Apicius 7.13.2 Roman Marinated Mushrooms

This one sounded both appetizing and fairly simple, once the caroenum was made. Here's the Latin, with Grocock and Grainger's translation below.

[7.13.2] in fungis farneis: piper carenum acetum et oleum.

7.13.2 Sauce for ash-tree fungi: pepper, caroenum, vinegar and oil.

I have no idea what kind of mushrooms 'ash-tree fungi' are; they could grow on the trees themselves like wood ear, or might get the name because they were commonly found underneath ash-trees. I went with what the supermarket had, of course, so got a half a pound of crimini mushrooms.

The two other ash-tree fungi recipes said to boil the mushrooms, so I assumed this one also meant for them to be cooked.

It's not much of a 'sauce', though, being on the thin side with no thickener called for. What it did look like, however, was a version of marinated mushrooms, so I figured I'd try that. Keeping it simple, this is what I came up with:

1/2 pound mushrooms, cleaned and trimmed
1/4 cup caroenum
1/4 cup vinegar
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
10 peppercorns

Cut mushrooms in half or quarters if they're large, and grind the peppercorns in a mortar. Mix the caroenum, vinegar, oil and pepper in a saucepan; add mushrooms. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer a few minutes until the mushrooms are cooked. Makes about two servings.

I tasted one or two, and it was quite nice, if a little bland. That's probably because although I could have sworn we had some cider vinegar we did not and so had to use rice vinegar, which is quite mild and a little sweet. Also I do intend to leave it to do the marinating thing, so we'll see how it all tastes after spending the night in the fridge. I was definitely wary of it getting too peppery, so may have been conservative about that. Still, the sweetness of the caroenum makes it a nice take on marinated mushrooms. I look forward to tasting it tomorrow! I'll ETA then.

ETA the next day: yep, this one's a keeper. The oil/vinegar/caroenum proportions are just right. The only possible changes I might make are a slightly stronger vinegar like I said above and maybe a little more pepper, but that sort of thing is to taste anyway. Even so it worked quite well once it cooled down (it's so hard to figure out if flavors are balanced when something's hot, I find). I'm calling this one a success.

ETA II: I made another batch, twice as large, this time with the cider vinegar, which did make a difference and gave it the bite the rice vinegar was lacking. So here's the final recipe, in an amount to feed several people as a side dish:

1 pound mushrooms, cleaned and trimmed
1/2 cup caroenum
1/2 cup cider vinegar
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
20 peppercorns

Cut mushrooms in half or quarters if they're large, and grind the peppercorns in a mortar. Mix the caroenum, vinegar, oil and pepper in a saucepan; add mushrooms. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer a few minutes until the mushrooms are cooked. Makes about four servings.

And now I'll link it on the recipe page, where the keepers go!