Aliter Mullos (Red Mullets, Another Way) is a traditional Ancient Roman recipe for a classic dish of red mullet cooked in olive oil, liquamen and wine with a bouquet of chives and coriander that's served with a sauce of pepper and herbs blended with the pan juices and passum and thickened with starch. The full recipe is presented here and I hope you enjoy this classic Ancient Roman version of: Red Mullets, Another Way (Aliter Mullos).
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Original Recipe
Aliter Mullos (from Vinidarius' Apici Excerpta) xv
Aliter Mullos: Rades, lavas, componis in patinam. adices oleum, liquamen, vinum, in coctura fasciculum porri et coriandri, imponis ut coquatur. teres piper, ligusticum, origanum, adicies de iure suo [hec de patella], vino passo temperas, mittis in caccabo, ponis ut ferveat, amulo obligabis et patellam postea perfundes, piper aspargis et inferes.
Translation
Red Mullets, Another Way: Scale and wash the fish then arrange in a stewing pan. Add olive oil, liquamen, and wine and during the cooking a bouquet of chives and coriander. Cook. Grind peppercorns, lovage and oregano [in a mortar]. Add sauce from the stewing pan and blend with passum. Heat [this sauce] in a pan until it boils and thicken with starch. Afterwards, pour over the dish, sprinkle with pepper and serve.
Modern Redaction
Ingredients:
1 kg red mullet, cleaned and scaled
4 tbsp olive oil
200ml fish stock
4 tbsp liquamen (fish sauce)
200ml white wine
200ml water
1 bouquet garni made by tying together chives and coriander
1/2 tsp whole black peppercorns
1 tbsp lovage (or coriander seeds)
1/2 tsp dried oregano, crumbled
60ml passum
1 tbsp cornflour (originally amulum, wheat starch, would have been used)
freshly-ground black pepper, to garnish
Method:
Arrange the fish in a flame-proof casserole. Add the olive oil, fish stock, liquamen, white wine, ground aniseed and water. Tuck in the bouquet garni then bring to a simmer and cook for about 25 minutes, or until the fish is tender and flakes with a fork.
Pound together the black peppercorns, lovage (or coriander) seeds and oregano in a mortar and mix with the passum. Pour this into a saucepan then strain in the stock from the fish. Bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer. Whisk the cornflour to a smooth slurry with 4 tbsp water then whisk this mixture into your sauce. Bring back to a simmer and cook until thickened.
Arrange the fish on a serving dish, pour over the thickened sauce then garnish with freshly-ground black pepper and serve.
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