Vitellian Peas Or Beans (Apicius 5.3.5 P. 213)

Prior to the transatlantic migration of the American Phaseolus-family (amongst them kidney beans and French beans), the only beans known to the ancient world were broad beans or fava beans. Of course there were other legumes, like peas, chick peas and lentils, but these aren't called beans. The broad bean (Vicia faba or Faba vulgaris) has been on the menu since prehistoric times.

The collection of Roman recipes De re coquinaria (Apicius, edition) has two recipes for broad beans or peas à la Vitellius. Aulus Vitellius (15-69 AD) was emperor of Rome for just three months, the third emperor within a year during a civil war. His successor Vespiasianus ended the war and he reigned until his death in 79 AD.

The recipes for broad beans can be found in the Fifth Book of De re coquinaria (Ospreon Liber Quintus), which contains nourishing dishes with legumes. The first recipe for "pisam Vitellianam siue fabam," which is reproduced below, is a purée of peas or broad beans, seasoned with pepper, lovage and ginger, hard boiled egg yolks, honey, wine and vinegar.

The other recipe is prepared with whole peas or broad beans. I surmise that the first recipe is with dried legumes in winter, the second with fresh legumes in summer [this was taken from http://www.coquinaria.nl/ - note: the recipe below, the first recipe, which is from Christopher Grocock & Sally Grainger, uses fresh or frozen beans]. There is another recipe in De re coquinaria that is named after the emperor; in Book Eight, recipes with quadrupeds, you can find "porcellum Vitellianum": roast sucking pig with a sauce made from pepper, lovage, liquamen, wine and passum.
Notes from http://www.coquinaria.nl/

A note I found in wikipedia under Vitellius pig, translated by Google Translate:

The Vitellian pig was a dish either invented by the emperor Vitellius or dedicated to him because (according to Dio Cassius ) he dispensed so much money for the preparation and seasoning of dinners that even in later centuries some dishes bore the name "Vitellian". [1] In Apicius it is described as follows:

Vitellian pig : you dress the pig like a boar, sprinkle with salt, and roast in the oven. put in a mortar pepper, lovage, pour in the sauce, season with wine and rye. let it boil in a pot with a little oil. and sprinkle the roasted pig with the right, so that it receives the right under the skin. [2]

Notes 

1. ↑ Xiphilinus, Epitome of Histories of Dionis Cassius 193-194 R.St.
2. ↑ Apicius or De re coquinaria 8.7.7

Bibliography

C. Grocock , S. Grainger , Apicius: A Critical Edition with an Introduction and an English Translation of the Latin Recipe Text Apicius

Translation - Vehling

189 Peas or Beans à la Vitellius
Pisam Vitellianam sive fabam​1
Peas or beans with yolks are made thus:​2 cook the peas, smoothen​3 them; crush pepper, lovage, ginger, and on the condiments put hard boiled yolks, 3 ounces of honey, also broth, wine and vinegar; mix and place all in a sauce pan; the finely chopped condiments with oil added, put on the stove to be cooked; with this flavor the peas which must be smooth; and if they be too harsh in taste add honey and serve.​4

1 List. Pisa Vitelliana — named for Vitellius, ninth Roman emperor, notorious glutton, according to Hum. who says that V. invented this dish: ab auctore Vitellio Imperatore luxui deditissimo. But Tor. differs; his pisum vitellinum stands for peas with yolks — vitellum — yolk, (also calf) dim. vitellinum; Tac. v–am. Cf. ℞ No. 193.

Thayer's Note: Vitellius was the eighth emperor, not the ninth. Vehling counted Julius Caesar, as people often do; who was not an emperor, however.

I haven't seen Humelbergius' edition of Apicius, but if all he said is what is quoted above, it doesn't mean Vitellius invented the dish, merely that it was named after him. The gluttony of Vitellius is the subject of a picturesque passage in Suetonius, Vit. 13.

2 Tor. sentence wanting in other texts.

3 lias — to make a purée by crushing and straining. Tor. laevigabis, from levigo — meaning the same.

4 If Vitellius never invented any other dish than this one, his gluttony was overrated. As a gastronomer he may be safely relegated to the vast multitude of ill-advised people whose craving for carbohydrates (which is perhaps pathological) causes them to accumulate a surplus of fat. This was fatal to Vitellius and his faithful court baker who is said to have stuck to his master to the last. The poor emperor's embonpoint proved cumbersome when he fled the infuriated mob. Had he been leaner he might have effected a "getaway." He was dragged through the streets and murdered, Dec. 21 or 22, A.D. 69.

Thayer's Note: Vitellius' final day, complete with baker and cook, can also be read in Suetonius, of course: Vit. 16.

Peas or Beans à la Vitellius Pisam

189 Vitellianam sive fabam
from http://penelope.uchicago.edu/

Peas or beans with yolks are made thus: cook the peas, smoothen them; crush pepper, lovage, ginger, and on the condiments put hard boiled yolks, 3 ounces of honey, also broth, wine and vinegar; mix and place all in a sauce pan; the finely chopped condiments with oil added, put on the stove to be cooked; with this flavor the peas which must be smooth; and if they be too harsh in taste add honey and serve.

Vitellian Peas Or Beans

Recipe from from Christopher Grocock & Sally Grainger, Apicius: A Critical Edition with an Introduction and English Translation, Prospect Books, 2006

500g shelled broad beans* boiled for 4-5 minutes and the tough outer skins removed
Ground black pepper to taste
1 tbsp chopped lovage (or celery leaves)
2 cm knob of fresh ginger peeled and chopped fine
3 hard boiled egg yolks
1 tbsp honey
1 tbsp liquamen
2/3 cup wine
1/3 cup vinegar
1 tbsp olive oil

Process the broad beans in a food processor. Using a mortar and pestle, pound the pepper, lovage and ginger to a paste. Add the egg yolks and honey and mix in thoroughly. Put the liquamen, wine and vinegar into a saucepan and bring to the boil. Add the spice and egg mix to the beans and process. Flush the mortar with the wine mixture and add to the bean mix – adding slowly to ensure the correct consistency. Taste and adjust flavourings.

*Frozen broad beans work well with this recipe