Another Roman Recipe To Delight All

[Pertinax]

Pliny (NH XVIII) desribes six different yeast cultures, yeast having made its debut in the Republic (Conservative types did not consume it deeming it "unhealthy", morally or gustatory, or both perhaps.

 

1.millet kneaded with must-with a shelf life of one year!

 

2. wheat bran given a white wine must marinade for about three days, turned into rolls and soaked in water then heated and kneaded again with flour.This was deemed high quality but with a short shelf life.

 

3. Dough balls of barley/water baked in ashes then kept till they fermented, dissolved back into water for a gruel base.

 

4. Barley bread using a yeast from chick pea flour or vetch.

 

5.sourdough-the commonest , boil unsalted flour and water, thence leave this porridge to ferment: voila live yeast.

 

6. and of course, keep some of the previous days risen dough.

 

Apparently the introduction of yeast as a commodity signalled the rise of baking as an identifiable trade,as opposed to a general domestic craft.

[Northern Neil]

I tried the garlic bread recipes last night. Great!! Fortunately the Booths supermarket in Ulverston supplies spelt bread and italian style bread. Yummy!

[Pertinax]

I tried the garlic bread recipes last night. Great!! Fortunately the Booths supermarket in Ulverston supplies spelt bread and italian style bread. Yummy!

 

Augustus was asking me about the spelt loaf and the "hadrian",(which has a spelt content as well)-have you by any chance kept the wrapper for same-he was keen to know about the composition? These are the nearest to "off the shelf Roman" that I have come across (in the UK).

[Northern Neil]

Augustus was asking me about the spelt loaf and the "hadrian",(which has a spelt content as well)-have you by any chance kept the wrapper for same-he was keen to know about the composition? These are the nearest to "off the shelf Roman" that I have come across (in the UK).

I am going to stock up on spelt bread tonight. It does indeed carry the Hadrian logo - with a nice picture of a legionary on the front. I will send you and Augustus the composition as soon as poss.

[Pertinax]

Perhaps a few loaves might be handy for an authentic UK Forum meeting repast? Some nourishing gruel likewise.

 

I blogged a little on it...

 

http://www.unrv.com/forum/index.php?automo...p;showentry=636

[Gaius Octavius]

For the do-it-yourself types:

 

http://kingarthurflour.com/shop/recipe.jsp?recipe_id=R843

[Pertinax]

Not to be outdone this side of the herring pond , I find this link :

 

http://www.graigfarm.co.uk/pkbread.htm

 

the spelt cob looks like the loaf NN is speaking of , and to my mind, this is how I envisage the "roman " bread .

AD do you have a comment on bread shapes at all?

[Gaius Octavius]

Not to be outdone this side of the herring pond , I find this link :

 

http://www.graigfarm.co.uk/pkbread.htm

 

the spelt cob looks like the loaf NN is speaking of , and to my mind, this is how I envisage the "roman " bread .

AD do you have a comment on bread shapes at all?

 

My Lord: :notworthy:

 

Nah. It was shaped like the turnip Baldrick served for my aunt and uncle's dinner.

 

Edited January 11, 2007 by Gaius Octavius

[docoflove1974]

My Lord: :notworthy:

 

Nah. It was shaped like the turnip Baldrick served for my aunt and uncles dinner.

 

Oooooooooh boy...that was one of the funniest episodes ever!

[Northern Neil]

Nah. It was shaped like the turnip Baldrick served for my aunt and uncle's dinner.

 

...a bit like a 'thingy'?

[Pertinax]

more Blackadder overexcitment I see...I was going to post a turnip recipe , but somehow I felt the worthy vegetable too dull to consider.

 

I did find a note which had slipped by me previously, as regards grain varieties:

 

Spelt appears to have been one of three grains mixed to produce flour, the other two being wheat (triticum) and rye (secale). Millet (yuck) as "millium" being more prevalent in the South . Pliny (XVIII) mentions millet flourishing in campania and making a very white puls, as well as a decent bread.I note that he says "the Sarmatians live primarilyy on millet porridge(even eating it raw!- is that apocryphal? ), mixing it with horse milk and blood (black/white pudding).Interestingly the oat was veiwed as a weed , but as it grew so well in dank climates that it was used often by the Germans and Celts.

[docoflove1974]

Spelt appears to have been one of three grains mixed to produce flour, the other two being wheat (triticum) and rye (secale). Millet (yuck) as "millium" being more prevalent in the South . Pliny (XVIII) mentions millet flourishing in campania and making a very white puls, as well as a decent bread.I note that he says "the Sarmatians live primarilyy on millet porridge(even eating it raw!- is that apocryphal? ), mixing it with horse milk and blood (black/white pudding).Interestingly the oat was veiwed as a weed , but as it grew so well in dank climates that it was used often by the Germans and Celts.

 

1) Is 'yuck' the true Roman name for millet? (sorry, I had to)

2) Last night I saw a good repeat of Food Network's "Good Eats," where Alton Brown :wub: went into barley, and its ancient roots as a grain and as a ground flour. I know that barley is common in the eastern Mediterranean, but is it as common in the western Mediterranean?

Edited January 12, 2007 by docoflove1974

[Gaius Octavius]

more Blackadder overexcitment I see...I was going to post a turnip recipe , but somehow I felt the worthy vegetable too dull to consider.

 

My Lord :notworthy:

 

I sorry. I won't do it again. 'Promise. Cross my heart and hope to die.' Don't punish everybody because of me.

 

Edited January 12, 2007 by Gaius Octavius

[Pertinax]

Spelt appears to have been one of three grains mixed to produce flour, the other two being wheat (triticum) and rye (secale). Millet (yuck) as "millium" being more prevalent in the South . Pliny (XVIII) mentions millet flourishing in campania and making a very white puls, as well as a decent bread.I note that he says "the Sarmatians live primarilyy on millet porridge(even eating it raw!- is that apocryphal? ), mixing it with horse milk and blood (black/white pudding).Interestingly the oat was veiwed as a weed , but as it grew so well in dank climates that it was used often by the Germans and Celts.

 

1) Is 'yuck' the true Roman name for millet? (sorry, I had to)

2) Last night I saw a good repeat of Food Network's "Good Eats," where Alton Brown :wub: went into barley, and its ancient roots as a grain and as a ground flour. I know that barley is common in the eastern Mediterranean, but is it as common in the western Mediterranean?

 

The barley question is very interesting, very shortly I will be posting a review of "Famine and grain supply in the Graeco-Roman world". -one key structural element in the rural economy(and urban provisioning) of both Greece and Rome was the the underpinning of wheat production (of whatever type ) by barley as a "fallback" staple. The reason being straightforward, failure rates for wheat far outstripped those for barley; any peasant agronomist would therefore plan to minimise risk by making sure a barley crop was available (either grown by himself or available via kinship ties). I suggest that barley was ubiquitos wherever subsistence farming took place, and in early Attic and Republican times this was widespread.Barley certainly doesnt come across as the grain of choice , when a choice can be exercised.

 

Yuck is my personal linguistic designation for millet.Whats the "Seven Samurai " quote? "Ive tasted your millet diet...its disgusting!"

[docoflove1974]

The barley question is very interesting, very shortly I will be posting a review of "Famine and grain supply in the Graeco-Roman world". -one key structural element in the rural economy(and urban provisioning) of both Greece and Rome was the the underpinning of wheat production (of whatever type ) by barley as a "fallback" staple. The reason being straightforward, failure rates for wheat far outstripped those for barley; any peasant agronomist would therefore plan to minimise risk by making sure a barley crop was available (either grown by himself or available via kinship ties). I suggest that barley was ubiquitos wherever subsistence farming took place, and in early Attic and Republican times this was widespread.Barley certainly doesnt come across as the grain of choice , when a choice can be exercised.

 

Makes sense, and echos much of what AB said on the program. I know I have dabbled in putting barley into vegetable soup...and I do like it quite a bit. Barley salad, with some cucumbers, tomatos, onions and feta and a red wine vinagrette is damn tasty, too.

 

Yuck is my personal linguistic designation for millet.Whats the "Seven Samurai " quote? "Ive tasted your millet diet...its disgusting!"

 

Heh that's all I need to know...never have tasted millet, and I get the feeling that if I do, it's not a pleasant dish!