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Absinthum Romanum (Roman wormwood wine is made thus)

Absinthum Romanum (Roman wormwood wine is made thus) is a traditional Ancient Roman recipe for a classic spiced wine flavoure with wormwod, mastic, spikenard, costmary and saffron. The full recipe is presented here and I hope you enjoy this classic Ancient Roman version of: Roman wormwood wine is made thus (Absinthum Romanum).

prep time

10 minutes

cook time

20 minutes

Total Time:

30 minutes

Serves:

16

Rating:

Tags : Herb RecipesAncient Roman Recipes

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Original Recipe

Absinthum Romanum (from Apicius' De Re Coquinaria) I, iii

Absinthum Romanum: Absinthium Romanum sic facies: conditi Camerini praeceptis utique pro absinthio cessante, in cuius vicem absinthi Pontici purgati terendique unciam, Thebaicam dabis, masticis, folii [III] costi scripulos senos, croci scripulos III, vini eiusmodi sextarios XVIII. carbones amaritudo non exigit.

Translation

Roman wormwood wine is made thus: Just like the recipe for Camerinian [spiced wine] you need wormwood from Santo, or, as a substitute, use 90g of purified ground wormwood from Pontica, Theban dates, 4g of mastic and spikenard, 3 sheets of costii and 4g of saffron. [Combine this with] 16l of an appropriate kind of wine. Charcoal will not drive away the bitterness.

Modern Redaction

In essence this spiced wine represents the origins of Italian Vermouths, which are still made to this day. However, note that due to the bitterness the drink made below is essentially undrinkable and was probably made as a medicine rather than to drink on a daily basis.

Note that the absinthe you need for this recipe is Absinthium Romanum, Artemisia pontica which is milder than grand wormwood Artemisia absinthium.

The Costii in the recipe represents the dried root of Dolomiaea costus, which Pliny described as a "burning taste and an exquisite scent", but being "otherwise useless"; and I'm assuming the recipe refers to three dried pieces of the root. It seems to have been used as a fairly common spice for flavouring wine in Greece and Ancient Rome. The root can be bought on-line as a dried powder or dried root sticks. However, as an endangered species I would encourage you not to buy this plant. The wormwood will provide plenty of bitterness.

Ingredients:

1.5l white wine
4g dried wormwood leaves
0.5g mastic, ground
10 dates, pounded to a paste
0.5g spikenard
3 pieces of costus root
0.5g saffron threads crumbled

Method:

Place the herbs and dates in a large jar (preferably a demijohn) and pour over the wine. Stopper securely then set aside to macerate for 7 days.

After this time rack the absinth from the top of the vessel into a clean demijohn. Allow to settle for 2 days then strain or siphon the wine into clean bottles. It can be drunk as an aperitif, or substituted for Vermouth in any recipe that calls for that ingredient.


Find more recipes from Apicius' De Re Coquinaria along with information on Apicius and his cookbook, all part of this site's Ancient Roman recipes collection.