The World That Was - Roman Pear Bake "Patina" by Apicius

Hello and Welcome to The World That Was!

Today, I'll be making a sweet dessert recorded by Apicius - the simple pear patina, which is kind of like a baked sponge in terms of texture. The original recipe requires some ingredients that are difficult to get a hold of today, so I've substituted some close modern approximations - which work just as well!

In any case, let's now take a look at The World That Was! Follow along with my YouTube video, above!

Ingredients
5 pears
white wine (to cook the pears)
2 tbsp honey
pepper
cumin
1/2 cup sweet wine
4 eggs
1 tbsp olive oil

Method

1 - Poach pears

To begin with, we need to prepare our pears. Do this by pouring most of a bottle of wine into a pot large enough to accommodate your pears. You can also use water, if you're not keen on using alcohol! Place this over a high heat, and bring it to a simmer.

When it's simmering steadily, carefully place your pears into the liquid, before pouring a couple tablespoons of honey over this. Make sure the liquid covers the pears when they're touching the bottom of the pot. Return to the heat, and let the pears poach partially for about 5 minutes, or until a knife, when inserted into the centre of one, comes out easily.

Drain your pears, and let them cool to room temperature, before you deal with them. Technically the leftover liquid doesn't get used later on, but it's perfectly drinkable as is! It's a super sweet, mildly pear-tasting wine!

 

2 - Prepare Pear Mix

When your pears have cooled, divide each one into pairs of pears using a sharp knife. Then carefully cut the tough, fibre-filled core of the fruit. The skin of these should be practically falling off, but remove them anyway.

Place the softened fruit into a large bowl, and toss a tablespoon of ground cumin on top of this, along with a few twists of freshly ground black pepper! On top of this, add another squeeze of honey, and a little splash of olive oil. Also pour in a half a cup of a sweet wine into this - I used a bit of the poaching liquid, but passum (a raisin wine) is used in the original recipe, but any sweet wine is suitable. Mix all this with a mortar and pestle - or a fork, if you're not from antiquity - until it's just combined. When it's mixed, crack four eggs into the bowl, and mix everything until there's no more streaks of egg visible.

3 - Bake the Patina

When your mixture is done, go lightly oil a baking dish. It's likely that a terracotta pot would have been used in antiquity, but an ovenproof baking dish works well today. Don't over-oil the inside too much!

Gently pour in your pear mixture, and place the whole thing into the centre of an oven preheated to 180° C / 350° F for about 45 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the centre of your patina comes out clean.

Let this cool to room temperature before digging in! Don't worry if it deflates a little, this is to be expected and is completely fine!

The finished dish is very sweet, with only a very slight hint of pear. Although it seems a little plain, this pairs fantastically well with hard, salty cheeses, and sharp-tasting dishes (such as olives in vinegar) - as such, it's unlikely that this was eaten alone as a dessert, more likely it was a companion dish that was intended to be a complimentary dish to others.

Though this isn't stated in Apicius' original recipe, it is clear today that this is how it may have been prepared.