Ancient Roman Barley Polenta

ITALIANO Today we prepare an amazing and aromatic polenta from a recipe of Pliny the Elder. Polenta, the author wrote, was a Greek dish common in Italy at his time, but unknown by his ancestors the same way as Greeks once ignored the Italic puls (videturque tam puls ignota Graeciae fuisse quam Italiae polenta). This dish, prepared with roasted and milled barley, millet, flaxseeds, and coriander seeds is surprisingly rich and tasty, in addition to be easy to make. You will find below a note with the English translation and the original source from the Naturalis Historia. If you want to know more about the use of cereals throughout history, read our book Early Italian Recipes. Cereals, bread, pasta, and pies, where you will find historical information about cereals and their preparations from the Antiquity to the end of the Renaissance, with 114 recipes for pasta, bread, pizza, pies, and more, newly translated and explained. For more information about ancient cuisine, read our book Ancient Roman Cooking. Ingredients, Recipes, Sources. Moreover, the full translation of De Re Coquinaria is available on Patreon, with further translations and articles on ancient and medieval cooking. To learn about the transition between ancient and medieval cooking, check out our translation, commentary, and glossary of a beautiful 6th-century source, De Observatione Ciborum, written by the physician Anthimus to the king of the Franks Theuderic; if you are interested in late-medieval cuisine, we recommend Libro de la Cocina. Medieval Tuscan Recipes and Registrum Coquine. A medieval cookbook. If you are interested in recipes for vegetables from the Antiquity to the beginning of the Modern Era in Early Italian Recipes. Vegetables, fruit, herbs, and flowers available in English and Italian. To support our work, you can buy us a beer or purchase our merchandise. Ingredients 175 grams barley 75 grams millet 40 grams flaxseeds 8 grams coriander seeds 2 pinches of coarse sea salt Method Roast for a minute the barley, then add the other ingredients roasting them for three or four minutes. Stir often, keeping attention not to burn them. Mill all the ingredients together until they reach a coarse texture. We suggest using a coffee grinder to save time, but if you prefer, you can grind them in the mortar. Boil one and a half liters of water, then gradually pour the flour. Cook the polenta for half an hour and keep stirring until its consistency will be almost solid, then plate. We suggest pairing the polenta with a meat stew, for example, this Copadia. Greek and Italic Polenta. Pliny’s recipe There are differences between the Greek and the Italic recipe, Pliny wrote. Greeks prepared polenta in many ways. Usually, they soaked the barley in water and let it dry for a night, then roasted and milled the barley (Graeci perfusum aqua hordeum siccant nocte una ac postero die frigunt, dein molis frangunt). In this way, they malted the barley, and this gave to the cereal a sweeter taste. There are other methods for preparing the barley, but Pliny said that the polenta was always made with the same ingredients: twenty pounds of barley, three pounds of flaxseeds, half a pound of coriander seeds, one acetabulum of salt. All the ingredients were roasted and then milled (vicenis hordei libris ternas seminis lini et coriandri selibram salisque acetabulum, torrentes omnia ante, miscent in mola). We chose to adjust the quantity and change a little the ratio for making a smaller amount of polenta. Italic people, Pliny wrote, did not soak the barley and added millet to the other ingredients: Italia sine perfusione tostum in subtilem farinam molit, isdem additis atque etiam milio. Buy me a coffee Patreon Ancient Roman Recipes Playlist Ancient Greek Recipes Playlist Medieval Recipes Playlist YouTube Channel Merchandise Books Early Italian Recipes. Cereals, bread, pasta, and pies Libro de la Cocina by Anonimo Toscano. Medieval Tuscan Recipes Early Italian Recipes. Vegetables, fruit, herbs, and flowers De Observatione Ciborum by Anthimus. Early-medieval recipes at the court of the Franks. Registrum Coquine by Johannes Bockenheim. A medieval cookbook Ancient Roman Cooking. Ingredients, Sources, Recipes Translations of Historical Sources De Agri Cultura by Cato – first part (2nd century BCE) De Re Coquinaria by Apicius (Ancient Rome) Apicii Excerpta by Vinidarius (5th or 6th century) De Observatione Ciborum by Anthimus (6^th century) Appendicula de Condituris Variis by Johannes Damascenus (8th or 9th century) De Flore Dietarum (11th century) Tractatus de Modo Preparandi et Condiendi Omnia Cibaria (13th or 14th century) Liber de Coquina – first part (14th century) Enseignemenz (14th century) Opusculum de Saporibus by Mainus de Maineris (14th century) Libro de la Cocina by Anonimo Toscano (14th century) Anonimo Veneziano (14th century) Registrum Coquine by Johannes von Bockenheim (15th century) Libro de Arte Coquinaria by Maestro Martino – parts 1-4 (15th century) Recipes Plebeian Mushrooms Beef Skewers Stuffed Chard Shrimp Frittata with Peas – Conchicla Commodiana Tuna Pork Stew with Red Wine Chicken with Green Sauce Pork Chops – Ofellae Chicken with Dill – Pullus Anethatus Religious Offering to Mars Silvanus Rabbit Gourds – Gustum de Cucurbitis Roast Pheasant Tyropatina – Honey Pudding Pork Shank with Apician Sauce The Diet of the Legionaries – Soup with Mutton and Beans Chicken with Dill Beef Roast with Quinces Chard with Mustard Religious Offering to Carna – Puls Fabacia Pork Stuffed with Pasta – Porcellus Tractomelinus Gilt-Head Sea Bream Moretum – A Religious Offering to Cybele Patina Versatilis Aristophanes’ Roasted Birds Pork Roast with Myrtle Berries Cabbage Rolls Pork Collar Chicken with Taro Honey and Millet Libum Ham in Crust Encytum The diet of the ancient Germans The diet of the Franks Kandaulos Wild Boar Hypotrimma Oysters and Clams Peas Ancient Sicilian Sea Bass Pork Roast and Lentils with Sumac Scampi Cuttlefish and Eggs Gustum de Praecoquis – Appetizer with Apricots Octopus and Cucumber Salad Copadia Agnina – Lamb Stew Apothermum – Spelt Cakes Pullus Parthicus – Roast Chicken Tisana Barrica – Barley Soup Beef Roast and Shallots Staitites – Ancient Greek Sweet Chicken Meatballs and Mashed Peas Sweet Fritters – Dulcia Domestica Columella’s Moretum and Hapalos Artos Ancient Roman Frittata A Saturnalia Recipe – Roast with Saffron Sauce Muria – Ancestor of Colatura di Alici Globi – Ancient Roman Sweet The Diet of the Roman Legionaries – Buccellatum, Lardum, and Posca How to make garum Fig Sweet Ancient Roman Gourd and Eggs Ofella – Ancient Roman Steak Fruit salads – Melon and Peaches Isicia Marina – Shrimp Cakes and Cucumber Salad Sala Cattabia – Snow and Posca Copadia – Beef Stew Puls Punica – Phoenician Dessert Farcimina – Spelt and Meat Sausages Ova Spongia ex Lacte – Sweet Omelettes Flatbread and Chickpea Soup Chicken stew Salted Fish with Arugula Sauce Savillum – Cheesecake Pasta and Meatballs – Minutal Terentinum Venison Stew with Spelt Puls Veal with Allec Sauce – Ius in Elixam Allecatum Isicia Omentata – Meatballs Wrapped in Caul Fat Placenta – Honey Cheesecake Pork Laureate – Porcellum Laureatum Mashed Chestnuts Poppy Seed Bread with Ancient Dry Yeast Cured Olives and Epityrum