Pullum Parthicum (Parthian Chicken)

I quite enjoy a bit of historical cooking. Cooking in the Archives has been a lot of fun (even if I don't always agree with their interpretations). And I've quite liked some of the recipes from Shakespeare's Kitchen and Townsends as well.

Reiver was actually the one who originally put me onto Townsends. And now he's shared a few more of his favourite cooking channels. One of which is Max Miller's Tasting History. I'm not necessarily a huge fan of the videos I've watched on his channel, but Reiver has his cookbook and had pointed out that we had all the bits for this chicken recipe. And, unlike some of his other recipes, he actually seems to have a reasonable source for this one and hasn't been overly... "creative" in his interpretation of it.

This was quite a surprising recipe. It honestly didn't really grab me at first. It looked unusual, but not that exciting. But, I have to say, this turned out very nice in the end! I don't think it was quite a favourite for me, but it was nice.

I never would have thought of combining red wine and fish sauce, but the combination works surprisingly well! And the caraway, black pepper, celery, and asafetida is a somewhat bewildering -- but not unpleasant -- way to complete the flavours.

I think I might put somewhat less wine next time. I do feel like using a full cup was a bit heavy-handed and possibly excessive for a recipe that calls for "seasoning" with wine. But otherwise, I really can't complain or suggest any changes or alterations. This was actually quite lovely!

We served our Parthian chicken over a bit of saffron rice with a slice of buttered rye bread and some silverbeet gratin on the side. This turns out to have been an excellent (and fairly thematically appropriate) combination. Would definitely recommend!

Parthian Chicken: Open the chicken and quarter. Pound pepper, lovage, a little caraway, moisten with garum, season with wine. Arrange the chicken in an earthen dish and put the seasoning on top. Dissolve silpuium in warm water, and put it with the chicken and cook. Sprinkle with pepper and serve.
-- Apicus, De re coquinaria

Pullum Parthicum

Slightly adapted from Tasting History by Max Miller

Ingredients

• 1 whole chicken (~1.5kg)¹
• 3 Tbsp. fish sauce
• 2 Tbsp. fresh lovage or 1/4 c. celery leaves²
• 1/2 Tbsp. black peppercorns, ground
• 1/2 Tbsp. caraway seeds, ground
• 1/2-3/4 c. dry red wine
• 3/4 tsp. ground asafetida
• 1/4 c. warm water

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 230°C (450°F).
2. Quarter the chicken and place the pieces, skin-side-up, in a baking dish.
3. Combine the fish sauce, lovage (or celery), pepper, and caraway and mix well.
4. Stir in the wine.
5. Pour this mixture over the chicken. Try to distribute the spices as evenly as possible and press them into the chicken skin a little.
6. Stir the asafetia into the water and pour it over the chicken as well.
7. Roast at 230°C (450°F) until chicken is cooked through and meat registers ~74°C/165°F (~45 minutes).
8. Remove from oven and allow to rest for 10-15 minutes.
9. Serve drizzled with the sauce and extra black pepper.

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¹ Honestly, any skin-on, bone-in chicken pieces should work reasonably well for this. I actually ended up using a bunch of thighs for my rendition. ^Back
2 I used both the leaves and the ribs of the celery for my rendition and liked that quite a lot. I only used one rib this time around, but Reiver and I agreed that a bit more would have been even better. Personally, I would recommend 1/4 c. of leaves + 2 ribs of celery if going that route. ^Back

Caramelized onions are amazing. I figured a tart full of them would definitely be a winner. I'm sad to say I was a little disappointed with this one. I mean, it was okay, but it didn't blow me away like the Potato, Spinach, and Raisin Tart I made a few weeks back. It was just... alright. I think, if I made it again, I might try adding a little cottage cheese to it. It might also be worth baking it in a 9" (23cm) springform pan rather that the 9" pie plate I used this time. The recipe specifies a "23cm (9 in) deep tart tin", but I think that means something different in the UK than it does here. After watching a few episodes of Great British Bake Off where they make deep dish pies/tarts, the tins they use are very deep indeed and have straight sides as opposed to the sloped sides of the conventional pie plates we use here. This meant that my tart didn't have the expected capacity and I couldn't fit all the custard in the shell, which probably threw off the balance of the recipe a bit. I guess I'll try using a springform pan next time and see if that makes a difference.

Onion Tart

Slightly adapted from The Book of Old Tarts by Elizabeth Hodder

Ingredients

• 225g savoury/plain shortcrust pastry
• 1 Tbsp. fresh thyme
• 1 egg white
• 25g unsalted butter
• 2 Tbsp. olive oil
• 8 onions, peeled and sliced
• salt and pepper, to taste
• 1 Tbsp. sugar
• 1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg
• 1/4 tsp. ground ginger
• 2 eggs
• 2 egg yolks
• 425mL heavy (35%) cream
• pinch of saffron

Directions

1. Lightly flour your work surface and sprinkle with thyme.
2. Roll out the pastry on the prepared surface.
3. Line a 9" (23cm) springform pan with the pastry.
4. Prick pastry all over with a fork and brush with egg white.
5. Bake at 350°F (180°C) for 25 minutes.
6. Melt butter and oil over medium heat.
7. Add onion and sprinkle with salt and sugar.
8. Cover, reduce heat to medium-low, and cook for 20-30 minutes, stirring occasionally.
9. Remove lid and cook for another 10 minutes.
10. Stir in nutmeg and ginger, then remove from heat.
11. Beat the eggs with the extra yolks and season with salt and pepper.
12. Add the saffron to the cream and gently warm over medium-low heat until just steaming.
13. Add warm cream to beaten eggs in a thin stream while whisking.
14. Spoon the onion mixture into the baked pie shell.
15. Pour the custard over the onions.
16. Bake at 375°F (190°C) for 25 minutes.
17. Serve warm.