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Ius in Anguillam (Sauce for Eels II)

Ius in Anguillam (Sauce for Eels) is a traditional Ancient Roman recipe for a classic sauce of pepper, lovage, sumac, mint, rue berries and hard-boiled egg yolks in a mulsum, vinegar, stock and olive oil 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 Anguillam).

prep time

15 minutes

cook time

25 minutes

Total Time:

40 minutes

Serves:

4

Rating:

Tags : Spice RecipesAncient Roman Recipes

Original Recipe

Ius in Anguillam (from Apicius' De Re Coquinaria) X, iii, 2

Ius in anguillam: piper, ligusticum, rhus Syriacum, mentam siccam, rutae bacas, ovorum vitella cocta, mulsum, acetum, liquamen, oleum. coques.

Translation

Sauce for Eels: [Combine] pepper, lovage, Syrian sumac, dried mint, rue berries, hard-boiled egg yolks, mulsum, vinegar, liquamen and olive oil. Cook.

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

1/2 tsp freshly-ground black pepper
1 tsp lovage (or celery) seeds
1/4 tsp ground sumac
1 tsp dried mint, crumbled
pinch of rue berries (or rosemary)
2 hard-boiled egg yolks
60ml mulsum
1 tbsp white wine vinegar
250ml fish stock
1 tbsp olive oil

Method:

Combine the black pepper, lovage (or celery) seeds, rue berries (or rosemary), mint and sumac in a mortar. Pound to grind then add the hard-boiled egg yolks and pound again. Mix in the mulsum, white wine vinegar, fish stock 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.