Marcus Gavius Apicius' Ostrich Ragout

For boiled ostrich, place all the following ingredients into a pot with the ostrich pieces:-
Pepper, mint, roast cumin, celery seed, dates, honey, strong vinegar, dessert wine, garum or anchovies, olive oil.
Boil.

The Ragout:-
For 500 gr pieces of ostrich, fried or boiled, you will need:-
2 teaspoons flour
2 tablespoons olive oil
300 ml dessert wine
1 tablespoon roast cumin seeds
1 teaspoon celery seeds
3 pitted dates
3 tablespoons garum or a 50 gr tin of anchovies
1 teaspoon peppercorns
2 tablespoons of freshly chopped mint
1 teaspoon of honey
3 tablespoons of strong vinegar

Make a roux with the flour + 1 tablespoon of the olive oil;
add the dessert wine and continue to stir until the sauce is smooth.
Pound together in the following order: the cumin, celery seeds, dates,
anchovies, peppercorns, chopped mint and remaining olive oil, honey and vinegar.
Add all this to the thickened wine sauce.
Stir in the ostrich pieces and let them heat through in the sauce.

Recipe contributed by
Marcus Gavius Apicius from his 4^th century? AD cookery book entitled "De Re Coquinaria".