Original Recipe
Assaturas:
Apicius, #220
Assaturas: Mirtae siccae bacam extenteratam cum cumino, pipere, melle, liquamine, defrito et oleo teres et fervefactum amulas. Carnem elixam sale subassatam perfundis, piper aspargis et inferes.

For Roasted Meat: Crush dried, pitted myrtle berries with cumin, pepper, honey, garum, defrutum, and oil; heat and thicken with starch. Boil the meat and then roast it slightly with salt; pour the sauce over, sprinkle with pepper, and serve. [Giacosa, pp. 35-6]

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup dried currants
• 1 1/4 teaspoons ground cumin
• 1/4 teaspoon ground pepper
• 1 1/2 teaspoons honey
• 3/4 teaspoons Thai fish sauce (garum)
• 1/4 cup white wine, boiled to reduce by half
• 2 teaspoons olive oil
• Bread crumbs

Preparation Steps:

• Place currants, cumin, pepper, honey, fish sauce, reduced wine, and olive oil in a blender or food processor and blend until smooth.
• Pour into a saucepan and bring to a boil.
• Add a small amount of bread crumbs, just until sauce thickens.

Number of Servings:
Makes approximately 1/2 cup sauce.

Notes

• Myrtle berries were unavailable, so I chose to substitute dried currants instead.
• My sauce seemed quite thick without the addition of bread crumbs, so I left them out.
• Perhaps if fresh currants or myrtle berries had been used, the mixture would have been moister, requiring thickening.