Minutal of Apricots (Apicius 4.3.6)

The recipe in Latin:

Minutal ex praecoquis:adicies in caccabum oleum, liquamen, vinum, concides cepam ascaloniam aridam, spatulam porcinam coctam tessellatim concides. his omnibus coctis teres piper, cuminum, mentam siccam, anethum, suffundis mel, liquamen, passum, acetum modice, ius de suo sibi, temperabis, praecoqua enucleata mittis, facies ut ferveant, donec percoquantur. tractam confringes, ex ea obligas. piper aspargis et inferes. Apicius, 3.6

169 Minutal of Fruit (Vehling's translatiton)
Minutal ex praecoquis
In a sauce pan put oil, broth and wine, finely cut shallots, diced cooked pork shoulder. When this is cooked, crush pepper, cumin, dry mint, dill, moisten with honey, broth, raisin wine and a little vinegar, some of the gravy of the above morsels. Add fruits the seeds of which have been taken out, let boil, when thoroughly cooked, skim, bind, sprinkle with pepper and serve.​1

This, rather than ℞ No. 168, deserves the title, Sweet Minutal, for it is practically the same, with the addition of the fruit.

 

Minutal of Apricots (Apicius 4.3.6)
from Christopher Grocock & Sally Grainger, Apicius: A Critical Edition with an Introduction and English Translation, Prospect Books, 2006

To cook the Pork Shoulder:
Shoulder of pork cooked and diced (~ 1 kg)
3 tbsp Olive Oil
2 tbsp Fish sauce
1 cup wine
1 bunch spring onions trimmed and chopped

The sauce:
2 tsp black pepper
2 tsp Cumin
1 tbsp Dried Mint
2 tbsp Dill chopped fine
1 tbsp Honey
2 tbsp Fish sauce
½ cup Raisin wine
¼ cup wine vinegar
20 dried Apricots soaked for ½ an hour in hot water then drained*
Corn flour to thicken mixed with a spoonful of the cooking liquor before being added to the pan.**

Place oil, wine and fish sauce and spring onions with the pork shoulder in a pan and bring to the boil. Simmer until the meat is cooked, remove from heat and leave to cool in liquid. When it has cooled, remove the meat from the pan and dice. Retain the liquor.

Pound the pepper, cumin, dried mint and dill. Add honey, fish sauce, wine and vinegar with some of the cooking liquor. Heat in a large saucepan and add the apricots. Taste and correct the seasonings to balance the flavours. Add the diced pork and simmer for 30 minutes.  Then thicken the mixture with either tracta (see below) or corn flour. Sprinkle with pepper and serve.

*If using dried apricots rather than fresh ones the sauce may need a little more vinegar for balance the flavours and the thickener may not be necessary.
**Traditionally tracta would have been used instead of corn flour as a thickener. To make it mix fine semolina with water (2:1), roll into small balls and dry them by indirect heat. To use, crumble a few into the stew juices and allow to thicken.

Pork and Apricot Minutal, Apicius 4.3.6
from Cooking Apicius: Roman Recipes for Today by Sally Grainger, 2006

This minutal is made with diced cooked meat rather than mince. The stew has a distinct texture due to the fact that the meat was pre-cooked. Though it is quite possible to use raw pork and cook it in the stock, it would not produce an authentic minutal. Minutals tend to be sweet and sour in flavour and cumin is a common seasoning.

FMM: Websites suggested serving this with farro or barley boiled with some salt and olive oil, or a chickpea recipe.

500 g pork joint
300 ml sweet white wine
300 ml stock/water
40 ml olive oil
2 tbsp fish sauce
2 medium onions or, if available, large bulbed spring or young onions in the green
1 tsp cumin seeds
½ tsp black peppercorns
1 tsp dill weed, chopped
1 dessert spoon set honey
1 tbsp passum (see p. 32)
2 tbsp vinegar
80 g fresh or semi dried apricots
3 discs of tracta (see p. 37) or cornflour to thicken

Rub olive oil and salt into the skin of the pork and roast in a hot oven until the skin is crisp and the meat is well done. Allow to cool and dice the meat into chunks. Place the wine, stock, olive oil, fish sauce and the chopped onion in a saucepan, bring to a gentle simmer and continue until the onion is cooked. Add the diced pork along with any meat juices (skimmed of fat) and cook together. Roast the cumin and grind with the pepper and add along with the dill, honey, passum, vinegar and the apricots. Continue to cook together. Grind the tracta into a coarse grain and add to the pan, stirring all the time. The starch will be released slowly into the sauce and it will take time to thicken completely. You may not need to use all the tracta. Finish cooking and taste. Adjust the seasoning with more fish sauce if necessary.