Pullum Frontonianum (Apicus Chicken)

Saturei is summer savory (satureja hortensis). Savory is found in any supermarket along with thyme and other herbs and spices. If you cannot find it thyme is a close substitute, but dried savory is lighter than dried thyme and has a slight lemony smell. This would eliminate the unecessary hassle of drying rose petals! I had a kitchen garden and grew many herbs including summer savory (annual) and winter savory(perennial). Liquamen was a Roman salty fish sauce. You could probably use Thai fish sauce or anchovy paste as a substitute. I have not made this yet but am looking forward to it.

Note: Liquamen is a salty fish sauce, usually substituted by salt alone; Defritum is a very thick fig syrup (i.e. canned fig syrup boiled down to 1/3 volume); and Saturei is a white-flowered European plant used in spicy bean dishes. For my own part, I made this dish for Valentine's Day. The meal was good, and tasted very exotic/unique/classy. However, the ingredients were expensive and the taste, in my opinion, didn't make up for the cost and the preparation time (drying the rose petals, chopping all the spices & veggies). Also, I found the fig syrup totally unnecessary since it didn't even taste like fig, just like sugar. Also, I have no idea what to do with the figs now. The meal was fine and we both liked it, but I wouldn't make it again. PS: I used Cornish game hens instead of a chicken, and the meat was succulent.

My daughter had to make this for her Latin class. I had no problem finding dried rose petals (very inexpensive) at the local health food store, and substituted fresh dill for 1.5 tbs. dried, and the leek with onion (only because I didn't have any leeks in the house at the time. Canned figs aren't that hard to find in the grocery store but instead I used honey with this, again b/c I had forgotten the figs. Figs however, are great on toast in the morning - I grew up eating them this way as my grandmother always had homemade fig preserves around the house (where the best fig syrup can be used).

This was amazing without the fig sauce I served it to my Latin class and everyone want another piece. A great ancient recipe!!!