Cucurbitas cum Gallina (Gourds with Chicken) is a traditional Ancient Roman recipe for a classic dish of whole chicken cooked slowly with apricots, mushrooms, spices, herbs, dates, wine, honey, olive oil and vinegar. The full recipe is presented here and I hope you enjoy this classic Ancient Roman version of: Gourds with Chicken (Cucurbitas cum Gallina).
Another: Gourds with Chicken: [Place the gourds and chicken in a pan then add] apricots, truffles, pepper, caraway, cumin, silphium, fresh herbs, mint, celery, coriander, pennyroyal, dates, honey, wine, olive oil and vinegar.
Modern Redaction
Ingredients:
1 medium-sized squash, gourd, pumpkin or small vegetable marrow
1 whole, prepared, boiling chicken
100g ready to eat apricots
100g mushrooms, sliced
1 tsp freshly-ground black pepper
pinch of caraway seeds
1/4 tsp ground cumin
generous pinch of asafoetida powder (hing)
1 tsp dried mint, crumbled
1/2 tsp celery seeds
1/2 tsp coriander seeds
40g dates, finely chopped
1 tbsp honey
120ml white wine
200ml chicken stock or vegetable stock
1 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp white wine vinegar
Method:
Peel the squash and cut into pieces. Combine in a casserole dish with the chicken, apricots and mushrooms.
Grind together the pepper, caraway seeds, cumin, asafoetida, mint, celery seeds and coriander seeds in a mortar. Mix in the honey, olive oil and wine then pound in the dates until your have a smooth mixture. Add the stock and vinegar then pour this into the casserole with the chicken. Bring to a gentle simmer, cover with a tight-fitting lid and cook gently for about 3 hours, or until the chicken is cooked through and very tender. Serve hot.