Defrutum
In ancient Roman cuisine, defrutum was an unfermented, cooked grape must that was used as a sweetener for sauces , as a general sweetener ( sugar was very rare and expensive, honey was the only viable alternative) or as a sweet reserve for wine. According to Pliny , the must was boiled down to half its original volume , according to Varro and Columella to a third of its original volume. To increase the sweetness, it was recommended to cook the grape must in lead vessels ( lead sugar ); However, according to the current state of knowledge, this is harmful to health.
Other wine syrups were the sapa and the caroenum . For the sapa , the grape must was also boiled down to a third. Columella and Varro, on the other hand, reduce the sapa to only half of its volume. The caroenum , on the other hand, is only reduced by a third.
A syrup made from concentrated grape juice is commonly used in Turkish cuisine under the name of Pekmez .
literature
- Jacques André: Eating and Drinking in Ancient Rome. Reclam, Stuttgart 1998. pp. 142 f. ISBN 3-15-010438-6
Individual evidence
- ↑ Pliny the Elder: naturalis historia . 14.80
- ^ A b Marcus Terentius Varro: in Non. 551.18
- ↑ Lucius Junius Moderatus Columella: de re rustica. 12.21.1
- ↑ Pliny the Elder: naturalis historia . 14,180
- ^ Palladius : agricultura. 11.18.2
- ↑ Lucius Junius Moderatus Columella: de re rustica. 12.19.1
- ^ Palladius: agricultura. 11.18.1
- ↑ Isidore : origines . 20.3.15