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Ancient Greek Bread recipies
#1
Does anyone know of any ancient greek bread recipies?
Dan/Anastasios of Sparta/Gaius Statilius Rusticus/ Gaius Germanicus Augustus Flavius Romulus Caesar Tiberius Caelius (Imperator :twisted: <img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_twisted.gif" alt=":twisted:" title="Twisted Evil" />:twisted: )
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Real men have Triremes and Chariots 8) <img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_cool.gif" alt="8)" title="Cool" />8) !
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#2
I don't think any survive. Andrew Dalby addresses Greek breads in 'Siren Feasts' and 'Flavours of Byzantium', but the only recipe he quotes is medieval. Still, if you do research that way, he is a good starting point.

Also, Cato's recipes are probably not specifically Italian or Roman. There is little reason to assume Greeks would not have eaten similar breads and cakes.
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Volker Bach
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#3
I may have to try to recreate a recipie and design one by what they put in.
Dan/Anastasios of Sparta/Gaius Statilius Rusticus/ Gaius Germanicus Augustus Flavius Romulus Caesar Tiberius Caelius (Imperator :twisted: <img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_twisted.gif" alt=":twisted:" title="Twisted Evil" />:twisted: )
Yachts and Saabs are for whimps!
Real men have Triremes and Chariots 8) <img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_cool.gif" alt="8)" title="Cool" />8) !
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#4
Quote:I may have to try to recreate a recipie and design one by what they put in.

How much experience do you hae with baking? If you trust yourself to make a decent basic sourdough bread, I'd go that route. natural wheat-based sourdough culture, wholemeal wheat or barley flour and water, a bit of salt (maybe for the Classical period, likely for later eras), that's all you need. But it's not easy.

If you're less sure of your abilities, use packaged yeast for your leaven and add some oil to the bread to soften it (even if it stays dense, it will be soft and more pleasant to eat that way).

If you're willing to leave the wporld of certainty for likely conjecture, you can add egg, milk, cheese, honey and spices. We have one description from the Byzantine era of wheat bread made with almond oil, fennelseed and mastic. It's quite good (though almond oil really is unnecessarily expensive).
Der Kessel ist voll Bärks!

Volker Bach
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#5
Hello all,

According to E. S. P. Ricotti's "Meals and Recipes from Ancient Greece" (page 37), there are at least three surviving bread recipes. The first is called Artolaganon. Here are the ingredients.

3 1/2 cups flour (350 g)
1 tablespoon salt
1 tablespoon yeast disolved in 3/4 cup warm water
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons lard
1/4 cup white wine (60 ml)
1/4 cup milk (60 ml)
pepper to taste

Put the flour in a bowl, mix in the salt, and make a well in the middle. Pour the yeast and water into the well, then mix gently. Transfer to a floured board and knead (flour hands frequently) until dough is compact, elastic, and smooth. Put the dough in an oiled bowl and let rise in a warm place. When it has doubled its volume (about 20-30 minutes), knead it and add the remaining ingredients mix evenly and add flour as needed. Set it to rise again (about 20 minutes). Punch it down an spread it evenly in an oiled rectangular pan; let it rise once more (about 20 minutes). When it has risen, cook it in a hot oven (475 F or 250 C) for about 20 minutes, or until done in the middle and golden brown on top.

The book has two more bread recipes, one is the same as a Roman "Tracta", and the other is ancient Pita. If anyone wants I can pass them along as well.

Cordially,

Michael Broyles
Mediocris Ventvs Qvod Seqvax Maris

Michael
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#6
Quote:Hello all,

According to E. S. P. Ricotti's "Meals and Recipes from Ancient Greece" (page 37), there are at least three surviving bread recipes. The first is called Artolaganon. Here are the ingredients.

3 1/2 cups flour (350 g)
1 tablespoon salt
1 tablespoon yeast disolved in 3/4 cup warm water
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons lard
1/4 cup white wine (60 ml)
1/4 cup milk (60 ml)
pepper to taste

Put the flour in a bowl, mix in the salt, and make a well in the middle. Pour the yeast and water into the well, then mix gently. Transfer to a floured board and knead (flour hands frequently) until dough is compact, elastic, and smooth. Put the dough in an oiled bowl and let rise in a warm place. When it has doubled its volume (about 20-30 minutes), knead it and add the remaining ingredients mix evenly and add flour as needed. Set it to rise again (about 20 minutes). Punch it down an spread it evenly in an oiled rectangular pan; let it rise once more (about 20 minutes). When it has risen, cook it in a hot oven (475 F or 250 C) for about 20 minutes, or until done in the middle and golden brown on top.

The book has two more bread recipes, one is the same as a Roman "Tracta", and the other is ancient Pita. If anyone wants I can pass them along as well.

I am sorry to say I'm quite doubtful about the redaction of this recipe. First of all, the addition of wine to me suggests a misreading of the practice of fermenting with must as a leaening. Secondly, the addition of yeast is highly atypical for the ancient Mediterranean. The leaven of choice would be natutal sourdough cultures or grape must. Yeast is an outgrowth of the beer cultures of northern Europe. The description as a 'laganon' suggests that this may be at its heart a recipe for an unleavened flatbread or proto-pasta rather than a relative of Cato's mustaceus.

I can't root out the original text right now, but IIRC 'Artolaganon' is from the Deipnosophistae.
Der Kessel ist voll Bärks!

Volker Bach
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#7
I am just the messenger here. Ricotta Sites "Athenaeus 3. 113d". As her source for the recipe and cites specifically after the wine (page 37). She also defines the name as meaning "Leaves of bread".

For whatever it is worth here is her Apanthrakis recipe, she cites Athenaeus again (3.110b).

5 cups of flour (500 g)
1 tablespoon salt
1 cup sour milk (250 ml) (to make sour milk add 1/2 teaspoon of lemon juice or vinegar to milk and stir to blend)
1 tablespoon of yeast disolved in 2 tablespoons of warm water
1 tablespoon honey
1 cup warm water (250 ml)
1/4 cup olive oil (60 ml)

Mix the flour and salt, place in a mound and make a well in the center. Pour in the oil, sour milk, honey water and yeast. Work the dough in the normal manner (bring flour into wet ingredients slowly mixing with hands, then knead) until it is smooth and elastic. Place in a warm place protected from drafts for about two hours. Punch down and knead the risen dough again, and cut into 10 or 12 pieces. Roll each piece out with a rolling pin to make it round and roughly 6-8 inches in diameter. Place on a well greased baking sheet in a warm spot to rise again (30-40 minutes). Finally, bake them for 20 minutes in a hot oven (375 F or 200 C).

Cordially,

Michael Broyles
Mediocris Ventvs Qvod Seqvax Maris

Michael
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#8
Thanks for locating. For artolaganon. the Loeb translation has: "But in making the so-called artolaganon, a little wine, pepper, and milk are introduced, along with a small quantity of oil or lard. Similarly into kapyria, called by the Romans tracta, are put mixtures as into the wheat-wafer"

The original word for 'Wheat-wafer' is artolaganon. The word translated as wine is oinarion - my Greek is a bit rusty, but I think it's fairly unequivocal. But the mention of tracta to me suggests this is an unleavened flatbread.


With apanthrakis I'm afraid it's even more guesswork. The quote only says that apanthrakis is more tender than 'the wafer' (laganon) and probably baked over charcoal, like the ash-bread (enkyphias). Oil, cheese, suet, lard and honey are all mentioned further down in the text, unconnected with that name.

It's not an improbably redaction as such (aside from the yeast), but I would not take it at face value. BTW, if you use drained milk curds and reasonably fine flour, you don't need any leavening agents.
Der Kessel ist voll Bärks!

Volker Bach
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#9
lagans the closest version to ancient Greek bread
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#10
Hey Stefanos, it is telling me that your attachment doesn't exist anymore. Sad
David J. Cord
www.davidcord.com
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