Name: Roman Bortsch
Yield: Makes 6 servings
Ingredients: 500 milliters (2 cups plus 4 teaspoons) white wine; 500 milliters (2 cups plus 4 teaspoons) water; 100 g (3.6 ounces or about 1/4 cup) honey; 1 leg and thigh of a large chicken; 2 tablespoons olive oil; 4 medium-sized raw beetroot; salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Editor's note: This recipe and the introductory text below are from Cooking Apicius: Roman Recipes for Today by Sally Grainger.

This soup combines two separate recipes attributed to the agriculturalist and linguist Varro. As a remedy it could be drunk to aid the digestion, and it also served as a soup with the chicken included. I choose to leave the meat in, to give some texture to the soup. The dish is quite unusual in not using fish sauce. The sweet/savoury balance is surprisingly good.

Cook's Notes:

Beetroot is an English term for beet.

Recipe notes

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