Came across a recipe for Cheese Round With Herbs in “A Taste of Ancient Rome” (I. Giacosa, p. 54). It is attributed as being part of the poem “Moretum” by Virgil. I have not read the poem, so I do not have any context for the quote below.
Quattuor alia, apius, ruta, coriandrum, salis micas, caseus
Four garlic cloves, celery, rue, coriander, salt grains, and cheese.
Giacosa suggests using a soft cheese or farmers cheese, but gives no measurements for any of the ingredients. I decided not to use any rue, because I have read in several places that it’s not exactly healthy for you. I’m honestly not sure exactly *how* bad is for you, because the Romans used it a lot in their cooking. Maybe the rue of today is different than the rue of the ancients? I don’t know, but better safe than have a lawsuit on my hands. I wound up using celery seed and dried parsley because I didn’t have any fresh celery at the time.
I started off using ricotta, as I have heard it is similar to a soft farmers cheese, and added small amounts of each ingredient until I liked the flavor.
Moretum
1 c. soft cheese (ricotta or fresh farmer’s cheese)
1/2 T Minced garlic
1/2 t Celery Seed
1 T Dried Parsley
1/2 t Ground coriander
1/4 t Salt
Mix all together, except cheese. I use a mortar & pestle to get it all mixed well. Then add cheese and mix thoroughly. When using fresh farmers cheese, I usually drizzle in some olive oil to soften is up some more. When making a lot of moretum, I forego the mortar & pestle and just put everything in a food processor.
