Printed July 31, 2026
Roman Sala Cattabia: Ancient Preserved Vegetable Salad
A cold appetizer from 1st-century Rome featuring pickled vegetables in a pungent anchovy-herb dressing that showcases the Roman obsession with fermented fish sauce.
Ingredients
- 1 small head cauliflower, broken into small florets
- 2 medium carrots, sliced into thin rounds
- 1 fennel bulb, thinly sliced
- 1 cup white wine vinegar
- 1 cup water
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 1 tablespoon salt
- 6 anchovy fillets, finely minced
- 2 tablespoons garum or Asian fish sauce
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
- 2 teaspoons fresh oregano, chopped
- 1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 2 hard-boiled eggs, quartered
- 12 black olives, pitted
Preparation
This dish descends from recipes recorded by Apicius in De Re Coquinaria, the oldest surviving cookbook from the Roman Empire. The Romans were masters of preservation, and their tables featured an array of pickled vegetables year-round, dressed with the ubiquitous garum—a fermented fish sauce as central to their cuisine as salt is to ours.
Sala Cattabia would have appeared at the gustatio, the first course of a formal Roman dinner, designed to stimulate appetite with bold, assertive flavors. The combination of sweet honey, sharp vinegar, and umami-rich fish sauce created a flavor profile remarkably sophisticated for its era.
Preparation
- Bring a large pot of salted water to boil. Blanch the cauliflower florets for 2 minutes, remove with a slotted spoon, and immediately plunge into ice water. Repeat with the carrots (blanch for 3 minutes) and fennel (1 minute). Drain well.
- In a saucepan, combine the white wine vinegar, water, honey, and salt. Bring to a boil, stirring until the honey and salt dissolve completely.
- Place the blanched vegetables in a glass or ceramic bowl. Pour the hot pickling liquid over them and let cool to room temperature. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours or overnight.
- To make the dressing, combine the minced anchovies, garum, olive oil, red wine vinegar, oregano, thyme, and black pepper in a small bowl. Mash the anchovies into the mixture with a fork until you have a relatively smooth, emulsified dressing.
- Drain the pickled vegetables, reserving a few tablespoons of the pickling liquid if desired for a sharper dressing.
- Arrange the vegetables on a serving platter. Drizzle the anchovy dressing over them liberally.
- Garnish with quartered hard-boiled eggs and black olives.
- Serve chilled or at room temperature as an appetizer or side dish.
Historical Context: Romans consumed this type of preserved vegetable salad throughout the winter months when fresh produce was scarce. The high-status ingredient was the garum, with the finest varieties fetching prices comparable to premium wines. If you cannot find garum, a high-quality Asian fish sauce provides an authentic substitute, as both are produced through similar fermentation processes.
