I had escargots in garlic followed by skate in black butter sauce with capers – ancient dishes, which nobody in their right mind would want to replace.
Some chose to focus on the archaeological or textual aspects of the cuisine they represented, while others created modern interpretations of ancient dishes from ancient China, the Mediterranean, and Roman and medieval times.
It is not clear what, exactly, makes this mulled wine a "surprise," but I would say that saffron is and was an unexpected (but ever so tasty) ingredient to add to ancient dishes (e.g. beer).
"My favourite is an ancient dish that's still popular to this day – saku sai moo.
This is the Kurdish version of this dish, but there are as many versions of this ancient dish as there are regions, some limiting the number of ingredients to a symbolic 10, others including up to 40.
It is an ancient dish mentioned in Greek and Roman literature, although two of the main ingredients of the modern version, tomatoes and green peppers, were brought to Spain from the New World only in the 16th century.
Congee, too, is an ancient dish, one that is comforting to Chinese people not only in the morning, but also, as a hostess told me, miming a shiver, "at late night".
It's not unusual to see Luccan menus that eschew seafood entirely, but La Mora not only offers (in season) an ancient dish of fresh taglietelle with baby eels, tomato and pepolino (a variety of thyme), but pasta with a tomato-octopus sauce, too.
"Here was a writer who could combine a delightful quote from Chaucer on the subject of pike galantine with a careful recipe for a modern chicken and pork version of the same ancient dish, and who could do so without pedantry or a hint of preciousness".
At the behest of the Association of Real Neapolitan Pizza, a group with 2,500 members worldwide, lawmakers and officials of the administration of Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi recently acted to put some political weight behind an ancient dish made with green, red and white ingredients, the colors of the Italian flag.
There will also be a tasting of ancient Roman dishes.
