Ancient Greek Recipes from Andrew Dalby and Sally Grainger (The Classical Cookbook)

The following recipes are from The Classical Cookbook, Andrew Dalby and Sally Grainger. Excellent source regarding Ancient Greek cuisine. It "explores the cuisine of the Mediterranean in ancient times from 750 B.C. to A.D. 450." Every chapter has a historical outline and translations of the original recipes w/versions for the modern cook.

Ancient Greek Shrimps in a glace of honey - (Arxaies garides me glaso meliou)

The Classical Cookbook said the recipe for the sweet and sour glazed shrimp was suggested by a few words in a remarkable document called The Banquet of Philoxenus from around 400 BC, "Honey-glazed shrimps besides, my love" is all there was to work with. Grainger, with her encyclopedic knowledge of the cuisine of the period, put together the recipe using appropriate ingredients and techniques from those few words –– a well-educated guess.

225 gr cooked, cleaned shrimps (if frozen, defrost and strain them)
1 spoon olive oil
2 spoons garos
1 spoon honey
2 spoons fresh oregano
Black pepper

Place the oil, garos and honey in a baking pan and add the shrimps. Saute the shrimps on this juice for 2-3 minutes until they soften. Remove the shrimps and keep them warm. Boil the juice until half of it remains. Add the oregano and pour the sauce over the shrimps. Dredge black pepper over them and serve.

Ancient Greek Gilt - head bream with cheese and oil - (Arxaies tsipoures me tyri kai ladi)

1 ½ kg gilt – head bream fish
225 gr pecorino romano cheese
3 spoons olive oil
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cumin

Clean the fish and scrape the scales carefully. Remove head and tail. Mash the cheese and beat it in a mixer with the olive oil. Baste a baking pan with oil and place the fish into it. Spread half of the cheese mixture on top of the fish and ensure that it is well covered by the mixture. Turn the fish upside down and spread the other side with the rest of the cheese mixture. Preheat the oven in 220 C and bake the fish for 10 – 15 minutes. Remove from the oven turn it upside down carefully and bake for another 10 – 15 minutes. Mix the cumin with the salt and dredge it over the cheese crust. Sprinkle the fish with one spoon olive oil and serve.

Ancient Greek Fish with coriander - (Arxaio psari me coliandro)

2 spoons of coriander seeds
1 teaspoon salt
2 cod steaks
Vinegar, made from white wine.

Preheat the oven in 190 C. Place the coriander seeds in a baking pan and bake them for 10 minutes. Let them cook for some minutes. Mash them with a mortar together with the salt. Drain the fish steaks and remove any tiny bones you can find. Sift them with the coriander mixture and place them in a baking pan (baste the baking pan with oil). Cover the pan and place it in the oven. Bake the fish for 20 – 25 minutes. Remove from the oven, sprinkle with vinegar and serve hot.

Note: Do not forget to sprinkle with vinegar.