Defrutum

Defrutum, carenum, and sapa were reductions of must used in Roman cuisine. They were made by boiling down grape juice or must (freshly squeezed grapes) in large kettles until it had been reduced to two-thirds the original volume, carenum; half the original volume, defrutum; and one-third, sapa. The main culinary use of defrutum was to sweeten wine, but it was also added to fruit and meat dishes as a sweetening and souring agent and even given to food animals such as suckling pig and duck to improve the taste of their flesh. Defrutum was mixed with garum to make the popular condiment oenogarum and as such was one of Rome's most popular condiments. Quince and melon were preserved in defrutum and honey through the winter, and some Roman women used defrutum or sapa as a cosmetic. Defrutum was often used as a food preservative in provisions for Roman troops.

Roman use

Defrutum is mentioned in almost all Roman books dealing with cooking or household management. Pliny the Elder recommended that defrutum only be boiled at the time of the new moon, while Cato the Censor suggested that only the sweetest possible must should be used. Both writers advised against the use of bronze or copper kettles, as the metals would react with the acids in the defrutum and give the finished product an unpleasant metallic taste. The preferred vessels for boiling and storing defrutum were made of (or lined with) lead, which leached lead acetate crystals into the must when it was boiled, progressively sweetening the mix. The Romans seemed not to mind the taste of lead, and it formed a distinct part of defrutum's flavor. Geochemist Jerome Nriagu published an article in the New England Journal of Medicine in 1983 hypothesizing that defrutum and sapa may have contained enough leached lead acetate to be of danger to those who consumed it regularly. A 2009 History Channel documentary produced a batch of historically-accurate defrutum in lead-lined vessels and tested the liquid, finding a lead level of 29,000 ppb, a staggering 2900% higher than the current US drinking water standards of 10 ppb. These levels are easily high enough to cause either acute lead toxicity if consumed at once in large amounts or chronic lead poisoning when consumed in smaller quantities over a longer period of time (as defrutum was typically used). Also, because chronic lead poisoning can cause infertility and high infant mortality, some scholars hold that the long-term digestion of defrutum, along with the eating food and drink with bronze utensils containing lead (which were mended with pure lead) was a contributing factor in the decline of Rome.

Modern day usage

Sapa is no longer widely used in Italy, but survived in common use in the Marche region of central Italy until the mid-20th century; it is still produced there today, but as a rarity.

Modern cooks who wish to make defrutum should use a large glass or stainless steel Dutch oven or stock pot. Boil four litres (or quarts) of dark grape juice in an open pan slowly until 750 ml or three US cups of defrutum remains. The vapors can be sticky, so it is advised to either boil the juice under a fan or to prepare the defrutum outside. For additional flavor add one cup of hand-crushed dark grapes at the beginning of the cooking process.

See also

• Pekmez

Further reading

• Ilaria G. Giacosa; A Taste of Ancient Rome; University of Chicago Press; ISBN 0-226-29032-8 (paperback, 1994)
• Pliny the Elder; Natural History; tr. H. Rackham; Harvard University Press (Loeb Classical Library); ISBN 0-674-99432-9 (cloth, 1956)
• Marcus Porcius Cato; On Agriculture ; Harvard University Press (Loeb Classical Library); ISBN 0-674-99313-6 (hardcover, 1979)