SC - medievaloid pork pie "recipe"

[lilinah@grin.net]

On Mon, 16 Aug 1999 08:38:56 EDT Phefner at aol.com writes:
>Does anyone know where I might find some period bread recipes? Also, 
>does 
>anyone know what you're supposed to do with rolled oats to make 
>oatcakes? 
>Thanks in advance.
>
>Isabelle

Sorry, nothing on oatcakes.


Korrin S. DaArdain
Kitchen Steward of Household Port Karr
Kingdom of An Tir in the Society for Creative Anachronism.
Korrin.DaArdain at Juno.com

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
	Indian Breads
	Ain i Akbari
	From Cariadoc's Miscellany. Copyright © by David Friedman, 1988,
1990, 1992.
	There is a large kind, baked in an oven, made of 10 s. flour; 5
s. milk; 1 1/2 s. ghi; 1/4 s. salt. They make also smaller ones. The thin
kind is baked on an iron plate. One ser will give fifteen, or even more.
There are various ways of making it; one kind is called chapati, which is
sometimes made of khushka; it tastes very well when served hot.
	1 lb = 3 1/2 c flour
	1/2 lb = 1 c milk
	2.4 oz ghee = 3/8-1/2 c
	.4 oz salt = 1/2 T
	Melt the ghee, stir it into the flour with a fork until there are
only very small lumps. Stir in the milk until thoroughly mixed, knead
briefly. Put the ball of dough in a bowl covered by a damp cloth and
leave for at least an hour.
	Knead the dough until it is smooth and elastic, adding a little
extra flour if necessary. Either:
	Take a ball of dough about 2" in diameter, roll it out to about a
5" diameter circle. Cook it in a hot frying pan without grease. After
about 2 minutes it should start to puff up a little in places. Turn it.
Cook another 2 minutes. Turn it. Cook another 2 minutes. It should be
done. The recipe should make about 11 of these.
	Take a ball of dough about 3" in diameter. Roll it down to a
circle about 7" in diameter and 1/4" thick. Heat a baking sheet in a
450deg. oven. Put the circle of dough on it in the oven. Bake about 6
minutes; it should be puffing up. Turn it over. Bake about 4 minutes
more. Take it out. The recipe should make about 5 of these.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
	Platina Bread
	Platina pp. 13-14
	From Cariadoc's Miscellany. Copyright © by David Friedman, 1988,
1990, 1992.
	... Therefore I recommend to anyone who is a baker that he use
flour from wheat meal, well ground and then passed through a fine seive
to sift it; then put it in a bread pan with warm water, to which has been
added salt, after the manner of the people of Ferrari in Italy. After
adding the right amount of leaven, keep it in a damp place if you can and
let it rise. ... The bread should be well baked in an oven, and not on
the same day; bread from fresh flour is most nourishing of all, and
should be baked slowly.
	flour 6 3/4 c: 1 c whole wheat, 5 1/4 c white at first, 1/2 c
later
	2-1/4 c warm water
	1T salt
	1-1/2 c sourdough
	Put sourdough in a bowl. Add warm (not hot!) water and salt, mix.
Add whole wheat flour, then white, 1 or 2 c at a time, first stirring in
with a wooden spoon and then kneading it in. Cover with a wet towel, set
aside. Let rise overnight (16-20 hours). Turn out on a floured board,
shape into two or three round loaves, working in another 1/2 c or so of
flour. Let rise again in a warm place for an hour. Bake at 350deg. about
50 minutes. Made 2 loaves, about 8" across, 3"-4" thick, about 1.5 lb, or
three smaller loaves.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
	Panckoecken (Medieval Dutch Pancakes)
	Recipe translated and typed by Heiko Ebeling. The amounts of the
ingredients mentioned in this recipe are educated guesses by the Dutch
cookbook author Annie van't Veer.
	500 g Flour
	25 g Fresh yeast
	3 dl Tepid milk
	1 Egg
	25 g Melted butter
	10 g Salt
	Make a dough from the ingredients and knead it, preferably with
your hands. After you've done that, let the dough raise for one hour.
Then roll it out as thinly as you can manage (stop when small holes
appear) on a flour-dusted surface. In the middle ages, people deep-fried
the panckoecken in rape seed oil.
	For special occasions they sometimes added a few raisins or small
pieces of apple (used as a cake for Lent). At what stage of the
preparation is not known, but I assume they added them to the dough
before rolling it out. This way, the pancakes turn out thicker, but
that's what is needed to keep the raisins or pieces of apple from falling
out. Since this is a medieval recipe, it didn't have a list of
ingredients, only instructions.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
	Manchet Bread - England, 14th Century
	Seven Centuries of English Cooking by Maxime de la Falaise 1992
ISBN 0-8021-3296-0 Posted by Jeff Pruett.
	1 pk Yeast
	1 c Warm water
	2 1/2 c White whole-wheat flour
	1 c All-purpose flour
	1 Tsp. Salt
	4 TB Softened butter
	Dissolve the yeast in half the warm water. Put the two types of
flour and the salt into a bowl; make a well in the flour and add all the
water and butter. Mix well. Add more flour if the mixture is too sticky
to knead. Knead for 10 minutes until smooth and elastic and then put into
a greased bowl, covered with a cloth. Let the dough rise for 1 to 1-1/2
hours, or until it has doubled in bulk.
	Punch it down and shape it into rather flat, round loaves. Put
these onto a greased baking sheet, cover with a cloth, and leave to rise
for 45 minutes (or until twice the size). The loaves can be brushed with
egg wash, to 'endore' them, before baking, and the tops can be slashed
and pricked with a fork. Bake at 375f for 35 to 40 minutes.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
	Saffron Bread - England, 15th Century
	Seven Centuries of English Cooking by Maxime de la Falaise 1992
Posted by Jeff Pruett.
	3/4 c Milk
	1/4 Tsp. Saffron
	1 pk (1/2 oz) yeast
	4 TB Lukewarm water
	3 1/2 c Flour
	2 Tsp. Salt
	2 Eggs
	1/2 c Sugar (Opt'l)
	1/2 c Raisins (opt'l)
	Scald the milk with the saffron. Let it cool. Dissolve the yeast
in the lukewarm water. Sift together 3 cups of the flour and the salt.
Make a well in the center of the flour, spoon in the eggs, milk, and
yeast mixture and blend. Add enough flour to prevent it becoming sticky.
Knead, adding more flour as needed, until the dough is smooth and
elastic. Put in a greased bowl in a warmish place and leave to rise until
it is double in bulk (about 45 minutes). Punch down and shape into a
round loaf. Place this on a greased baking sheet and leave to rise until
it has again doubled in size. Bake at 375f for 25 to 30 minutes, then
cool on a rack.
	If you decide to use raisins, knead them in after punching the
dough down the first time. The sugar should be mixed in with the flour at
the beginning.
	Good for tea; keeps a long time; good for breading fish or veal.
"Stale slices baked very slowly in the oven can be turned into excellent
rusks. Rub those with garlic and use them as a garnish for fish soup."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
	Red and White Gingerbread "Gyngerbrede" - (Scottish Medieval
dated from 1430 AD)
	A Book of Historical Recipes by Sara Paston-Williams The National
Trust of Scotland, 1995 ISBN 0-7078-0240-7; Posted by Paul Macgregor
	"Take a quart of hony, & sethe it, & skeme it clene; take
Safroun, poudir Pepir & throw ther-on; take gratyd Brede & make it so
chargeaunt (thick) that it wol be y-leched; then take pouder Canelle
(cinnamon) & straw ther-on y-now; then make yt square, lyke as thou wolt
leche yt; take when thou lechyst hyt, an caste Box (garden box) leves
a-bouyn, y-stkyd ther-on, on clowys (cloves). And if thou wolt have it
Red, coloure it with Saunderys (sandalwood) y-now."
	Historical note: Gingerbread, both red and white, was a favourite
medieval sweetmeat. Home-made gingerbread could be prepared by mixing
bread crumbs to a stiff paste with honey, pepper, saffron and cinnamon.
Ginger is omitted from the earliest recipe we have, but this may be due
to an accidental slip on the part of the scribe. Once made, it was shaped
into a square, sliced and decorated with box leaves impaled on cloves.
	** British Measurements **
	1 lb. Honey
	pinch Powdered saffron
	1 Tsp. Black pepper
	2 Tsp. Ground ginger
	2 Tsp. Ground cinnamon
	1 lb. White bread crumbs
	Box or bay leaves & whole cloves to decorate
	Warm the honey over a gentle heat until quite runny, then stir in
the saffron and pepper. Pour into a large bowl and add the ginger and
cinnamon, then mix in the bread crumbs. It is impossible to say exactly
how many bread crumbs the honey will absorb because it varies, but the
mixture should be very stiff. If not, add a few more bread crumbs. Line a
shallow gingerbread tin with baking parchment and press the mixture into
it with your fingers. Level the top and leave to firm up in the fridge
for several hours, then turn out on to another sheet of paper and cut
into small squares. Arrange the gingerbread on a large plate, then
decorate each square with two box or small bay leaves and a whole clove
stuck in the center. You can achieve an even prettier effect by gilding a
few of the leaves or painting the ends of some of the cloves red.
	If you want to achieve a checkerboard effect, make the mixture up
in two lots, adding a few drops of red coloring to one quantity of honey
before mixing, then continue as before. Arrange the red and white squares
of gingerbread alternately on the serving plate.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
	Jumbles or Knot Biscuits "Jumbles a hundred" - (Scottish
Elizabethan dated from 1596 AD)
	A Book of Historical Recipes by Sara Paston-Williams The National
Trust of Scotland, 1995 ISBN 0-7078-0240-7; Posted by Paul Macgregor
	"Take twenty Egges and put htem into a pot both the yolkes and
the white, beat them wel, then take a pound of beaten sugar and put to
them, and stirre them wel together, then put to it a quarter of a peck of
flower, and make a hard paste thereof, and then with Anniseeds moulde it
well, ane make it in little rowles beeing long, and tye them in knots,
and wet the ends in Rosewater; then put them into a pan of seething
water, but even in one waum, then take them out with a Skimmer and lay
them in a cloth to drie, this being don lay them in a tart panne, the
bottome beeing oyled, then put them into a temperat Oven for one howre,
turning them often in the Oven.
	** British Measurements **
	1 1/2 oz Butter; salted
	4 oz Caster sugar
	1 TB Rose-water
	1/2 oz Caraway seeds
	1 lg. Egg; beaten
	8 oz Plain flour
	Extra rose-water & caster sugar for glaze
	Preheat the oven to 350øF / 180øC / gas mark 4. Cream the butter,
sugar and rose-water together, then mix in the caraway seeds, beaten egg
and flour to form a soft dough. Knead on a lightly floured board, then
take small walnut-sized pieces of dough and with your fingers form each
into a roll, approximately 3/4-inch in diameter and 6-inch in length.
Make into simple knots, plaits or rings and arrange on a lightly greased
baking sheet. Brush with rose-water and sprinkle with caster sugar. Bake
near the top of the oven for about 20 minutes, or until tinged with
brown. (Knots and plaits will take longer to bake than simple rings, so
don't mix shapes on a baking sheet.) Remove from the oven and cool on a
wire rack. Store in an airtight tin. Delicious when served with syllabub.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
	Bisket Bread, To make fine (1596)
	Posted by Aoife (L Herr-Gelatt and J R Gelatt <liontamr at ptd.net>)
	Take a pound of fine flower, and a pound of sugar, and mingle it
together, a quarter of a pound of Annis-seeded, foure eggs, two or three
spoonfuls of Rosewater put all these into an earthen panne. And, with a
slyce of Wood beate it the space of two houres, then fill your moulds
half full: your mouldes must be of Tinne, and then lette it into the oven
your oven, being so whot [hot] at it were for cheat bread, and let it
stande one houre and an halfe: you must annoint your moulds with butter
before you put in your stuffe, and when you will occupie of it, slice it
thinne and drie it in the oven, your oven beeing no whot-ter [hotter]
than you may abide your hand in the bottom.
	Although the directions are out of order, this is clearly a
recipe for an Anise Seed Biscotti-type confection that gets a drying in
the oven, just as modern biscotti does. An alternative interpretation
would be that they are cut so thin before the drying that they are like
modern english tea biscuits (i.e.: fine digestive biscuits).
	Historical Note: The word Cookie had not been invented yet, but
they did have small cakes and pastries, which would definitely qualify as
cookies by today's standards.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
	Galette de Dame Carcas
	Posted by Bear "Decker, Terry D." <TerryD at Health.State.OK.US>
	When Charlemange laid siege to the city of Carcassonne, Dame
Carcas tricked him into lifting the siege of the starving city by
stuffing a pig with the last of the wheat in the city's granary and
throwing the fat animal off the battlements. Believing he was being
taunted by a well provisioned fortress, Charlemange moved his army on to
more profitable endeavors. Her reward is a galette named for her.
	For this version, use 3 tablespoons of dried orange peel,
softened in water and chopped fine. And canned orange juice. I also used
a baking stone rather than a baking sheet. The result was a little drier
than I would like, so I will probably test the loaf by thumping it on the
bottom at 20 minutes rather than 25.
	Finely grated zeste or peel of 2 oranges
	1 tablespoon orange juice
	2 teaspoons dry yeast
	2 tablespoons warm water (105 - 110 F)
	2-1/2 cups all purpose flour
	1/2 cup sugar
	1/2 teaspoon salt
	6 egg yolks (room temperature)
	4 oz butter (room temperature)
	1 egg
	1 tablespoon milk
	Place finely grated orange peel in a cup and add the orange
juice. Set aside.
	Dissolve yeast in 2 tablespoon of warm water (105 - 110 degrees
F). Blend 1 cup flour, sugar and salt in a bowl. Make a well in the dry
mixture and pour in yeast mixture. Separate egg yolks and add to the
mixture one at a time. Stir after adding each yolk, pulling flour from
the sides of the bowl into the mixture. The result will be a heavy batter
Divide the butter into small pieces and drop them into the batter. Blend
the mixture with twenty strokes of a wooden spoon or rubber scraper. Add
the orange peel and juice. Add enough flour to form a ball which can be
lifted from the bowl. Knead for about 5 minutes on a lightly dusted
surface. The fat content of the dough will keep it from sticking. The
flour is to keep excess butterfat from the surface. DO NOT OVER FLOUR.
The dough should be soft and elastic, yet able to hold its shape for 2 to
3 minutes on the work surface.
	Cover the ball of dough with a bowl and let it rise for 30
minutes. Press the dough into a circle about 1 inch thick. This recipe
will make 1 loaf about 9 inches in diameter or 2 loaves 6 inches in
diameter. Place the loaves on an ungreased baking sheet, cover with wax
paper and let rise for 45 minutes. Mix egg and milk. Brush onto the
galette. Pierce dough half a dozen times with pick or skewer. Bake 25
minutes in preheated oven at 400 degrees F. Cool galette on a metal rack.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
	Pain de Campagne - Honfleur
	Posted by Bear "Decker, Terry D." <TerryD at Health.State.OK.US>
	This recipe for Honfleur Country Bread produced a lighter loaf
than I expected. It has a medium density with excellent aeration. I would
recommend leaving the starter for about twelve hours. Four hours isn't
enough to bring out the full flavor of the bread. If the odor of
fermentation causes you distress, you may wish to avoid this recipe. It
gets very pungent during the second rise.
	1 tablespoon honey
	1 cup warm water (105 - 110 F)
	1 teaspoon dry yeast
	1 cup all-purpose flour
	1 cup whole wheat flour
	All of the starter
	2 cups warm water (105 - 110 F)
	1 tablespoon salt
	2 cups whole wheat flour
	3 cups all purpose flour
	Starter: Dissolve the honey in the warm water and add the yeast.
Stir to dissolve, then let rest for about 15 minutes while the yeast
becomes active and the mixture looks creamy. Add 1/2 cup each, whole
wheat and all purpose flour. Stir to form a thick batter. Add the rest of
the flours and mix until the dough can be worked by hand. Knead on a
floured surface for about 3 minutes. Add additional flour if the dough is
slack or sticky. Place dough in a bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Leave
at room temperature for 4 to 24 hours.
	Dough: Place the starter in a large bowl. Pour two cups of warm
water over the starter. Stir with a wooden spoon or rubber scrapper to
break the dough apart. Add the salt. Taking 2 cups each of the all
purpose and whole wheat flours, add equal parts of each, 1/2 cup at a
time. If the dough is sticky, add more all purpose flour. On a floured
surface, knead the dough for 8 to 10 minutes with a strong push, turn,
fold motion. To be very French, every 2 or 3 minutes, slam the dough onto
the work surface 3 or 4 times and resume kneading. Place dough in a
clean, greased bowl. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and allow to rise
until double in volume, about 3 hours. Punch down dough. Turn out of a
floured surface. Divide into four equal parts. Hand shape dough into
tight balls. Place on a greased baking sheet. Press top lightly to
flatten. Cover the loaves with wax paper and allow to rise until triple
the original size, about 2 1/2 hours. In a preheated oven, bake for 40
minutes at 425 degrees F.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
	Mustacei (Must Rolls)
	(Cato: de agricultura, 121) From an old Roman cookbook: Marcus
Gavius Apicius: De Re Coquinaria. The book I have is edited and
translated from Latin to German by Robert Maier. Posted and translated
from German to English by Micaela Pantke (hz225wu at unidui.uni-duisburg.de)
	500g wheat flour
	300ml grape juice (or young wine)
	2 TB anise seeds
	2 TB cumin seeds
	100g lard
	50g grated cheese (sheep's cheese would be best)
	ca. 20 bay leaves
	Pour some must over the flour, add anise and cumin seeds, the
lard and cheese. Work it together until you have a reasonable dough. Form
rolls, then put one bay leaf under each of them. Bake 30-35 minutes at
180 deg. C.
	Note: It's better to make the must rolls with yeast dough,
because then they can be kept longer, and they are not so hard. To make
the yeast dough, add 40g yeast to the flour + grape juice, leave it a
while until you continue like above.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
	Mustacei
	Recipe from Cato by way of Giacosa.
	Posted by Bear / Decker, Terry D. (TerryD at Health.State.OK.US)
	Mustaceos sic facito: Farinae siligineae modium unum musto
conspargito. Anesum, cuminum, adipis. P.II, casei libram, et de virga
lauri deradito, eadem addito, et ubi definxeris, lauri folia subtus
addito, coques.
	Prepare mustcei thus: Moisten a modius of fine flour with must.
Add anise, cumin, 2 librae of fat, 1 librae of cheese, and grate bay
twig. When you have shaped them, place bay leaves beneath; cook.
	For each 3/4 cup flour:
	1 Tbsp. lard
	1/2 Tbsp. ricotta
	1 tsp. total anise and cumin
	1 small piece of bay bark, grated
	1 Tbsp. must (to make a soft dough similar to that for a pie
crust)
	bay leaves
	Cut the flour with the lard and ricotta; add the anise and cumin,
and, if you can find it, the bay bark. Add enough must to form a ball
(remember that flour doesn't always absorb the same amount of liquid).
Form small flat focaccias from this dough; or roll out the dough to 1/4
inch thickness and cut into shapes. Place 1 or 2 bay leaves beneath each
one, and cook on a griddle over low flame, turning then so they cook
evenly on both sides.
	The name of this dessert survives in cookies that are still made
in various regions of Italy: mustazzit in Lombardy, mostaccioli in
Calabria, mustazzola di Missina in Sicily, and mustazzueli in Apulia. But
curiously, the must has disappeared from all of them over the centuries.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
	Bread, German
	Taken from a 14th century German cookbook, Das Buch von Guter
Spise translated by Alia Atlas. Researched and written by Kateryn de
Develyn (nickiandme at worldnet.att.net)
	1 cup rice flour
	1 cup whole wheat flour
	2-3 cups unbleached flour
	12 ounces beer
	2 teaspoons raw sugar
	2 teaspoons yeast
	1 cup warm water
	Mix sugar and yeast into warm (not hot!) water. Allow to sit for
10 to 15 minutes or until yeast begins to bubble. Mix flour, yeast water,
and beer together. Knead for 10 to 15 minutes. Allow to rise for 1 hour
or approx. doubled in size. Punch down and divide dough into two roughly
shaped round loaves. Place on greased cookie sheet. Allow to rise until
doubled in size again. Bake for 25 to 35 minutes in a 350 degree oven.
Top should be a golden color. Makes 2 rounded loaves.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
	Trencher Bread
	14th century French. Researched and written by Kateryn de Develyn
(nickiandme at worldnet.att.net)
	Goodman of Paris: Three dozen of half a foot in width and four
fingers tall, baked four days before and browned, or what is called in
the market corbeil bread.
	I baked my own trencher bread using the following recipe:
	4 cups of flour
	2 tablespoons sugar (used this to start the yeast)
	2 teaspoons yeast
	1/2 to 1 cup warm water
	1/2 teaspoon salt
	Mix the warm water and sugar together. Add the yeast to this
mixture. Let stand for 15 minutes. Mix flour, salt and yeast mixture
together. Knead until dough pulls away from the side of the bowl, or
until elastic. Bake in a moderate (350 or 375 degrees) oven for
approximately 45 - 55 minutes.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
	Ginger Bread, Course
	Markham in Queens Taste p97. Posted by Meliora / Melissa Hicks
(HICKS_M at casa.gov.au)
	Take a quart of Honey clarified, & seeth it till it be brown, &
if it be thick, put to it a dish of water: then take fine crums of white
bread grated, & put to it, & stirre it well, & when it is almost cold,
put to it the powder of Ginger, Cloves, Cinamon, & a little Licoras &
Anniseeds: then knead it, & put it into a mould & print it. some use to
put to it also a little Pepper, but that is according unto taste &
pleasure.
	1 cup honey
	1/4 teas ground ginger
	1/8 teas cloves
	1/8 teas cinnamon
	1/8 teas licorice
	1 3/4 cups bread crumbs
	1 Tbsp anise seeds
	In the top of a double-boiler, heat honey. Add spices except
anise seeds, & stir to blend. Add bread crumbs & mix thoroughly. Cover &
cook over medium heat for 15 minutes. Mixture should be thick & moist.
Place gingerbread on a large sheet of waxed paper. Fold up sides of paper
& mold dough into small rectangular shape. Sprinkle anise seeds on top &
press them gently into the dough with the sides of a knife. Cover &
refridgerate for 2 hours. Serve gingerbread at room temperature in thin
slices. [Katryn's notes: Add more ginger - I used 2-3 times the specified
amount. ]
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
	Libum
	From Giacosa, A Taste of Ancient Rome, pp. 169-170. (Cato 75).
Posted by Bear / Terry D. Decker, (TerryD at Health.State.OK.US)
	Libum hoc modo facito. Casei P. II bene disterat in mortario. Ubi
bene destriverit, farinae siligineae libram, aut, si voles tenerius esse,
semilibram semilaginis eodem indito, permiscetoque cum caseo bene. Ovum
unum addito et una permisceto bene. Inde panem facito, folia laurea
subdito: in foco caldo sub testu coquito leniter.
	Make a libum thus: Thoroughly grind 2 librae of cheese in a
mortar, When it is well ground, add 1 libra of fine flour or, if you want
[the loaf to be] softer still, 1/2 libra of the finest flour; mix well
with the cheese. Add 1 egg and mix well. Then form a loaf, placing the
bay leaves beneath. Cook slowly under a testo on a hot hearth.
	1-1/2 lb. ricotta or other soft cheese
	2 cups flour
	2 eggs
	2-3 bay leaves per loaf
	Mix the ingredients as prescribed in the recipe and form small
loaves, placing bay leaves beneath each one. Bake in a medium oven (350
degrees F) for around 30 minutes.
	This bread is called libum (related to libare, to make an
offering) because it was also used as a sacrificial offering. The farmer,
for whom Cato wrote these recipes, was expected to make ritual sacrifices
to the Lares, the guardian gods of home and property, "for the feast of
the Compitalia, either at the crossroads or the hearth." We amy thus
assume that what was once good enough for the gods should certainly be
appealing to us as well.
	A testo is a covered terracotta baking dish used like a cloche
oven. The closest thing to it today is Romertopf. Using a covered dish
for baking will probably help retain moisture in the loaf.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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