Asparagus patina

Following a recent post about the BBC series "Kew on a Plate", and in particular the recipe for an asparagus patina, I thought it best to check whether my understanding of this classical recipe matched the one recreated for the programme.

As with most recipes, the ingredients and method of cooking will differ, perhaps only slightly, as each chef produces their own interpretation.  In the case of the surviving texts from classical antiquity, there are further complications for interpretation.  Firstly, the recipes themselves are not usually presented in a form familiar to modern cooks.  In fact the "cookbook" format we're most likely to recognise was introduced by Isabella Beeton (b: March 12^th, 1836; d: February 6^th, 1865) who first listed a recipe's ingredients, with quantities, and the mode (method) of cooking complete with timings.  Yet in ancient texts from the classical period of Greece and Rome, for example the collections known to us as "Apicius", what survives is essentially a list of ingredients for the cook to combine in accordance with their taste and experience.

With quantities and cooking times omitted it means getting the balance of ingredients, textures and flavours "right" for the modern palate becomes the task for those of us who would recreate these classical dishes.  To complicate matters further, the recipes, such as they are, usually have had to be translated from the author's original language. The very transmission and copying of ancient texts through the ages is fraught with dangers for today's interpretor.  Missing bits of text, translation mistakes, spelling and typographical errors, both in the past and now, can change the meaning or leave significant gaps in our understanding.  It is only by experimenting with these recipes that one can hope to recreate something of the original author's intent.

The asparagus patina reproduced by Ruth Goodman in the BBC's "Kew on a Plate" series is a case in point. It is one of the few Apicius recipes (Apicius 4.2.5 & 6) that actually records quantities, and the patina can be cooked as a custard, or as a frittata or omelette. While recreating this particular recipe, a common mistake was broadcast. The original text does not require the asparagus to be cooked. Instead it is supposed to be pounded and soaked in wine so that the extracted juice can be used. The asparagus is actually discarded.

I'm sure that what resulted tasted absolutely fine, but if you fancy having a go at making the "original" Roman style recipe, then try the following, extracted from Sally Grainger's superb "Cooking Apicius: Roman Recipes for Today":

"Cooking Apicius: Roman Recipes for Today" by Sally Grainger (2006), Prospect Books, ISBN 978-1903018446)