Grape must was commonly used as a leavener in ancient Rome. As we have seen a few weeks ago, it was used fresh to prepare bread (the mustacei from Cato’s recipe) and dried, as in the case of the recipe we are preparing today. The preparation of the must is simple: you need to take unwashed grapes (the skins contain the wild yeasts necessary for the fermentation process, so this step is fundamental), crush it, and remove the skins, leaving it to ferment for a couple of days. You can use both wine and table grapes. Today we are preparing a bread that was baked by farmers, as Pliny writes in his Naturalis Historia. The author does not specify in this part of his book how to leaven it; luckily, in the chapter dedicated to yeast he explains thoroughly how ancient Romans prepared and preserved it. In this case, we decided to use a dried yeast whose fortune clearly will extend beyond the 1st century because we find a similar recipe in Palladius’ agricultural book, written about the 4th century. For this recipe you can choose other leaveners, for example, fresh must, sourdough, or a piece of the dough from the previous day, all methods widely used by ancient Roman according to the testimony of Pliny and Cato. We suggest pairing this bread with a meat dish, for example pork stew, lucanica with mustard, or meatballs. Below, you will find the original texts with the translation into English and a short note about the ingredients. Enjoy!
If you want to know more about historical bread, 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.For 8 pieces of dry yeast 200 gr grapes 200 gr millet or fine wheat bran
Method To prepare the dry yeast, destem and pound the grapes in the mortar, paying attention not to crush the seeds not to give an unpleasant flavor to the yeast. Remove the skins and let the must ferment for a couple of days. Knead coarsely-ground millet or wheat bran with the must to reach a consistency similar to bread dough. Shape it into little cakes and let them dry for at least one week. This yeast is meant to be preserved throughout the year.
Original text Mili praecipuus ad fermenta usus e musto subacti in annuum tempus. Simile fit e tritici ipsius furfuribus minutis et optimis e musto albo triduo maceratis, subactis ac sole siccatis. Inde pastillos in pane faciendo dilutos cum similagine seminis fervefaciunt atque ita farinae miscent, sic optimum panem fieri arbitrantes. Graeci in binos semodios farinae satis esse bessem fermenti constituere.
Translation Millet in particular is used to prepare yeast, knead with must, [it keeps well] throughout the year. It [yeast] can be prepared in a similar way with fine wheat bran soaked with white must three days old, knead, and dried in the sun. The pieces so obtained are diluted in fine spelt flour and let to ferment when one makes bread. It is considered an excellent way to make bread. Greeks reckon that eight ounces of yeast will suffice for one modium of flour.
Note about the method We chose to let the must ferment just for two days, not three as Pliny writes. In this way, we used the must when it was more active. Remember that the fermentation depends on the temperature of the room: with a cold temperature, the process is slower.
Bread dry yeast 500 gr white wheat flour 1 egg nigella, white poppy, and celery seeds sea salt
Method Add a pinch of sea salt to the flour, crumbling the dry yeast and kneading with warm water. Let the dough rest overnight. Work again the dough for a few minutes, then sprinkle the cooking surface with nigella and celery seeds. Beat the egg, then brush it on the upper crust of the bread sprinkling with white poppy seeds. Let the dough rest for at least half an hour. Bake the bread in the oven and cook for about half an hour. Remember that the leavening and cooking time can change. With this quantity of dough, we obtained two loaves.
Original text Candidum [papaver] cuius semen tostum in secunda mensa cum melle apud antiquos dabatur; hoc et panis rustici crustae inspergitur, adfuso ovo inhaerens, ubi inferiorem crustam apium gitque cereali sapore condiunt.
Translation The toasted seeds of the white poppy were served with honey by the ancestors during the secundae mensae [as a dessert]; farmers sprinkle the upper crust of the bread with them after having brushed an egg to make it stick, while the bottom crust is seasoned with celery and nigella seeds.
Note about the ingredients Pliny does not specify what kind of flour to use. Wheat flour was the most common for the bread, as we can see reading his book as well as Cato’s, usually sifted to remove the bran. We can see this method in the Appendix Vergiliana, in which we find another kind of bread prepared by a plebeian, in this case unleavened. Whole bread seems quite rare in ancient cuisine. We find it rarely mentioned in Latin literature, for example, in Petronius’ Satyricon and Pliny who treats it as a medicinal remedy, with the Greek name autopyron. Romans used white poppy seeds and honey not only to prepare sweets, but also meat, as Petronius reports. Nigella seeds, instead, were used only by bakers, Pliny writes.
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 (6th 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
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