Recipes for Offerings

"For they placated the gods with first offerings and tastes of their own diet, the more simply, the more effectively."
Valerius Maximus Memorable Doings and Sayings II.5.5

These recipes are from historic texts.  The interpretations presented have been somewhat modified to allow for a more contemporary application.  It is recommended that the ingredients used be as natural and pure as possible to more closely resemble what was produced in antiquity.  Most ingredients such as sea salt and spelt flour can be found in Health Food stores. 

The measurements of the ingredients will need to be adjusted, as the Roman pound was less than our modern pound.  For example a modius (mentioned in the Placenta recipe) is a little less than two gallons.  In addition, some of the recipes are obviously intended for mass volume production therefore the ingredients may need to be reduced considerably for individual offerings.    

Libum: 

Break up two pounds of cheese thoroughly in a mortar then add one pound of wheat flour.  If you want the cake to be more delicate add ½ pound of fine flour. Mix thoroughly with the cheese.  Add one egg, and knead the dough.  Shape the dough into a loaf, place on a stone board on oiled bay leaves, and bake slowly on a warm hearth under a crock or earthen pot.  

Placenta: 

Soak groats (can be spelt flour or oat groats) in water and when soft, pour into a bowl, drain it well and knead with your hand.  When it’s thoroughly kneaded, work in four pounds of flour gradually.  From this dough you make the tracta (strips of pastry).  Spread the tractum out where they can dry and when dry arrange them evenly and coat thoroughly each tracta with an oiled cloth when kneaded. Warm the oven and earthen pot that you will bake with.  Then moisten the two pounds of wheat flour and knead, and make of it a thin lower crust.  Soak 14 pound of sheep cheese to soften in water, changing the water three times, then break it up.  Take out a small quantity at a time, squeeze out the water thoroughly and with the hands, and when it is quite dry place it in a mortar.  When you have dried out all the cheese completely, knead it in a clean bow by hand and make it as smooth as possible.  Then take a clean flour sieve and force the cheese through it into the bowl.  Add four and a half pounds of fine honey and mix it thoroughly with the cheese.  Spread the crust on a clean board, one foot wide, on oiled bay leaves, and from the placenta as follows:  Place a first layer of separate tracta over the bottom crust, cover it with the mixture from the bowl, add the tracta one at a time, covering each layer until you have used up all the tracta and then fold over the bottom crust.  Place the covered placenta in a hearth oven and bake thoroughly and slowly checking it two or three times.  When it is done, remove from oven and spread with honey.  This will make a half-modius cake.

 Moretum:

The ingredients for this simple salad are cheese, four garlic bulbs, fresh parsley leaves, rue, coriander, Olive oil, vinegar and sea salt.  Clean the garlic bulbs, discarding all of the rough membranes.  Dip them into water and place in mortar.  Sprinkle on sea salt and add parsley leaves, rue and coriander.  First grind the garlic cloves and then each of the other ingredients in turn until all are a juicy mixture.  Combine thoroughly.  Add Olive oil and vinegar to taste and from into a ball.

 Mola Salsa:

According to tradition, coarse salt was pounded in a mortar and poured into an earthenware pot that was placed on the fire under a lid of gypsum.  It was then cut up with a saw before being thrown into a large jar (seria) with the addition of running water or, at least water that did not pass through the pipes. The water was to be drawn from a sacred spring and carried without ever touching the ground.  In May the Vestal Virgins roasted the first ears of grain before grinding them into flour to make mola salsa.  A more modern version is simply spelt flour combined with purified water and sea salt.

Pulte Fabacia et Larido:

Spelt flour, beans and bacon fat are the ingredients in this simple dish.  Cook bacon and drain in a container separating the fat from the bacon.  Mix cooked beans with hot spelt flour and add bacon fat.

More Recipes

These following recipes were contributed by Temple members and can be used for sacrificial offerings.  These may be shared with the Lares (household guardian spirits), Penates (spirits of the storecupboard), Manes (spirits of the dead) as well as other deities or for special occasions. 

 Unleavened Date Walnut Bread

Recipe contributed by Antonia Traiana Severa

Sprouted bread is a very old recipe. Traditionally unleavened bread would have been baked on hot rocks in intense sunlight to preserve the enzymes. Baking is suggested here as a more practical alternative, however, if you want to preserve the enzymes, bake in the hot sun or dehydrate in a food dehydrator at 105 degrees for 10 hours, turning over once after 5 hours. This recipe will take about three days from the time you start until it is ready to eat but the effort is well worth it. It’s moist and almost cake-like in texture; a wonderful alternative to flour bread.

2 cups wheat berries

water to cover berries

1 cup water

1 cup pitted chopped dates

1 cup chopped walnuts

1 tsp cinnamon

½ cup honey

½ tsp sea salt

Directions: In a large bowl, place wheat berries and enough water to cover them. Wheat berries will soak up the water so add plenty to make sure they have plenty of water. Cover the bowl and let stand overnight or 12 hours. Transfer wheat berries to a large colander, rinse and drain. Cover and let stand for two days, rinsing frequently to avoid fermentation. The wheat berries will develop ‘tails’ as part of the sprouting process. Make sure the sprouts have air dried for several hours before the next step. After two days, grind sprouts in a food processor then transfer to a mixing bowl and add remaining ingredients. Knead with hands for a few minutes to combine thoroughly. Form into three loaves, cover with linen and bake on greased baking sheet for 2 hours at 250 degrees. Bread should be crispy on the outside yet moist on the inside. Let cool for several hours before serving. Store refrigerated. Makes 3 loaves.

Kylova

 Recipe contributed by Caivs Traianvs Severvs

 1 cup of wheat kernels (raw wheat "berries" — can be found in health food stores)

½ tsp. sea salt

2 tablespoons whole wheat flour

1-2 tablespoons honey or raw sugar to taste

Ground cinnamon and/or cardamom

Raisins, currants or (to be really fancy) fresh pomegranate seeds – or a mix of these

Directions: Boil the wheat berries in generous amount salted purified water if possible until edible. They should be firm but chewable. The texture and cooking time will depend on how old they are. I often simmer mine for as long as an hour and occasionally have to add a bit more water. When they are cooked, drain them in a colander and let them partially air dry (spread them out along the sides of the colander to allow more exposure to the air) for about 30 minutes. Dump the berries into a bowl sufficiently large to allow for mixing them with the ingredients. The remaining slightly thick (glutenous) and murky cooking liquid from the cooking pot, by the way, is quite tasty if drunk hot with honey or raw sugar; and it’s supposed to be quite healthful. I always save it, and generally drink it up during the day.

In an absolutely dry pan, brown the flour. I use a small sauté pan. If you’ve never browned flour, it can be tricky; you may need to experiment. Stir the flour with a fork (tines held flat — not with the pointy part) constantly. Once it begins to take colour (pale yellow, darker yellow, light brown, nut brown) stir it quickly as it will burn in a flash. When it smells nutty and is a pleasant brown colour, immediately dump it into the bowl of cooked wheat berries. At this point, even the residual heat in the pan will burn it if you don’t work fast. Mix the flour into the Kolyva; it will help absorb remaining liquid and give a more pleasant flavour.

Now add the honey or sugar and mix thoroughly.  I tend to make mine a little sweet so use more or less according to your own preferences. Then add the fruit – say, perhaps, a quarter cup of currants or the seeds from half a fresh pomegrate, for starters. You can use more or less and mix and match according to your taste and mood. But the dish should be mostly grain, and the fruit should be for appearance and "seasoning" and not dominate. Then add the spices to taste. Mix thoroughly. I always taste it and maybe add a bit more fruit or sugar until I’m satisfied with the flavour. It’s not an "amount specific" dish, and can be freely altered in this regard.

Any that remains can be eaten as a dessert or whatever. It keeps for a few days in the refrigerator if kept tightly covered. Actually, small batches could be offered each day, taken from a larger batch in the refrigerator.  Thus it could be made less often and there wouldn’t be any "confusion" of dedication or offering. For larger offerings, the top of the Kolyva in the offering dish could be decorated with a pattern of raisins and pomegranate seeds, edible silver, whatever, for a sort of special occasion.

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