Tuesday, January 12, 2010

Libum: Ancient Roman Cheese Bread


Let's see, my whole post-holiday "I'm not gonna eat any carbs for awhile" thing lasted, oh, what?  ... Two days? Two-and-half, if I'm being generous. Sigh.

In my defense,  there are extenuating circumstances. You see, Poppa Trix went and bought me a whole mess of cookbooks, most of which include irresistible bread recipes, like this one for libum, an ancient Roman cheese bread, from Mark Grant's Roman Cookery. And as long as I'm passing around some blame for my carb-o-mania, I might as well include The Winter Guest, a Madrid-based blog chock full of beautiful breads and starchy sundries that I absolutely covet. This was the site that introduced me to Roman Cookery, via a post about staititai, a scrumptious honey and sesame pizza.

There are so many carb-y things in the book that I can't wait to try, but I started with this one because 1.) It didn't require a lot of prep time, which is good because Poppa Trix and I had spent all day cleaning and dusting our post-holiday, pet-hair-filled house, and we just wanted to eat, and 2.) There was cheese. Lots and lots of cheddar cheese.

Now the original recipe, from Cato's On Agriculture, does not specify the type of cheese to be used. It seems that most modern interpretations call for ricotta - some for feta - but I like Grant's reasons for using a nice, strong cheddar. In his attempts at making cheese using Roman methods, he says he ended up with a very bold cheese, with a texture not entirely unlike modern cheddar, so the choice isn't anachronistic.  Besides, since the cheese is providing the only real flavoring in this bread,  Grant feels that a strong, flavorful one should be used. (Feta would certainly fit that bill as well.) In any case, anyone who's going to go ahead and make cheese the Roman way is my kind of crazy, and I'll happily follow his advice.

As you can see from the photo, this isn't exactly light and fluffy bread:

It's sort of a cross between a soft flat bread and a crispy cracker, although the next day's leftovers definitely leaned more towards the crispy end of things, at least until I gently reheated them in the oven.

What's so cool about these little discs is the fact they taste so very cheesy, yet there's no melting, gooey cheese in sight, and that has everything to do with the prep method, as you'll see. I halved the recipe and adjusted things a bit as needed - I think the fact that it was so cold in my kitchen affected the dough's moisture requirements.  Here's what worked for me; I ended up with 10 rounds:

8 oz. sharp cheddar cheese, grated
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 egg, beaten
a drizzle of olive oil (This isn't in the original, but my dough was simply too dry to work without it.)
10 (or so) fresh bay leaves

To make the dough,  incorporate the cheese, flour, and egg - by hand. That's crucial, because as Grant points out, a food processor is just going to whizz everything around, not really mix it together.  At first, you'll end up with dough that resembles chunky little breadcrumbs, but keep squeezing it all together, bit by bit, until it becomes smooth. You may need, as I did, to use a smidge of olive oil to really get things to come together.  Though not directed to do so, I let my doughball rest at room temperature for about 20 minutes. Next, roll it out on a very lightly-floured surface to about 1/4 inch thickness, and cut out discs with a pastry cutter. On a well-oiled baking sheet, lay each disc on a fresh bay leaf - you'll bake with the bay leaf underneath the bread disc. Cover securely with foil to keep the moisture in and bake on the top rack at 400 degrees for 35-40 minutes. (I checked after 30 minutes to make sure the bottoms weren't burning.) For something with so few ingredients, the smell was absolutely incredible - it  somehow smelled  as if I had used a lot of herbs in the dough.

I realize that I am outing myself as an incurable dork, and Poppa Trix teases me to no end for this, but libum kind of reminds me of lembas bread, the Elvish bread from Lord of the Rings. I wonder if that's what Tolkien had in mind?

Dorkish musings aside, this went really well with another ancient Roman dish, lentil and red wine stew. I'll share that recipe soon!





29 comments:

  1. This is my kind of post -- historical food, bread, and strong cheese! Can't wait to try it.

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  2. This sounds wonderful can't wait try them they totally sound like a bread I had years ago up North that the bakery made, and I never knew what was in it, this looks like it! Cant wait to try it and lentils and wine bring it on! YUM!!!!!

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  3. such a beautiful cracker/bread .... bet the flavor is awesome - nice post Trix...

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  4. very cool! i'm always into bread, no matter where the recipe has come from. can't wait to see the stew!

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  5. A bread recipe that doesn't require hours and muscles is my kind of bread recipe.

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  6. Oh wowww!!! How beautiful is that?!?!? It's almost like art work. Thanks so much for sharing! I am writing it down right now of things to try making!

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  7. This looks great, move over Apicius!! The leaf on the bread looks awesome!

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  8. Very cool, I love this ancient Roman recipe! Especially the use of fresh bay leaves - I have lots of those right now! I would like to make this for my daughter, she was just reading about ancient Rome.

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  9. Great pics and a great recipe-- like always :)

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  10. A roman recipe. How interesting. I quite like this kind of bread.

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  11. Such nice post! I'm glad to hear that I inspired anyone anytime... lol, thanks for mentioning me. I love recipes that read like a novel, this one does, and you know I love recipes with a historical reference. The bay leaf addition is lovely and indeed the bread reminds of lembas!! By the way, beautiful leaf dish.

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  12. They look amazing. No wonder you couldn't stay away from it. Love the history behind it. I think you should have a cookbook. I could probably use another herb for this. Did it say what kind of whole wheat flour? I guess it's the one with the higher protein content?

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  13. Well worth the broken resolution methinks lol Great pics!

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  14. Move over cheese and crackers- there's a two-in-one in town! Forget the carb-free new year... These sound too good to resist!

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  15. So easy and I am sure it tastes divine. Any suggestions for someone who has no fresh bay leaf in sight in her city? Would basil do to?

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  16. Saying "Ancient Roman" before the "cheese bread" part makes it sound all the more intriguing and fancy! Sounds like a great way to break that resolution!

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  17. I make these little breads with ricotta and they end up lovely, really fluffy and delicate. The main taste (saying that ricotta is tasteless wouldn't be true) is given by the bay leaves: each bit of mixture has to perfectly cover one reasonably big leaf in order to take its shape and absorb the wonderful bay flavour. Try it, you'll be surprised at how different they look AND taste. :) Ciao!

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  18. Carbs, good. Cheesy, GOOOOD! What's not to love?

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  19. Lovely looking light bread,must have tasted awesome :D

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  20. Beautiful breads. You could create such variety by using different herbs and cheeses. What do you think about the cookbook? We don't have it, and I don't think I've ever looked at it before.

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  21. I see you're back with the ancient cuisine, so cool. That bread sounds really interesting, love the crunchy texture. I have been in a high carb mood lately as well, maybe the cold weather?

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  22. Wow! I love different breads, and this looks delish!

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  23. What an interesting bread. I can't wait to give it a try!

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  24. You're a cute, sweet, lovely lady. I love your writing. And your wonderful cooking. What an interesting dish. You're always showing us all these intriguing, quirky dishes. I learn so much from you! :)

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  25. Fun and interesting post! I would be curious to taste it! I can relate to your good resolutions about no more carbs: mine last a couple of hours until I get hungry!

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  26. Do you actually eat the bay leaf? I've never encountered that before...

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  27. Your photos are wonderful! I especially am fond of the cut-outs of dough and a single green leaf. Beautiful!

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  28. just reminds me of all the lovely things my ancestors must have eaten. beautiful!

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  29. I made this this weekend and the cracker/breads didn't make it to dinner, they were so tasty. Yum!

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