Tubera

"Boil the tubers, sprinkle with salt, stick them on a skewer; if they are too hot, put them in a pot with fish sauce, green oil, and reduced wine. When it boils a little, bind with honey or with thickener, garnish the tubers, and serve. Alternatively, boil the tubers, sprinkle with salt, skewer, roast a little and put them in a pot with fish sauce, green oil, reduced wine, a little wine and crushed pepper, a little honey, and, when it boils, bind with thickener, arrange the tubers, and soak them. Garnish and, when it is well-boiled, serve. If you wish, wrap the same tubers in pork fat and roast, then serve thus. Alternatively, in the tubers add wine sauce, pepper, lovage, coriander, rue, fish sauce, honey, a little wine, mix and serve. Alternatively, for the tubers: pepper, cumin, rue, honey, vinegar or wine to taste, fish sauce, and a little oil."

The recipe, like many from Apicius, is written in a terse, elliptical Latin with minimal instructions and assumes experienced cooks familiar with the ingredients, tools, and basic methods of Roman cooking. Spelling and word-forms are often non-standard, blending classical, medieval, and local Italianisms. Words like 'u' for modern 'v', 'liquamen' (the fish sauce), or 'amulo' for starch can be tricky. Quantities and timings are rarely specified; cooks were to rely on instinct and practice. The multiple 'aliter' (alternative method) sections reflect the Roman enjoyment of culinary variety and improvisation, and the expectation that a cook would know how to adapt basic methods to the produce and circumstances at hand.