Ancient mosaic depicting a chicken. The “Pullum parthicum” is a recipe taken from Apicius's “De re coquinaria”
With his De re coquinaria ( The art of cooking ), Marco Gavio Apicius left us the largest gastronomic recipe book of Roman times and all of antiquity ( see https://www.pilloledistoria.it/9767/storia-antica/antiche-ricette-un-dolce-apicio and https://www.pilloledistoria.it/9764/storia-antica/ricette-dellantica-roma-la- salsa-bianca-apicio).
The recipe of Pullum Parthicum , which you find textually below, is taken from the aforementioned manual:
“Open a chicken lengthwise.
Crush pepper, ligustic and some caraway seeds in a mortar, sprinkle with garum and mix with wine.
Place the chicken in a bowl and pour the sauce over it.
Dissolve the aromatic benzoin resin in hot water and pour the mixture over the chicken.
Put to cook.
When cooked, sprinkle with pepper and serve ”.
In addition to a certain industriousness (and heaviness!), Note the presence of garum ( see https://www.pilloledistoria.it/1787/storia-antica/garum-liquamen-salsa-preferita-dai-romani), the sauce based on rotten fish, which the Romans put a little everywhere, on meat dishes and mainly fish, but also on vegetables and legumes.