Anchovy Patina Without Anchovy (Mock Fish)

History

This recipe survives in *De re coquinaria*, widely regarded as the oldest surviving cookbook in the world — a later anonymous compilation (c. 4th–5th c. CE) that carries the name of Apicius rather than his demonstrable authorship. A *patina* was an egg-bound dish set in a shallow pan — closer to a savoury custard or frittata than a modern pie. The name is a joke: a "patina of small fish, without the small fish." In place of the tiny anchovy-like *apua*, the cook minces the flesh of other roasted or boiled fish, binds it with beaten eggs, pepper, rue, garum and a little oil, and steams it, laying *urticae marinae* — sea nettles/anemones, an ingredient whose identity is debated and sometimes rendered sea urchins — on top so they set apart from the eggs. The text ends on its point: *nemo agnoscet quid manducet*, no one will recognise what he is eating. Such deceptive showpieces suited elite Roman dining; the classic literary parallel is Petronius's satirical Cena Trimalchionis, where foods are disguised so as to conceal their true nature — famously, live birds hidden inside fake eggs that the guests must 'collect' for themselves.

Ingredients

• fish flesh
• pepper
• rue
• liquamen (Roman fermented fish sauce)
• oil
• eggs
• sea anemones (urticae marinae)

Instructions

1. Finely chop cooked fish flesh, enough to fill the pan.
2. Grind pepper and rue, mix with liquamen, oil, the fish and beaten eggs into one body.
3. Lay sea anemones on top without mixing them into the eggs; set over steam.
4. When dried/set, dust with ground pepper and serve — a trompe-l'oeil dish.