Name: Sauce for Poached Moray Eel (Ius in Murena Elixa)
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 25 min
Total time: 40 min
Yield: 4 servings
Cuisine: Roman
Ingredients: 1kg eel steaks, poached; 1/2 tsp freshly-ground black pepper; 1 tsp lovage (or celery) seeds; 1/2 tsp caraway seeds; 1/2 tsp cumin seeds; 6 tbsp ground almonds; 4 dates, finely chopped; 1/2 tsp mustard powder; 2 tsp honey; 2 tsp white wine vinegar; 250ml fish stock; 1 tbsp liquamen (fish sauce); 60ml defrutum; 1 tbsp olive oil

Click on the image, above to submit to Pinterest.

Ius in Murena Elixa (Sauce for Poached Moray Eel)

Ius in Murena Elixa (Sauce for Poached Moray Eel) is a traditional Ancient Roman recipe for a classic sauce of pepper, lovage, caraway seeds, cumin, nuts, dates and mustard in a honey, vinegar, stock, oil and defrutum 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 Poached Moray Eel (Ius in Murena Elixa).

prep time

15 minutes

cook time

25 minutes

Total Time:

40 minutes

Serves:

Rating:

Tags : Spice Recipes Ancient Roman Recipes

(click this button to prevent the screen from sleeping so Cook Mode is 'ON')

Original Recipe

Ius in Murena Elixa (from Apicius' De Re Coquinaria) X, ii, 6

Ius in murena elixa: piper, ligusticum, careum, cuminum, nucleos, caryotam, sinape, mel, acetum, liquamen et oleum et defritum.

Translation

Sauce for Poached Moray Eel: [Mix] pepper, lovage, caraway, cumin, nuts, dates, mustard, honey, vinegar, liquamen and oil and defrutum.

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
1/2 tsp caraway seeds
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
6 tbsp ground almonds
4 dates, finely chopped
1/2 tsp mustard powder
2 tsp honey
2 tsp white wine vinegar
250ml fish stock
1 tbsp liquamen (fish sauce)
60ml defrutum
1 tbsp olive oil

Method:

Combine the black pepper, lovage (or celery) seeds, caraway seeds, cumin seeds, and mustard powder in a mortar. Pound to grind then add the almonds and dates and pound again. Mix in the honey, white wine vinegar, defrutum, liquamen, 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.