Tisana or ptisan in Greek is a fundamental medicinal remedy in the Antiquity and Middle Ages, recommended to both the sick and healthy. In De Re Coquinaria, we find a few methods to prepare tisana, also called sucum, quite different from the medicinal version that includes just salt, vinegar, oil, and dill or leek according to the description provided by Galen in De Facultatibus Alimentorum.
The method is very simple: the cereal (usually barley, but also rice, spelt, or wheat) is steeped in water and husked, then cooked at low heat for a long time, until it absorbs the water completely. The barley is then sifted and its juice drunk.
The recipes provided by Apicius, however, are more complex and include several ingredients: as common in his cookbook, frequently the traditional recipes keep just the original name, not the substance, as it happens with other foods, such as the puls.
This week, we present a delicious tisana with dry legumes, Mediterranean spices, and fresh vegetables, perfect for spring. There are a lot of ingredients, but the outcome is a simple plate very similar to many traditional Italian soups still used today.
If you want to know more about the use of cereals throughout history, 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. For more information about ancient cuisine, read our book Ancient Roman Cooking. Ingredients, Recipes, Sources. Moreover, the full translation of De Re Coquinaria is available on Patreon, with further translations and articles on ancient and medieval cooking.
To learn about the transition between ancient and medieval cooking, check out our translation, commentary, and glossary of a beautiful 6th-century source, De Observatione Ciborum, written by the physician Anthimus to the king of the Franks Theuderic; if you are interested in late-medieval cuisine, we recommend Libro de la Cocina. Medieval Tuscan Recipes and Registrum Coquine. A medieval cookbook. 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.
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Ingredients
150 gr dry legumes (chickpeas, lentils, peas)
150 gr husked barley
olive oil
garum
vegetables and herbs (leeks, cilantro, dill, fennel greens, chard, mallow, turnip greens, oregano)
spices (fennel seeds, asafoetida, lovage)
Method
Steep the dry legumes in water overnight. Boil the barley and chickpeas in abundant water for about 50 minutes, then add the peas and lentils and cook them for another 40 minutes. The cooking time may change depending on the barley and legumes you are using.
Mince the vegetables finely, keeping a few turnip greens aside. Pour the olive oil and add the vegetables. Meanwhile, simmer the turnip greens in water for a couple of minutes. Mince them finely.
Grind in the mortar the spices adding oregano and a little grated asafoetida. Dilute with a tablespoon of garum, then add them to the soup. Serve still hot adding on the top the minced turnip greens.
Note about the method and ingredients
The verb used by the author, defrico, may refer to two actions: one is described by Galen about the proper way to prepare ptisan, namely steep the barley in water and rub it energetically to remove the husk. However, Galen complains about the fact that cooks have the habit to pound the barley in the mortar before cooking it, instead of dissolving the cereals through a long cooking. As a consequence, the second possibility is that Apicius means to gently pound in the mortar the barley.
For this recipe, the author recommends a lot of ingredients. For a good outcome, it is unnecessary to use all of them. You can choose all the legumes or just one and select among the herbs the ones you have at your disposal. If you do not have lovage, substitute it with cumin or use just fennel. To know more about lovage in the Antiquity, check out our Patreon page.
It is unclear exactly what Romans mean with cauli, caulicoli, and cymae, all words referred to kinds of cabbage. Cauliculi molles mean tender or sweet stalks. We suggest using a plant of the cabbage family with tender stalks.
For more information about garum and how to prepare it, check out this article.
Original text
Tisanam barricam: infundis cicer, lenticulam, pisam. Defricas tisanam et cum leguminibus elixas. Ubi bene bullierit, olei satis mittis et super viridia concidis porrum, coriandrum, anethum, feniculum, betam, malvam, cauliculum mollem. Haec viridia minutatim concisa in caccabum mittis. Cauliculos elixas et teres feniculi semen satis, origanum, silfi, ligusticum. Postquam triveris, liquamine temperabis, et super legumina refundis et agitas. Cauliculorum minutas super concidis.
Translation
Tisana barrica: steep in water chickpeas, lentils, and peas. Pound a bit the barley and boil it with the legumes. When they boil well, add oil enough and mince leeks, cilantro, dill, fennel, chard, mallow, tender greens. Add in the pot these vegetables finely minced. Simmer the greens and pound enough fennel seeds, oregano, silfium, and lovage. Once you have minced them, dilute with garum, pour over the legumes, and stir. Add on the top the greens, minutely minced.
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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)
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Pork Stew with Red Wine
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Pork Chops – Ofellae
Chicken with Dill – Pullus Anethatus
Religious Offering to Mars Silvanus
Rabbit
Gourds – Gustum de Cucurbitis
Roast Pheasant
Tyropatina – Honey Pudding
Pork Shank with Apician Sauce
The Diet of the Legionaries – Soup with Mutton and Beans
Chicken with Dill
Beef Roast with Quinces
Chard with Mustard
Religious Offering to Carna – Puls Fabacia
Pork Stuffed with Pasta – Porcellus Tractomelinus
Gilt-Head Sea Bream
Moretum – A Religious Offering to Cybele
Patina Versatilis
Aristophanes’ Roasted Birds
Pork Roast with Myrtle Berries
Cabbage Rolls
Pork Collar
Chicken with Taro
Honey and Millet Libum
Ham in Crust
Encytum
The diet of the ancient Germans
The diet of the Franks
Kandaulos
Wild Boar
Hypotrimma
Oysters and Clams
Peas
Ancient Sicilian Sea Bass
Pork Roast and Lentils with Sumac
Scampi
Cuttlefish and Eggs
Gustum de Praecoquis – Appetizer with Apricots
Octopus and Cucumber Salad
Copadia Agnina – Lamb Stew
Apothermum – Spelt Cakes
Pullus Parthicus – Roast Chicken
Tisana Barrica – Barley Soup
Beef Roast and Shallots
Staitites – Ancient Greek Sweet
Chicken Meatballs and Mashed Peas
Sweet Fritters – Dulcia Domestica
Columella’s Moretum and Hapalos Artos
Ancient Roman Frittata
A Saturnalia Recipe – Roast with Saffron Sauce
Muria – Ancestor of Colatura di Alici
Globi – Ancient Roman Sweet
The Diet of the Roman Legionaries – Buccellatum, Lardum, and Posca
How to make garum
Fig Sweet
Ancient Roman Gourd and Eggs
Ofella – Ancient Roman Steak
Fruit salads – Melon and Peaches
Isicia Marina – Shrimp Cakes and Cucumber Salad
Sala Cattabia – Snow and Posca
Copadia – Beef Stew
Puls Punica – Phoenician Dessert
Farcimina – Spelt and Meat Sausages
Ova Spongia ex Lacte – Sweet Omelettes
Flatbread and Chickpea Soup
Chicken stew
Salted Fish with Arugula Sauce
Savillum – Cheesecake
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Veal with Allec Sauce – Ius in Elixam Allecatum
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Placenta – Honey Cheesecake
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