Common and simple foods are generally a fundamental part of the sacrifices that ancient Romans offered to their gods, as we saw in the past preparing millet libum for Baccus and moretum for Cybele, in the same way as kykeon for the Greek goddess Demeter. Honey, wine, cereals are among the offerings that we find described in some of the most important sources on ancient religion, for instance Ovid’s Fasti and Macrobius’ Saturnalia, the two texts we are using today for our recipe.
This time, we chose a puls fabacia for Carna, the goddess of the flesh who, according to Macrobius (1st book), is believed to preside over the vital organs, and the sacrifices are meant to ask her to keep the liver, heart, and guts healthy (hanc deam vitalibus humanis praeesse credunt. Ab ea denique petitur ut iecinora et corda quaeque sunt intrinsecus viscera salva conservet). To this goddess, people offer puls fabacia and laridum, since they are the foods that most increase the strength in the body (cui pulte fabacia et larido sacrificatur, quod his maxime rebus vires corporis roborentur).
The term puls fabacia may be interpreted in two ways: first, as a puls (a typical Roman mash made with cereals or legumes) made with fava beans; second, as a cereal puls dressed with fava beans cooked with laridum, which is cured pork fatback. We chose this second option, since Ovid, in the 6th book of the Fasti, seems to hint at this kind of preparation writing that in this occasion, people eat fat lardum (a spelling variant for laridum) and fava beans mixed with hot spelt (pinguia cur illis gustentur larda […] mixtaque cum calido sit faba farre).
This description seems very similar to the simple dinner described by Horace in a satire, in which he longs for a life in the countryside, when he can finally eat a plate of fava beans and a bit of vegetables dressed with fat lardum (faba […] uncta satis pingui ponentur oluscula lardo). Pale fava beans dressed with reddish lardum (pallens faba cum rubente lardo) also appear in an epigram by Martial as a typical countryside food.
Besides, according to Ovid, Carna is an ancient goddess and relishes the food to which she is accustomed, not the refined dishes typical of the poet’s decadent times. Once, writes Ovid, people did not eat oysters, fish, peacocks, or cranes: the food for the festive days was pork, and back then, the earth produced only spelt and fava beans. It is clearly a past nearer than the one celebrated in Cybele’s festival, a goddess who pre-dates agriculture: Carna’s cult refers instead to a culture already based on the products of the soil, indeed some of the foods considered more archaic by Romans, fava beans and spelt. Puls, in addition, is considered the most ancient staple foods by Pliny, who believes that it was used for a long time before bread.
Lardum continued to be a food for plebeians and peasants (or for legionaries) throughout the history of the Roman diet, becoming only in the Middle Ages the most appreciated cooking fat for high-end cuisine, starting from the uses of the Franks reported in Anthimus’ De Observatione Ciborum. In De Re Coquinaria, it appears in just one recipe.
In the Edict of Maximum Prices issued by Emperor Diocletian, we find out that laridum optimum, excellent cured pork fatback, costs 16 denarii per pondus (about 330 grams), the same price as butter, another cooking fat absent in high-end cuisine, whereas olive oil, depending on the quality, costs between the 40 and 24 denarii per sextarium (about half a liter).
For this recipe, we substituted pork fatback with pork jowl, guanciale in Italian.
To prepare the puls, we followed the recipe described by Cato for the puls granea triticea, a puls based on wheat, using spelt instead. If you use dry fava beans, remember to steep them in water overnight before preparing them. The cooking time will be longer, about an hour.
For more information about ancient cuisine, we suggest reading our book Ancient Roman Cooking. Ingredients, Recipes, Sources. Moreover, the first eight books of De Re Coquinaria are available on Patreon, with other translations of ancient and medieval sources in addition to several articles on historical food. To learn about the use of cereals and historical preparations of puls, polenta, pasta, and other dishes, read Early Italian Recipes. Cereals, bread, pasta, and pies, part of the same series as Early Italian Recipes. Vegetables, fruit, herbs, and flowers. The books are independent and can be read in any order.
To know more about the passage between ancient and medieval cooking, check out our book with the 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. This book contains some of the earliest medieval recipes, in addition to information about the diet of the Franks and the differences between their food habits and the alimentation of the Mediterranean populations, showing the passage between ancient and late-medieval cooking.
If you are interested in late-medieval cuisine, we recommend Registrum Coquine. A medieval cookbook.
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Ingredients
150 grams spelt
200 grams fresh fava beans
150 grams cured pork jowl
1 cup milk
salt
Method
Coarsely crush the spelt in the mortar, then cook it with water and two pinches of salt for about 40 minutes. When it is completely cooked, add the milk a bit at a time, mashing the spelt with the spoon until it is reduced to a cream. Cook for another 20 minutes.
Mince the pork jowl and shell the fava beans. Melt the pork jowl in a pan and add the fava beans with a bit of water. Cook for about 15-20 minutes, until the fava beans are tender. Plate the puls with the fava beans, serving this plate sill hot.
Original text
Graneam triticeam sic facito. Selibram tritici puri in mortarium purum indat, lavet bene corticemque deterat bene eluatque bene. Postea in aulam indat et aquam puram cocatque. Ubi coctum erit, lacte addat paulatim usque adeo, donec cremor crassus erit factus.
Translation
Prepare in this way a wheat puls. Put half a pound of clean wheat in a clean mortar, wash well and remove the husks, cleaning well. Then pour in a pot and boil with clean water. Once it is cooked, add milk a little at a time until it thickens in a cream.
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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
Historical Italian Cooking 