When I read the recipe only required one egg, my stomach dropped. I was imagining a super dense dough (I was also imagining modern cheese; your explanation of the softer, fresher cheeses made much more sense). Old recipes are always really interesting and offer a unique side to a culture; I enjoyed reading your experimentations. Do you know if they were used often for everyday breads as well as offerings or if one purpose dominated the other?
usage is a little hard to tell, I couldn't find anything reliable! to the best of my estimates though, I don't believe they would be eaten that often given the prominence of standard bread loaves at sites like pompeii. however, with regards to sacrifices, I suppose it would predominantly be what was to hand that was offered. libum would probably be used for daily rituals, e.g. on household shrines, thus I would imagine they were given when they were also being eaten by the household itself when offered. then again, it is a mystery we can never truly know! (and also may vary on personal taste and ingredient availability)
What fun! Years ago, when I was taking Latin in school, I was gifted a cookbook by Jon and Julia Solomon titled Ancient Roman Feasts and Recipes Adapted for Modern Cooking. It includes a libum recipe that I've successfully used for years. Their interpretation of Cato's recipe uses 1 cup of feta cheese, 1/2 cup of flour, and 1 egg to make two small loaves. Like your version, it's baked on bay leaves and glazed with honey afterwards. A most excellent offering!
Oh, yes! Thank you so much for sharing your experiments. To me, food is one of the most tangible ways we can connect with ancient cultures. Everybody eats!
When I read the recipe only required one egg, my stomach dropped. I was imagining a super dense dough (I was also imagining modern cheese; your explanation of the softer, fresher cheeses made much more sense). Old recipes are always really interesting and offer a unique side to a culture; I enjoyed reading your experimentations. Do you know if they were used often for everyday breads as well as offerings or if one purpose dominated the other?
usage is a little hard to tell, I couldn't find anything reliable! to the best of my estimates though, I don't believe they would be eaten that often given the prominence of standard bread loaves at sites like pompeii. however, with regards to sacrifices, I suppose it would predominantly be what was to hand that was offered. libum would probably be used for daily rituals, e.g. on household shrines, thus I would imagine they were given when they were also being eaten by the household itself when offered. then again, it is a mystery we can never truly know! (and also may vary on personal taste and ingredient availability)
Interesting. Thanks! Unfortunate that the small details that were so assumed by everyone back then mean they become more difficult to pin down now.
What fun! Years ago, when I was taking Latin in school, I was gifted a cookbook by Jon and Julia Solomon titled Ancient Roman Feasts and Recipes Adapted for Modern Cooking. It includes a libum recipe that I've successfully used for years. Their interpretation of Cato's recipe uses 1 cup of feta cheese, 1/2 cup of flour, and 1 egg to make two small loaves. Like your version, it's baked on bay leaves and glazed with honey afterwards. A most excellent offering!
using feta would probably work better, maybe I will give that a try next time! but still, always fun to experiment!
Oh, yes! Thank you so much for sharing your experiments. To me, food is one of the most tangible ways we can connect with ancient cultures. Everybody eats!