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Ius in Anguilla (Sauce for Eels)
Ius in Anguilla (Sauce for Eels) is a traditional Ancient Roman recipe for a classic sauce of pepper, lovage, aniseed, celery seeds, sumac, mint and dates in a honey, vinegar, stock, olive oil, mustard and wine base that's intended to be served with poached moray eel. The full recipe is presented here and I hope you enjoy this classic Ancient Roman version of: Sauce for Eels (Ius in Anguilla).
prep time
20 minutes
cook time
25 minutes
Total Time:
45 minutes
Serves:
4
Rating: 
Tags : Spice RecipesAncient Roman Recipes
Original Recipe
Ius in anguilla: piper, ligusticum, apii semen, anethum, rhus Syriacum, caryotam, mel, acetum, liquamen, oleum, sinape et defritum.
Translation
Sauce for Eels: [Combine] pepper, lovage, celery seeds, anise, Syrian sumac, dried mint, dates, honey, vinegar, liquame, olive oil, mustard and defrutum. [Bring to a boil and pour over the eels.]
Modern Redaction
Though the Romans loved it, moray eel is not much consumed these days. However, this sauce works well with other types of eels and fish such as ling.
Ingredients:
1kg eel steaks, poached
1/4 tsp freshly-ground black pepper
1 tsp lovage (or celery) seeds
generous pinch of aniseed
1 tsp celery seeds
1/2 tsp mustard powder
1/4 tsp ground
sumac
1/2 tsp dried mint, crumbled
4 pitted dates, finely chopped
2 tsp honey
1 tbsp white wine vinegar
250ml
fish stock
60ml
defritum
1 tbsp olive oil
Method:
Combine the black pepper, lovage (or celery) seeds, aniseed, celery seeds, mustard powder, mint and sumac in a mortar. Pound to grind then add the dates and pound again. Mix in the honey, white wine vinegar, fish stock defritum and olive oil then turn into a saucepan. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer and cook gently for 20 minutes, or until thickened.
Serve to accompany the poached eel.
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.
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