Roman Honey Glazed Mushrooms

Sautéed mushrooms in a honey, long pepper, and garum glaze

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City/Region: Rome

Time Period: 1st Century

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Food tasters checking for poison aren’t around so much anymore, but it was an important job for thousands of years. But what happens when the food taster is the one adding in the poison?

Emperor Claudius found this out the hard way when he supposedly ate some of his favorite mushrooms, and then became the victim of a double-poisoning by his taster and his physician.

We can’t know for sure what Emperor Claudius’s favorite mushroom dish was, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it was this. I don’t care for the texture of mushrooms, but the flavor is excellent. The sweetness from the honey, spiciness from the long pepper, and the earthiness of the mushrooms combine for a complex dish that is delicious.

“Another Method for Mushrooms.
Place the chopped stalks in a clean pan, adding pepper, lovage, and a little honey. Mix with garum. Add a little oil.”

— Apicius de re coquinaria, 1st century

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Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon honey
• 1 tablespoon garum*
• 1/2 lb (225 g) small mushrooms, whatever kind you like
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 teaspoon ground long pepper* or black pepper
• 2-3 tablespoons minced fresh lovage* or celery leaves

*See notes below.

Instructions:

1. Whisk the honey and garum together, then whisk in the pepper.
2. Cut the stems off of the mushrooms (don't throw them away!) and slice each mushroom cap in half.
3. Heat the olive oil in a large pan (you want it large enough so that the mushrooms can be in a single layer) over medium-high heat.
4. Add the mushroom caps and stems and sauté them for 2 to 3 minutes, making sure that they all get coated with oil.
5. Add the honey mixture and stir to evenly coat the mushrooms. Sprinkle in the lovage. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer until most of the liquid has evaporated and you're left with a lovely glaze, about 3 to 5 minutes.
6. Serve them forth, no royal food taster required.

Notes

• Garum was a fermented fish sauce that was used in a lot of ancient Roman cooking. You can buy a modern equivalent or use an Asian fish sauce. For this recipe, I used 1 tablespoon of my homemade garum, which is less salty than modern Asian fish sauces. If you use an Asian fish sauce, use 1 to 1.5 teaspoons.
• Long pepper was very popular in ancient Rome. It's hotter than black pepper and has a more aromatic, almost flowery quality to it that's wonderful.
• Lovage is a mildly sweet herb that can be hard to find. You can use celery leaf as a subsitute. Do not eat lovage if you are pregnant!
• Link to long pepper: https://amzn.to/3ui5j5L
• Link to modern garum: https://amzn.to/3ulTKKW

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