Click on the image, above to submit to Pinterest.

Pisces Scorpiones Rapulatos (Scorpion Fish with Turnips)

Pisces Scorpiones Rapulatos (Scorpion Fish with Turnips) is a traditional Ancient Roman recipe for a classic dish of fish fillets part-cooked in liquamen (fish sauce) that are coated in mashed turnips, fried and served with a honey, stock vinegar and olive oil sauce coloured with saffron and thickened with rice flour. The full recipe is presented here and I hope you enjoy this classic Ancient Roman version of: Scorpion Fish with Turnips (Pisces Scorpiones Rapulatos).

prep time

10 minutes

cook time

30 minutes

Total Time:

40 minutes

Serves:

6-10

Rating:

Tags : Sauce RecipesSpice RecipesVegetable RecipesAncient Roman Recipes

Original Recipe

Pisces Scorpiones Rapulato (from Vinidarius' Apici Excerpta) vii

Pisces Scorpiones Rapulatos: Coquis in liquamen et oleo et cum mediaverit coctura, tolles. rapas elixas madidas et minutissime concisas manibus depressabis, ut humorem non habeant, et cum pisce obligas, et bulliat cum oleo abunde. et, iam bullivit, teres cuminum, lauri bacam dimidiam, addes propter colorem crocum. amulabis de oryza propter spissitudinem. superfundes et tunc inferes. addes modicum acetum.

Translation

Scorpion Fish with Turnips: Half cook [the fish] in liquamen and olive oil then remove from the pan. Take boiled turnips and chop finely whilst still wet. Press the [excess] moisture from them with your hands. Coat the scorpion fish with the turnip paste and boil in plenty of olive oil. When boiled, grind cumin and half a bay berry in a mortar. [Blend with honey, wine, stock, vinegar and a little olive oil]. Add saffron for colour. [Bring to a boil] and thicken with rice [flour]. Pour [over the cooked scorpion fish] and serve. Add a little vinegar.

Modern Redaction

The 'scorpion fish' mentioned in this recipe is the 'lesser weever' (Echiichthys vipera) known for its sting that causes intense pain. They were prized by the Romans, as a representation of the Zodiacal sign of the scorpion and were often served as part of a Zodiac Meal (where food was served on a large platter divided into twelve segments, one for each sign. Such a dish is described for Tremalchio's Feast in Petronius' Satyricon. It is commonly eaten in Spain today and is sold in markets (with the venomous fins removed).

Ingredients:

4 firm fish fillets (mackerel, herring, scorpion fish etc)
100ml liquamen (fish sauce)
200g turnips, peeled and boiled until tender
4 tbsp plain flour
salt and freshly-ground black pepper, to taste
100ml olive oil

For the Sauce:
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 bay berry (laurel berry)
1 tbsp honey
100ml white wine
100ml fish stock
1 tbsp white wine vinegar
1 tbsp olive oil
pinch of saffron
1 tbsp rice flour

Method:

Heat the liquamen in a frying pan, add the fish fillet and simmer for about 6 minutes, or until half done. Remove the fish from the pan and set aside.

Mash the boiled and drained turnips with the flour. Season to taste with salt and black pepper then use this mixture to coat the fish. Heat the olive oil in a frying pan and when hot add the turnip coated fish fillets. Fry for about 6 minutes, or until golden brown then turn over and cook for about 6 minutes on the other side. Remove the fish with a slice and set aside to keep warm.

Pound together the cumin seeds and bay berry in mortar then moisten with the white wine vinegar. Turn into a pan then mix in the honey, white wine, stock and olive oil. Bring to a boil and cook for 5 minutes then crumble in the saffron. Remove a little of the stock from the pan and mix with the rice flour until you have a smooth slurry. Whisk this back into the sauce, bring back to a boil and cook for about 10 minutes, or until thickened. Arrange the fish fillets on a serving dish. pour over the sauce and serve.

Find more recipes from Vinidarius' Apici Excerpta on this site's page dedicated to the Vinidarius Excerpts from Apicius with Translations.