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In light the recent holiday season about the come to a close, I thought I would post some recipes related to the original festivals in ancient times, also happening around this time of years. Two in particular to be specific that are the ancient progenitors of the modern Western Christmas and New Years. The first holiday is the famous and well known Saturnalia that honored the Roman Saturn, a Romanized form of the Hellenic Kronos, of which Christmas is partially descended from. The second is a festival called Kalends, otherwise known as "the Kalends of January" in the classical and early medieval period, originally held to honor the Roman God Janus. Janus was the God of Doors, Gates, Transitions, Initiator of Human Life, Ruler of the Stages of Life. He represented the liminal spaces where boundaries were muddied in life such as life and death, beginnings and ends, youth and adulthood, rural and urban spaces, war and peace etc & etc..
So what did people eat around these times you might find yourself asking? Well this is what some people might have eaten and given as offerings to said deities around this time. Let's start with Saturnalia since that came first! Then later I'll cover Kalends.
Traditional Saturnalia Eats:
Pork Roast with Saffron Sauce
This recipe comes to from the roman author Horace, in his book Horace’s Sermones, a collection of satirical poems written in Latin dactylic hexameters by the Roman poet Horace. In one references a man named Catius, who created this recipe simply to show off how good a cook he was, using ingredients commonly consumed around Saturnalia.
The recipe is as follows VvV
- 500 gr pork tenderloin (traditionally consumed around Saturnalia)
- 1 Cup of Roman Fish Sauce (Garum or Muria traditionally are types of ancient fish sauces added to enhance flavor due to msg being a natural by product during the sauces fermentation) but can be substituted with a East Asian Fish Sauce which has a similar qualities/flavor profile.
- 1 teaspoon of chopped fresh Mint
- 1 teaspoon of chopped fresh Rue
- 1 teaspoon of chopped fresh Oregano
- 1 Cup of high quality Olive Oil
- 1 Cup of high quality White Wine
- Fresh Saffron
Cooking Instructions:
The pork tenderloin needs to be spit roasted till the meat is cooked all the through and with a nice slightly burnt crust on all sides
Next while the roast is cooking, mince the herbs (except saffron) and mix them with the olive oil, fish sauce, and white wine. Heat mixture on the stove slowing stirring in a small pot on low heat until boils. As soon as it starts boiling, add the saffron and let it cool down. Slice roast into smaller even portions and place onto serving dish. Pour sauce across the top to finish before serving.
Source: historical italian cooking dot home dot blog
Mustacei or Cato's Grape Must Cakes
This recipe comes to us from Cato the Elder, is a type of a sweet biscuit cake, made from several herbs and spices.
The recipe is as follows VvV
- 400g plain flour
- 200ml red or white grape juice
- 1/2 tsp dried yeast
- 60g pecorino cheese, grated
- 2 tsp ground aniseed
- 2 tsp ground cumin
- 60g rendered animal fat of your choice
- Olive Oil
- Bay Leaves
Cooking Instructions:
Start by pouring the grape juice into a pan and warming it to 98°C. Dissolve the yeast packet in the grape juice and leave it to froth for a few minutes. Grate the cheese and then pour the flour into a mixing bowl. Stir in the ground cumin and aniseed next, then add the grated cheese and rendered fat, next work the mixture until it has the consistency of bread crumbs. Pour on the grape juice and yeast mixture next. Knead for a additional 5 minutes, until you have a supple dough, then roll into a ball. Cover the bowl with a damp tea towel. Now brush a baking tray with olive oil and position the bay leaves at 5 cm intervals. Flour a board. Place the ball of dough on the board and use a rolling pin to roll out the dough until it is 1 cm thick. A pastry cutter about 5 cm in diameter can be used to make individual cakes. Place each cake on a bay leaf and bake them at 180°C for 30-40 minutes. Serve warm with a spoonful of purée of date paste. These sweet cakes should be accompanied by Mulsum. Mulsum (a type of spiced honey wine) was a freshly made mixture of wine and honey with a certain number of plants and spices (pepper, bay leaf, saffron) which was often served with the first course.
Source: This recipe comes originally from following hadrian dot com
Mulsum or Roman Spiced Honey Wine
Commonly enjoyed among across most of the Greeco-Roman world throughout the Republican and Imperial periods, Mulsum would have definitely been served during special events, Saturnalia included. Wine in the ancient world was bitter because wild grapes weren’t as sweet as the grapes we now use today. As a way to reduce the bitterness, make it more palatable and reduce acholic burn, Romans would mix in honey. It was also diluted (two parts water added before) to make the wine more acceptable for regular consumption, avoid risking being charged for murder, or have your guests pass out on the floor.... The result was a sweet and refreshing drink with very little alcohol content! Not too different from our modern day Eggnog, Mulled Wine, Wassail, Holiday Punch.
The recipe is as follows VvV
- 3 cups water room temperature
- 1 cup red wine
- 1 stick of cinnamon
- 1 whole nutmeg
- 1 tsp of cloves
- 4 tbsp raw honey
- slice of orange or lemon in each glass
Cooking Instructions:
1. Heat the honey before until thin on the stove over low heat.
2. Now combine the following; water, wine and honey in a large mixing bowel or serving pitcher.
3. Start stirring the mixture slowly, adding in the spices gradually, until all ingredients are thoroughly combined.
4. Place the mixture in the fridge for day or day and half until chilled. (can keep for up to a week)
5. Before serving removed whole spices from mixture.
6. Place thinly sliced orange or lemon in each glass before serving
Source: kitchen love stories dot com
Traditional Kalends Eats:
Placenta or Honey Cheesecake or Altar Cake
Coming to us again from Cato the Elder, from his book De Agri Cultura, as a offering to agricultural fertility deities and large parties. The original recipe is for a rather large cake for special events, so unless your throwing a Kalends party, the recipe listed will be a adjusted version for curiosity sake. The cake itself is a type of sweet cheesecake, prepared with pecorino cheese and honey, with each ingredient layered in away not to dissimilar from modern baklava. Traditionally sweet things were eaten on Kalends, as away to welcome in the New Year, very similar to how Chinese New Year is celebrated and things eaten. This cake would almost certainly be one of the things served on Kalends along with a variety of other sweet treats. Bakeries around Rome or provinces where it was celebrated frequently produced it for those wealthy enough and short on time. Made often with the finest ingredients available (such as hybleum thyme honey) it certainly was not a cheap thing and comparable many of the goods produced in our modern bakeries for special occasions.
The recipe is as follows VvV
- 700 gr fresh pecorino cheese
- 225 gr honey
- 100 gr white wheat flour (for the bottom crust)
- 200 gr white wheat flour and 100 gr spelt (for the internal sheets)
- 1/4 pound of bay laurel leaves fresh (used as a cooking sheet and for flavor absorption via aromatics similar to banana leaf)
- 2 tsp of salt
- 1 cup of water room temp
- 1 cup of water warm
- 1 Oilve Oil Spay or Bottle
The recipe is as follows VvV
1. In a mortar pound the spelt until grains are broken and then soak in water the day before you start the recipe proper.
2. Flour your baking surface or large cutting board.
3. Make a bowel with your 200gr flour on your baking space.
4. Now mix in the spelt, a tsp of salt, and a cup of water (gradually added) together until a dough of smooth consistency is reached.
5. Next role 6 round sheets the size of your cake pan each approximately the same thickness as a tortilla.
6. Then cook each individually in the oven on low heat for no more than 5 min or less then let cool on baking sheet when done.
7. While or after the sheets are baking, take your 100gr of flour, and create another flour bowel on your floured baking surface.
8. Then add 1 tsp of salt and 1 cup of warm water (again added gradually) into the bowel before kneading the mixture into a dough of smooth consistency.
9. Role out another tortilla length sheet of the dough more or less double the circumference of the cake pan to completely cover.
10. Now in a large mixing bowel brake apart cheese and mix with honey till thorough combined.
11. Place the bay laurel leaves on the bottom of the cake pan and grease them with olive oil.
12. Then place the large sheet over the leaves in baking pan with smaller sheet now cooled from earlier on top.
13. Layer the smaller sheet with some of the cheese and honey mixture, cover with another sheet, and repeat until all sheets have been used.
14. Wrap the bottom sheet around all layers in and press dough down on top to seal (in decorative fashion if you like).
15. Cover and cook in oven on 400 for about 30 min or till dough is cooked (but not burned - should not be golden, brown, or black)
16. Remove and let sit on baking rack until cool before serving.
Source: historical italian cooking dot home dot blog
So what did people eat around these times you might find yourself asking? Well this is what some people might have eaten and given as offerings to said deities around this time. Let's start with Saturnalia since that came first! Then later I'll cover Kalends.
Traditional Saturnalia Eats:
Pork Roast with Saffron Sauce
This recipe comes to from the roman author Horace, in his book Horace’s Sermones, a collection of satirical poems written in Latin dactylic hexameters by the Roman poet Horace. In one references a man named Catius, who created this recipe simply to show off how good a cook he was, using ingredients commonly consumed around Saturnalia.
The recipe is as follows VvV
- 500 gr pork tenderloin (traditionally consumed around Saturnalia)
- 1 Cup of Roman Fish Sauce (Garum or Muria traditionally are types of ancient fish sauces added to enhance flavor due to msg being a natural by product during the sauces fermentation) but can be substituted with a East Asian Fish Sauce which has a similar qualities/flavor profile.
- 1 teaspoon of chopped fresh Mint
- 1 teaspoon of chopped fresh Rue
- 1 teaspoon of chopped fresh Oregano
- 1 Cup of high quality Olive Oil
- 1 Cup of high quality White Wine
- Fresh Saffron
Cooking Instructions:
The pork tenderloin needs to be spit roasted till the meat is cooked all the through and with a nice slightly burnt crust on all sides
Next while the roast is cooking, mince the herbs (except saffron) and mix them with the olive oil, fish sauce, and white wine. Heat mixture on the stove slowing stirring in a small pot on low heat until boils. As soon as it starts boiling, add the saffron and let it cool down. Slice roast into smaller even portions and place onto serving dish. Pour sauce across the top to finish before serving.
Source: historical italian cooking dot home dot blog
Mustacei or Cato's Grape Must Cakes
This recipe comes to us from Cato the Elder, is a type of a sweet biscuit cake, made from several herbs and spices.
The recipe is as follows VvV
- 400g plain flour
- 200ml red or white grape juice
- 1/2 tsp dried yeast
- 60g pecorino cheese, grated
- 2 tsp ground aniseed
- 2 tsp ground cumin
- 60g rendered animal fat of your choice
- Olive Oil
- Bay Leaves
Cooking Instructions:
Start by pouring the grape juice into a pan and warming it to 98°C. Dissolve the yeast packet in the grape juice and leave it to froth for a few minutes. Grate the cheese and then pour the flour into a mixing bowl. Stir in the ground cumin and aniseed next, then add the grated cheese and rendered fat, next work the mixture until it has the consistency of bread crumbs. Pour on the grape juice and yeast mixture next. Knead for a additional 5 minutes, until you have a supple dough, then roll into a ball. Cover the bowl with a damp tea towel. Now brush a baking tray with olive oil and position the bay leaves at 5 cm intervals. Flour a board. Place the ball of dough on the board and use a rolling pin to roll out the dough until it is 1 cm thick. A pastry cutter about 5 cm in diameter can be used to make individual cakes. Place each cake on a bay leaf and bake them at 180°C for 30-40 minutes. Serve warm with a spoonful of purée of date paste. These sweet cakes should be accompanied by Mulsum. Mulsum (a type of spiced honey wine) was a freshly made mixture of wine and honey with a certain number of plants and spices (pepper, bay leaf, saffron) which was often served with the first course.
Source: This recipe comes originally from following hadrian dot com
Mulsum or Roman Spiced Honey Wine
Commonly enjoyed among across most of the Greeco-Roman world throughout the Republican and Imperial periods, Mulsum would have definitely been served during special events, Saturnalia included. Wine in the ancient world was bitter because wild grapes weren’t as sweet as the grapes we now use today. As a way to reduce the bitterness, make it more palatable and reduce acholic burn, Romans would mix in honey. It was also diluted (two parts water added before) to make the wine more acceptable for regular consumption, avoid risking being charged for murder, or have your guests pass out on the floor.... The result was a sweet and refreshing drink with very little alcohol content! Not too different from our modern day Eggnog, Mulled Wine, Wassail, Holiday Punch.
The recipe is as follows VvV
- 3 cups water room temperature
- 1 cup red wine
- 1 stick of cinnamon
- 1 whole nutmeg
- 1 tsp of cloves
- 4 tbsp raw honey
- slice of orange or lemon in each glass
Cooking Instructions:
1. Heat the honey before until thin on the stove over low heat.
2. Now combine the following; water, wine and honey in a large mixing bowel or serving pitcher.
3. Start stirring the mixture slowly, adding in the spices gradually, until all ingredients are thoroughly combined.
4. Place the mixture in the fridge for day or day and half until chilled. (can keep for up to a week)
5. Before serving removed whole spices from mixture.
6. Place thinly sliced orange or lemon in each glass before serving
Source: kitchen love stories dot com
Traditional Kalends Eats:
Placenta or Honey Cheesecake or Altar Cake
Coming to us again from Cato the Elder, from his book De Agri Cultura, as a offering to agricultural fertility deities and large parties. The original recipe is for a rather large cake for special events, so unless your throwing a Kalends party, the recipe listed will be a adjusted version for curiosity sake. The cake itself is a type of sweet cheesecake, prepared with pecorino cheese and honey, with each ingredient layered in away not to dissimilar from modern baklava. Traditionally sweet things were eaten on Kalends, as away to welcome in the New Year, very similar to how Chinese New Year is celebrated and things eaten. This cake would almost certainly be one of the things served on Kalends along with a variety of other sweet treats. Bakeries around Rome or provinces where it was celebrated frequently produced it for those wealthy enough and short on time. Made often with the finest ingredients available (such as hybleum thyme honey) it certainly was not a cheap thing and comparable many of the goods produced in our modern bakeries for special occasions.
The recipe is as follows VvV
- 700 gr fresh pecorino cheese
- 225 gr honey
- 100 gr white wheat flour (for the bottom crust)
- 200 gr white wheat flour and 100 gr spelt (for the internal sheets)
- 1/4 pound of bay laurel leaves fresh (used as a cooking sheet and for flavor absorption via aromatics similar to banana leaf)
- 2 tsp of salt
- 1 cup of water room temp
- 1 cup of water warm
- 1 Oilve Oil Spay or Bottle
The recipe is as follows VvV
1. In a mortar pound the spelt until grains are broken and then soak in water the day before you start the recipe proper.
2. Flour your baking surface or large cutting board.
3. Make a bowel with your 200gr flour on your baking space.
4. Now mix in the spelt, a tsp of salt, and a cup of water (gradually added) together until a dough of smooth consistency is reached.
5. Next role 6 round sheets the size of your cake pan each approximately the same thickness as a tortilla.
6. Then cook each individually in the oven on low heat for no more than 5 min or less then let cool on baking sheet when done.
7. While or after the sheets are baking, take your 100gr of flour, and create another flour bowel on your floured baking surface.
8. Then add 1 tsp of salt and 1 cup of warm water (again added gradually) into the bowel before kneading the mixture into a dough of smooth consistency.
9. Role out another tortilla length sheet of the dough more or less double the circumference of the cake pan to completely cover.
10. Now in a large mixing bowel brake apart cheese and mix with honey till thorough combined.
11. Place the bay laurel leaves on the bottom of the cake pan and grease them with olive oil.
12. Then place the large sheet over the leaves in baking pan with smaller sheet now cooled from earlier on top.
13. Layer the smaller sheet with some of the cheese and honey mixture, cover with another sheet, and repeat until all sheets have been used.
14. Wrap the bottom sheet around all layers in and press dough down on top to seal (in decorative fashion if you like).
15. Cover and cook in oven on 400 for about 30 min or till dough is cooked (but not burned - should not be golden, brown, or black)
16. Remove and let sit on baking rack until cool before serving.
Source: historical italian cooking dot home dot blog