moretum

By Ellen MacDonall

Although I made a more modern pistou (with basil) for the March meeting, both pistou and its Italian cousin pesto are direct descendants of the ancient Roman moretum, a garlicky cheese paste that was a mainstay of the working man's diet in that era.

Here is the link to a fragment of poem by Virgil, with some commentary, which talks of an old farmer making moretum for his breakfast:
http://www.cooksinfo.com/moretum
notice that standard translations use some words that are clearly wrong, like calling this a "salad".

and here's the whole poem:
http://virgil.org/appendix/moretum.htm

As you can see the herbal ingredients differ from pistou: celery leaves, rue, and coriander seed in addition to garlic.  Lots of garlic, four full bulbs. We don't actually know how much cheese this was to flavor, but his mortar must have been a big one. Salt, olive oil, and vinegar were also added.

The cheese seems to have been a hard, brined cheese, hung up with a cord through its middle in his scanty pantry above the hearth. Since he was Roman, Romano cheese would seem most appropriate, although Parmesan will work well and cost less.  Feta although brined is not hard, so would produce a different result. A hard smoked cheese would be very authentic.

For some reason many redacters use cilantro leaves, but the poem clearly specifies the seed, coriander.

Rue is a problematic ingredient, very rarely used these days because of its bitter flavor and irritant sap, which can be very photo-sensitizing. However, some people like it and herbalists sometimes prescribe it. See this article.

http://www.herbs2000.com/herbs/herbs_rue.htm

Although it was considered medicinal for many purposes in Rome, and is acknowledged to be anti-spasmodic even today, it is also a potential abortifacient and should not be consumed by pregnant women.  I would substitute another herb, or use the dried powder which is not irritating.  So for this experiment, I will use another very popular Roman herb, lovage. From the old farmer's garden list I could also have chosen sorrel or elecampane, if I had either growing.

In a food processor, puree:

one full bulb of garlic, peeled and separated (mine are smallish, probably his were too)
1 tsp. ground coriander seed (if you put it in whole most of it stays whole)
1/4 cup celery leaves
1/4 cup lovage leaves
1/2 cup grated Romano cheese
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
dash of salt (adjust to taste)

after processing well, while still running, add 1 TBSP balsamic vinegar and drizzle in olive oil until a paste forms.

The old farmer ate this with a very plain unleavened bread, really just flour and water, like maybe a flour tortilla today. I would suggest pita or a baguette instead.  If he had cracked his baked flatbread into boiling water as other Roman recipes do call for, that would be whole wheat pasta you could stir this paste into for the equivalent of spaghetti with pesto.  And that's how recipes evolve. 

This stuff is a garlic lover's dream, just don't eat it before a first date!