[Sca-cooks] Libum recipe

[Wildecelery at aol.com]

Sorry this took so long.  crazy work week.  semi-job...hoping on better.
-Ardenia

LibumBy Baroness Ardenia ARuadh
Description:  Libum is a Roman Cheese-based bread.  The ingredients are cheese (homemade, soft), eggs, flour, olive oil, and bay leaves.  
 Process:  I put the bay leaves in a bowl of olive oil to soak overnight.  
I began the baking process by making a soft or bag cheese.  
Basic Soft –cheese redaction: 1/2 gallon of whole milk1/2 c. white wine vinegar
This involved heating approximately one half gallon of milk to just below the boiling point, then adding 1/2 cup white wine vinegar as a curdling agent.  I then drained the mixture through cloth and left the curds to dry suspended in the cloth overnight.  The yield is  3/4 lb, approximately 
Making Libum: 1 egg3/4 c. white flour3/4c. whole wheat flour 
First I blended the cheese with the egg.  Then I slowly mixed in both flours. I then rolled this mixture into small balls.  I lightly rolled each dough ball in whole wheat flour. Each ball of dough was placed on a bay leaf that had been soaked in olive oil.  These were then baked at 350 until lightly browned. 
History: Libum is a Roman cheese bread or cake.  It can be found in the writings of Cato and Apicius. 
Cato’s redaction from De Agricultura is as follows:To make libum. Cream well in a mortar, 2 pounds of cheese. Add to the cheese and mix well, 1pound of flour, or if you wish a lighter dough, use 1/2 pound of flour.  Add one egg and mix well. Form the cake. Place on a large leaf and bake slowly in a hot oven.




The Evolution of this Recipe:  I have found several modernized versions of this recipe. Frances Bernstein’s recipe in Classical Living called for the use of cream cheese as a base.  I found that this was far too sticky and ended up needing considerable amounts of extra flour as well as an additional egg to make a reasonably pliable dough.  I have also found a recipe in Mark Grant’s Roman Cookery  that calls for shredded cheddar cheese.  I have also found redactions in various sources that suggest the use of ricotta or feta cheese. These are all modern guesses, as the original writings merely say “cheese.”  In discussions with Master Joram Goldspoons , I heave learned that the best modern equivalent would be a feta, a ricotta,, a goat cheese or a homemade bag cheese.  I have chosen to make this batch using the bag cheese.  {I learned this cheese making process at a class taught by the Cheesemonger at Pennsic 29} I have also tried this recipe using only white flour and only whole wheat flour.  I prefer it made with a mixture of the two.