Honey Glazed Prawns - Don't Be Shellfish, Share This Recipe!

Today's the day, and I'm glad we're having shellfish, but a little bit nervous when it comes to Garum as the recipe calls for. Today the modern equivalent is Colatura di Alici, where they still make it in places like Naples. Garum is a fermented fish sauce, made from the intestines of fish. They're put in a vessel, packed with salt, and then out comes an apparently delicious liquid that the Romans were absolutely ga-ga for! 

I won't lie, it does sound strange. And I grew up by the sea! I've been eating the smelliest of fish since a young age, but this little bottle of liquid, I brought online, is making me somewhat nervous. But at the same time, I'm also kind of fascinated by this. Like if this stuff was so essential to them, then why was that? 

Before using the Colatura di Alici I decided to take a sniff, just to see what I was dealing with. I've got to be honest, it does remind me of the smell of cat food. Being a cat fan this wasn't the big turn off that some of you might be imagining, but at least it did not smell of rotten fish or very strong. I was glad though that the recipe I was using it for was a fish dish. Who knows, maybe I'll end up being as addicted to it as the Romans, and liberally splashing it on everything, but for now I went with a delicious and already fishy fish dish. This time it was from a blog called Cook a classical feast: nine recipes from ancient Greece and Rome. The recipe originally called for oregano, but as I couldn't find any at the shops, I used thyme.

Honey Glazed Prawns

Ingredients
• 225g large raw peeled prawns 
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 2 tbsp fish sauce
• 1 tbsp clear honey
• 2 tsp chopped fresh thyme
• Black pepper

Method
If using frozen prawns, ensure that they are well defrosted and drained. Place the oil, fish sauce and honey in a saucepan and add the prawns. Sauté them gently in the sauce for 2 or 3 minutes until they are tender. Remove with a perforated spoon and keep warm. Continue to cook the sauce until it has reduced by half. Add the chopped oregano and pour the sauce over the shrimps. Sprinkle with freshly ground black pepper. Serve as a first course with a crusty loaf of bread and a simple salad.

As suggested I served ours with the Roman bread made earlier this week and the Columella salad. Admittedly I struggled to simmer the liquid down, because there was so little of it I was nervous of boiling it away entirely! But I really shouldn't have worried about using Colatura di Alici as the meal was delicious and put me in mind of the Chinese style black pepper and honey sauce. It had a deeply savoury taste to it and combined with the honey was utterly delicious. The Columella salad also went very nicely with the prawns and in all honesty I wish there had been more sauce, because I mopped it up using the bread. 

I suppose it makes sense that a lot of the Roman food does put me in mind of summer picnics and BBQs with the use of fresh herbs and spices, fish and vegetables. There's the age old belief that the Romans were gluttons and their feasts were the stuff of legend, but when I think about the meals we've had so far they've been light and very fresh. So it doesn't seem so outrageous to combine the light, delicate dishes with each other to create a substantial meal. But then I'm sure if anyone assumed British people ate everything they have during picnics, BBQs and Christmas dinner, on a regular basis it would probably seem surprising when we don't! 

What I'm taking away from this is that if you want to eat healthily, but eat something exciting and interesting, then you should absolutely eat like a Roman.