Apicius culinary tips

A few tips still useful today from the Roman chef APICIUS GAVIUS MARCUS

How to make white wine from red wine

Put the bean flour or the white of three eggs in the bottle and shake it as long as possible. The next day the wine will be white. The ash of the white grape vine has the same effect.

To keep the meat fresh for as long as you want without salting

Cover the fresh meat you want to preserve with honey and hang the .

This method works better in winter. You can do the same with cooked meat.

How to make salty meat sweet

Salted meat becomes sweet if you first cook it in milk and then in water.

How fried fish last longer

When you take them out of the pan, spray them with hot vinegar.

How to identify bad honey

Place a wick in between and light it. If the honey is good, the wick burns.

(I don’t mean bad honey per se, but honey into which merchants have mixed flour, sand, etc.)

How will the apples stay fresh

Dip them in boiling water, immediately lift and hang.

Source: Svetlana Slapšak, Apicij, Umetnost kuhanja. Ljubljana, 1996.