flavors would be quite different, but the outcome delicious in any case. Garum can be substituted with a Southeast Asian fish sauce, muria, or simply with salt. To know more about garum in the ancient world and the methods to make it, with a recipe from the Geoponics prepared step by step, check out our video dedicated to it. Muria is another fish sauce that can be considered the ancestor of colatura di alici, simpler than garum used mainly by the Plebeians. You find the links to the videos in the description below. Then, we spatchcock the chicken, opening it from the chest. The author describes this step as opening the chicken from the navis, which literally means boat, but it is unclear which part of the chicken he is referring to, and even if he actually means to spatchcock the chicken. The expression apere e sanavi doesn't seem to be used by any other Latin author. Then, we on a pan lay the chicken, coat it with the sauce, and grate a good amount of asafoetida on top. Since this dish is called pullus particus, it seems perfectly correct to use for it silphium particum, the cheaper variety of silphium. Silphium, also called laser in Latin, was very common in the ancient Mediterranean countries. Silphium particum was produced in Syria, Armenia, and Media, and is equivalent to traditional Eastern asafoetida. In the Antiquity, there were other varieties of silphium, among which the famous Silphium cyrenaicum, produced in Libya, extremely expensive and delicious, whose flavor is described as completely different from asafoetida, since, according to Dioscorides, it didn't smell as leeks at all. Asafoetida, instead, recalls garlic or leek, and is quite intense. However, there were also other kinds of silphium, still used during the Middle Ages, in addition to silphium particum and cyrenaicum. To prepare this recipe, actually, the author uses laser vivum, recommending to dilute it in warm water. Laser vivum is a fresh resin, an ingredient that probably is no more available, and surely we don't find it in Italy. We suggest substituting it with the dried resin. We cook the pullus particus in the oven for about 40 minutes. To know more about the kinds of silphium and their uses in the Antiquity and Middle Ages, check out our Patreon page, in which you find every week a new article and once a month our translation of a historical source. This time, we published the first two books of De Re Coquinarium. If you're interested in ancient foods, check out our book, Ancient Roman Cooking, available on Amazon in English and Italian, in both e-book and print editions. In the book, you find a long introduction about foods and preparations, in addition to many recipes with the original texts and our translations. To support our work, you can also buy us a beer or purchase our merchandise. You find the links in the description below. Meanwhile, we grind a bit of long pepper. If you prefer, you can use different kinds of pepper for the sauce and its final step, for example black pepper for the sauce and then long pepper. We suggest following your taste. Chicken was very common in ancient Rome, and there are several recipes in De Re Coquinarium. In the edit of prices issued by Emperor Diocletian in 301, a couple of chickens cost 60 denarii, whereas the price for a duck or a rabbit is 40 denarii. We prepared in the past two chicken recipes, one for a roast and the other for a stew, both from this source. You find the links to the videos in the description below. When the chicken is done, we cut it and serve it sprinkled with long pepper. This chicken is intensely spiced with complex Mediterranean flavors, rich and delicious. The spices pair perfectly together, creating a unique harmony of aromas, despite the apparent simplicity of this recipe. Surely, it is worth a try to experience a different way to prepare an easy roast chicken, perfect for both an ancient Roman feast and an everyday dinner. We suggest pairing it with a good salad, such as cucumber or lettuce salad or mashed gourd and good wine. You find the links to the videos in the description below. If you're interested in ancient foods and flavors, subscribe our channel and consider supporting us on Patreon.