Historical story

Cuisine of Ancient Greece:Prawns Glazed with Honey Filosseno

Greek symposium. Prawns glazed with honey are mentioned by the poet Philoxenus of Kythera

By the Greek poet Philoxenus of Kythera (435-380 BC) only a few fragments of two poems remain, Cyclops and Symposium, and it is in the second that he, in describing the not very frugal courses of a sumptuous banquet, mentions, among the various courses, an unidentified, but inviting, dish of prawns glazed with honey .

In reality, the artist does not explain or add anything else to the recipe in question, which, however, has been reconstructed by gastronomy historians in a way, we can believe, entirely plausible.

Would you like to try it?

Read below.

Ingredients (for 4 people):1/2 kilo of cleaned, boiled and peeled prawns (to be weighed cooked); 30 ml of extra virgin olive oil; 30 ml of fish sauce, which you can replace with simple anchovy paste diluted with water; 60 gr. of honey; 4 tablespoons of oregano; a pinch of salt and pepper.

In a sufficiently large pan put together the oil, fish sauce, honey and, as soon as it is hot, the prawns, which you will cook over medium-low heat until softened.

Remove the prawns from the sauce with a slotted spoon and keep them warm.

Cook the sauce until it has shrunk, becoming roughly half, then add a little pepper, oregano and finally pour the entire mixture over the prawns.

Sprinkle with freshly ground black pepper if possible.

Add the broth with saffron, garnish with fresh salad and serve accompanied by toast.