Despite its great popularity in the Antiquity and Middle Ages and its botanical name, Setaria Italica, foxtail millet is nearly forgotten in Italy. The most common way to cook it until the Renaissance, described in medical and culinary books, was preparing a thick polenta with whole grains or flour, usually with milk and fats. In this case, lard, but later sources describe also butter and cheese. In the Middle Ages, paniça (polenta made with foxtail millet, in Italian panico) was traditionally paired with roast meat, in particular spit-roasted goose. You can prepare it, as the medieval author writes, with both foxtail and common millet, but if you find it, we suggest using foxtail millet: its flavor is incredible, in particular, cooked this way. There are many sources for this recipe. We chose the manuscript conventionally called Anonimo Meridionale (14th century) for the polenta, the Opusculum de Saporibus (booklet about the sauces) by Maino de Mainieri (14th century) for the sauce (unfortunately missing in the other manuscript), while for the preparation of the goose, we followed the directions suggested by the anonymous author of the Liber de Coquina (13th century). This recipe, complex and delicious, seemed to us the perfect way to celebrate Christmas with the typical medieval flavors: a great roast, an unusual and delicious polenta, and a pepper-based sauce very popular in the Middle Ages, called peverata in Italian and piperata in Latin. For your medieval Christmas menu, we suggest pairing this plate with other excellent medieval courses: ravioli, lasagna, chicken pie, roast lamb with green sauce, walnut bread, and almond cream. Below, you find the video of the recipe (with English and Italian captions), the method, and the original texts with our translation into English.
Enjoy and merry Christmas!
If you want to know more about historical polenta, read our book Early Italian Recipes. Cereals, bread, pasta, and pies, where you will find historical information about cereals and their preparations from the Antiquity to the end of the Renaissance, with 114 recipes for pasta, bread, pizza, pies, and more, newly translated and explained. If you are interested in late-medieval cuisine, we recommend Libro de la Cocina. Medieval Tuscan Recipes and Registrum Coquine. A medieval cookbook. To learn about the transition between ancient and medieval cooking, check out De Observatione Ciborum, written by the physician Anthimus to the king of the Franks Theuderic. If you are interested in recipes for vegetables from the Antiquity to the beginning of the Modern Era in Early Italian Recipes. Vegetables, fruit, herbs, and flowers available in English and Italian. For information about ancient cuisine, read Ancient Roman Cooking. Ingredients, Recipes, Sources. Moreover, full translations of historical sources and articles on ancient and medieval cooking are available on Patreon. To support our work, you can buy us a beer or purchase our merchandise.Ingredients one goose goat milk foxtail millet or common millet goose liver a slice of bread vinegar verjuice (or lemon juice) black pepper cloves salt
The preparation of the goose Tie the legs and wings of the goose; then fasten it to the spit. Cook it with open fire, placing the goose beside the fire. Turn often to cook the meat at low heat. Place a pan under the goose to collect the drippings of the melted fat, necessary to prepare the sauce and the polenta. With this cooking technique, our goose needed about six hours, but remember that the time can change considerably if you use a different method (for example, with fire on both sides). Usually, the roasts are prepared with a good amount of fats. In this case the source, the Liber de Coquina, suggests spit-roasting the goose without additional fats, sprinkling salt at the end of the cooking.
The black-pepper sauce Roast a piece of goose liver and a slice of bread. The author specifies that the bread has to be well blackened to obtain a black sauce. We suggest paying attention not to burn it excessively. Soak the bread in vinegar, then grind in the mortar a few cloves, a good amount of black pepper, and a pinch of salt. Add the liver and the bread in the mortar pounding all the ingredients together, diluting with a little goose drippings and a good amount of verjuice. Cook the sauce until it thickens.
Note about the ingredients Bread and liver are commonly used as thickeners during the Middle Ages. We suggest using just a piece of goose liver, to prevent its flavor from overpowering the sauce. The author suggests using agresta, which means unripe grapes, frequently used as acidifiers in medieval cuisine, in this case, to balance the fats. The same author suggests, in other passages of his booklet, substituting them with vinegar when they are not in season. Other ingredients used commonly instead of grapes are verjuice, a wine prepared with unripe grapes used just for cooking, as well as lemon or sour-orange juice. There are three recipes of piperata in the Opusculum de Saporibus, and many others in different medieval cookbooks. In this one, suited specifically for waterbirds, goose, and duck, the author does not specify which spices we have to use. We chose obviously pepper and added cloves, suggested for another recipe.
Original text Assaturis autem anatum et anserum et similium degentium in aquis sapor conveniens est piperata nigra composita ex pane assato nigro infuso in aceto et epate assato pistis simul distemperatis cum liquore descendente et agresta, et bulliant omnia simul usque ad spissitudinem.
Translation Black piperata is the appropriate sauce for roasted duck, goose, and other waterbirds. Pound in the mortar bread, roasted until it blackens and then soaked in vinegar, and roasted liver, diluting with the fats of the roast meat and unripe grapes. Boil all together until it thickens.
The foxtail millet polenta Overcook the foxtail millet with goat milk, a little goose drippings, and two pinches of sea salt until it is well thickened, stirring frequently. Serve the polenta with the goose, coated with peverata sauce.
Note about the ingredients and method We used 200 grams of foxtail millet with 1,5 liters of goat milk, but the quantity of milk can change considerably if you cook the polenta at a higher heat or cover with the lid. The author suggests using goat or sheep milk, but you will obtain a delicious outcome also with cow milk. We cooked the polenta for about 40 minutes. The source suggests using lard; we chose instead the drippings of the goose, suggested by Maino de Maineri to prepare the sauce.
Original text Vedamo como se po fare una paniça con ocha arostita et con altro arostito. Tolli assay miglio overo panico che segi pilato, et poy la fa lavare con acqua tepida scì che torne bene bianco, et poy scì lu fa cocere in uno vascello co lacte vivo de pecora et de capra. Quando è appresso cocto, mictice dentro sognaçio structo bianco. Quando è destructo, mictice dentro tanto che sia bene grasso, sapiendo che lo panico è troppo calido che pilia multo lo grasso, ma non vende mectere tanto, quando elli è cocto, che saperesse de somira. […] Quando menestri la paniccia vole essere spessa a bono modo. Micti sopra le scudelle la peverata che tu ay così facta, la quale chiamata è in corte de Roma in toscano.
Translation We see now how to prepare a paniça with roast goose or another roast meat. Take much decorticated common millet or foxtail millet, then wash it with warm water to whiten well its color. Boil it in a pan with fresh sheep or goat milk. When it is almost cooked, add white melted lard. Add a good amount of lard to make the foxtail millet well fat, knowing that foxtail millet is too hot [the author refers to medieval medicine: it is too hot in complexion] and turns very fat, but do not exaggerate with the quantity in a way that when it is cooked it smells excessively of lard. [The part about how to prepare the sauce is missing, except for a sentence in which the author writes that it has to be thick]. When you serve the paniça, it has to be well thick. Serve covered with the peverata you have prepared in this way [the text refers to the missing part], so called in Tuscan vernacular among the court of Rome.
Buy me a coffee Patreon Ancient Roman Recipes Playlist Ancient Greek Recipes Playlist Medieval Recipes Playlist YouTube Channel Merchandise Books Early Italian Recipes. Cereals, bread, pasta, and pies Libro de la Cocina by Anonimo Toscano. Medieval Tuscan Recipes Early Italian Recipes. Vegetables, fruit, herbs, and flowers De Observatione Ciborum by Anthimus. Early-medieval recipes at the court of the Franks. Registrum Coquine by Johannes Bockenheim. A medieval cookbook Ancient Roman Cooking. Ingredients, Sources, Recipes Translations of Historical Sources De Agri Cultura by Cato – first part (2nd century BCE) De Re Coquinaria by Apicius (Ancient Rome) Apicii Excerpta by Vinidarius (5th or 6th century) De Observatione Ciborum by Anthimus (6th century) Appendicula de Condituris Variis by Johannes Damascenus (8th or 9th century) De Flore Dietarum (11th century) Tractatus de Modo Preparandi et Condiendi Omnia Cibaria (13th or 14th century) Liber de Coquina – first part (14th century) Enseignemenz (14th century) Opusculum de Saporibus by Mainus de Maineris (14th century) Libro de la Cocina by Anonimo Toscano (14th century) Anonimo Veneziano (14th century) Registrum Coquine by Johannes von Bockenheim (15th century) Libro de Arte Coquinaria by Maestro Martino – parts 1-4 (15th century) Recipes Tuscan Chicken Soup with Unripe Grapes Early-medieval Kohlrabi Stew Tuscan Fried Leek Rings Pork Ribs Tuscan Pancakes with Wild Flowers Hop Shoots Shrimp – Savore de Gambari Orange Frittata – Fritata de Pomerantiis Tuscan Soup with Hen and Florence Fennel The diet of the Franks – Celery Root and Beef Stew Tuscan Fish Cakes – Salciccie di Pescio Tuscan Stew with Pork Belly and Rutabaga Pork and Onion Soup Tuscan Radish Soup The Diet of the Franks – Endive and Pork Jowl Tuscan Fried Meatballs The Diet of the Franks – Chicken Stew Castagnazzi Renaissance Stuffed Cucumbers Pork Roast with Cherry Sauce Renaissance Fried Tomatoes Herbolata The Diet of the Franks – Beef Stew Fried Chicken Soup Beef Roast with Garlic Sauce Bread Soup Salted Meat and Peas Baghdadi Rice Cream Chicken with White-Pepper Sauce – Piperatum Album Indian Chickpeas and Meat The Diet of the Franks – Pork Stew Chestnut and Mushrooms Lentils with Oregano and Watermint Egyptian Bread with Pistachios and Almonds Veal with Fennel-Flower Sauce Pork Roast with Green Sauce Eggs Poached in Wine Brodium Theutonicum Crispellae – Pancakes with Saffron and Honey Brodium Sarracenium – Chicken Stew Fava Beans and Pork Erbe Minute – Meatballs with Herbs Lettuce and Pork Soup Zanzarelli – Egg and Cheese Soup Turnip and Beef Soup for Servants Cheese Pasta – Vivanda Bona Gratonata – Chicken Stew Chickpea Soup with Poached Eggs Apple Fritters Hippocras and Claretum – Mulled Wine Pastero – Pork Pie 10th-century Goat Roast – A Langobard at the Court of the Byzantine Emperor Romania – A Recipe Between Arabic and Italian Tradition – Medieval Chicken with Pomegranates Emperor’s Fritters Medieval Pizza – The Origin of Pizza Roast Chicken with Salsa Camellina Sweet Rice Afrutum or Spumeum – 6th-century Byzantine recipe A Medieval Breakfast – Wine, Carbonata, and Millet Bread Salviata – Eggs and Sage Tria di Vermicelli Cabbage Soup Frittelle Ubaldine – Pancakes with Flowers and Herbs Saffron Cheesecake Drunken Pork – Early Medieval Pork Stew Medieval Monk’s Stuffed-Egg Soup Apple Pie Onion Soup Gnocchi Lentils and Mustard Greens Chicken soup – Brodo Granato Turnip Soup Beans and Bacon – Black-Eyed Peas Prawn Pie – Pastello de Gambari Foxtail Millet Polenta and Spit-Roasted Goose Beef Stew Blancmange Leek Soup Quail Stew with Coconut Chicken Pie Ravioli Almond Cream Red Mullet Soup Spit Roast Beef with Arugula Seeds Walnut Bread Lasagna Tripe Fried Fish Roast Lamb with Green Sauce Clams Sweet and Sour Sardines Trouts with Green Sauce Lamb Stew Quails with Sumac Chicken with Fennel Flowers Sea Bream
Historical Italian Cooking 