Honey-Glazed Shrimp
from The Classical Cookbook by Andrew Dalby and Sally Grainger

The Classical Cookbook said the recipe for the sweet and sour glazed shrimp 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. Grainger described The Banquet of Philoxenus as “a poetic celebration of obsessive culinary pleasures, a literary dinner-party.”

Fish sauce (for its salt) and olive oil would undoubtedly have been among the ingredients, along with the honey. Oregano is suggested as the Greeks used it in seafood dishes.

8 oz (225 g) cooked, peeled shrimps
1 tablespoon (15 ml) olive oil
2 tablespoons (30 ml) fish sauce
1 tablespoon (30 g) clear honey
2 teaspoons chopped fresh oregano
Black pepper

If using frozen shrimps, ensure that they are well defrosted and drained.

Place the oil, fish sauce and honey in a sauce pan and add the shrimps. Sauté them gently in the cooking liquor for 2 or 3 minutes until they are tender. Remove them with a perforated spoon and keep warm.

Continue to cook out the liquor until it has reduced by half. Add the chopped oregano and pour the sauce over the shrimps. Sprinkle with freshly ground black pepper.

Serves two.