Reddit reviews Cooking Apicius

So from what I know we don't have the exact recipe - you can try to make a take on it or you could try a modern equivalent like Colatura di Alici.

For other dishes you could always pick up a copy of Cooking Apicius, it is a similar attempt at interpreting Roman recipes using modern cooking conventions. https://www.amazon.com/dp/1903018447/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_HTLBCb9P7MV76

Ancient Roman cooking had lots of dips and breads, as well as roasts and, indeed, fish sauce. It's remarkable how much Roman cuisine resembles modern-day middle eastern cuisine, for example, in its use of dips. Olives, garlic, and onions were common flavorings, and lentils, chick peas, and beet leaves and other greens, were common as well. Olive oil and wine were ubiquitous. Meat and cheese would have been far scarcer than it is today. AgentPoptart did a fine job of explaining many of the details.

There actually exists a recipe book for Roman cooking available for purchase. An acquaintance of mine who is super hardcore about ancient Rome adapted it and other sources for his own recipe book, which I own in complete form and have somewhere around my house, but since I'm not sure I'd be allowed to share the whole thing, here's my favorite recipe of the lot, a sort of olive tapenade. It goes great on really dense, good bread.

Recipe for Roman Olive Spread ("Epityrum")

Recipe based on Dalby & Grainger, based in turn on Cato's De Agri cultura 119

8 oz olives (any kind, but kalamata are best)
4 tbs red wine vinegar
4 tbs olive oil
1 heaped tsp chopped fennel
2 tsp chopped cilantro
2 tsp chopped rue
3 tsp chopped mint (less if you're using dried mint)
1 tsp cumin

1. In a food processor, chop all the herbs together, as finely as possible.
   
2. Add the liquids and continue chopping.
   
3. Add the olives and chop to desired fineness.
   
4. Serve with bread and cheese.
   
   The dish is said to improve after a night in the fridge. It keeps for a very long time, as long as the solid parts are submerged in the liquid. You can add a bit of olive oil as necessary to keep the solid submerged.
   
   (Edited for formatting. Also, you know what, I'm going to ask this guy if I can scan and post his recipe book. Pending his permission and my ability to find it, I'll post it tomorrow night.)
   
   Edit: I've heard back from my friend, and he doesn't think it's a good idea to throw the recipes up on the internet because they're heavily derived enough from other books that he wants to avoid copyright claims. That being said, here's a few more resources for Roman recipes:
   
   Besides The Classical Cookbook, linked above, there's also Roman Cookery: Ancient Recipes for Modern Kitchens, by Mark Grant.
   
   Those who can read Latin can read the ancient recipe book by Apicius here. Most modern readers, however, would probably prefer Apicius: A Critical Edition, or, less expensively, Cooking Apicius: Roman Recipes for Today. There's also a Yahoo mailing list for Roman-style cooking enthusiasts.
   
   A note on fish sauce: my friend notes that liquamen (the general word for fish sauce, garum being a specific and expensive kind) can be easily substituted by using modern South-East Asian fish sauce, but if you can't find that, soy sauce usually does the trick.

The best information you'll find related to garum is likely to come from Sally Grainger, who is a food historian and translator of Apicius, the oldest known cookbook. She has also translated numerous recipes and has a recipe for garum in one of her cookbooks. http://www.amazon.co.uk/Cooking-Apicius-Roman-Recipes-Today/dp/1903018447

I have Cooking Apicius.

If you've ever seen The Supersizers Eat series, they do one on Ancient Rome. It's a lot of fun watching the chef's interpretations of Roman recipes (bonus garum-making!).

How ancient are we talking? Apicius, I believe, had a cookbook from Ancient Rome. I believe this is the one I have at home: https://www.amazon.com/Cooking-Apicius-Marcus-Gavius/dp/1903018447/ref=sr_1_3?keywords=ancient+roman+cookbook&qid=1558107713&s=gateway&sr=8-3

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Wasn't Apicius the cook who, as his very last act on this earth, served a grand dinner for a number of high profile guests... and then poisoned them, as well as himself, at the end? Not sure if the story is apocryphal or not, but it sounds good! Heck of way to go, chef!

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Here's a site with some Roman recipes. Not sure how authentic they are: http://www.tribunesandtriumphs.org/roman-life/ancient-roman-recipes.htm

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Here are some recipes from around the time of the Byzantine Empire (again, I cannot vouch for the authenticity, but the PDF has some info on who created them, to our knowledge). I've made some of these and they are pretty good! http://nvg.org.au/documents/other/byzantinerecipes.pdf

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Hope these help!