Roman ostrich sauce

1 servings

Ingredients

Quantity Ingredient
½ teaspoon Black pepper
1 tablespoon Minced fresh mint, or 1/2 tablespoon dried mint
1 teaspoon Ground cumin, briefly toasted in skillet
1 teaspoon Celery seeds
3 (to 4) seeded dates, minced
¼ cup Honey
½ cup Wine vinegar
¾ cup Cream Sherry
1 tablespoon Nuoc mam or other Southeast Asian fish sauce
1 tablespoon Oil
1 tablespoon Cornstarch
Formatted by Manny Rothstein

Directions

In the AD 4th-Century Roman cookbook of Apicius, there are two recipes for sauce to serve with ostrich. One is a honey-mustard vinaigrette with pepper, herbs (lovage, thyme) and liquamen, which was a fish sauce like the Vietnamese nuoc mam. This is the other one, which comes out like a wacky sort of barbecue sauce.

Mix pepper, mint, cumin, celery seeds, dates, honey, vinegar, Sherry, fish sauce and oil in saucepan. Bring to boil. Remove 1 tablespoon sauce to cup, cool slightly, then add cornstarch and stir to dissolve. Stir into sauce and bring to boil until thickened. Serve with cooked ostrich.

Makes about 2 cups sauce.

Each tablespoon contains about: 28 calories; 22 mg sodium; 0 cholesterol; 0 fat; 3 grams carbohydrates; 0 protein; 0.03 gram fiber.

Source: The Los Angeles Times, April 20, 1995 Submitted By MANNY ROTHSTEIN On 12-31-95

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