Eggs with pine-nut sauce

The ancient starting point

Apicius, Book 7, recipe 328 in the linked translation, gives a sauce for soft eggs using pepper, lovage, soaked pine nuts, honey, vinegar and liquamen. The recipe below uses hard-boiled eggs for easy serving and a commercial fish sauce substitute. Its measurements are our modern adaptation.

Ingredients · serves 2

• 4 eggs
• 30 g pine nuts
• 1 teaspoon honey
• 2 teaspoons wine vinegar
• 1 teaspoon commercial fish sauce, or a pinch of salt
• 2–3 tablespoons water
• A little ground black pepper; a few finely chopped lovage leaves if available

Method

1. Put the eggs in a pan of cold water. Bring to a gentle boil and cook for about 10 minutes, until the whites and yolks are firm. Cool in cold water, then peel.
2. Cover the pine nuts with freshly boiled water for 10 minutes. Drain, then crush in a mortar or small processor.
3. Mix in honey, vinegar, fish sauce and enough water for a spoonable sauce. Add pepper and optional lovage.
4. Halve the eggs and spoon over the sauce. Serve freshly prepared.

Compare the result

Taste the sauce before adding it all. Which ingredient contributes sweetness, acidity or salt? Record any change you make, then compare your version with the much shorter ancient instruction. Contains egg, pine nuts and, if used, fish; check product labels.