Receta The Original Dessert, Ancient Roman Cheesecake
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The Original Dessert, Ancient Roman Cheesecake
When I originally heard the phrase, Ancient Roman Cheesecake, dessert was not the first thing that came to mind. Since I am of Italian ancestry on both sides of my family, (except for a Frenchman who crept into the mix from New Orleans during the California Gold Rush) my family on both sides comes from Tuscany. Over the years I've heard a lot of stories about the Roman version of MAXIM ie: the Pompeiian frescoes also known as NSFW or the old term "cheesecake".
These are about the only versions I could find that didn't involve crazy naked contortions or hairdos made of snakes .
Good call to cut that picture off right about...there. You don't want to know what's going on in the basement.
Even though I've been cooking Indian food for the last 23 years, I've always been interested in the the food of my ancestors. When I say ancestors, I mean the "waaaaaaaaaaay back when" ancestors. Back to the days of Tarquin and the Ancient Roman Republic. I found that the ancient Romans traded with India and there are quite a few very common spice link. Cinnamon, pepper, cumin, saffron and asafoetida are among them. There is also a type of Indian Cheesecake that uses chenna cheese, a close cousin to ricotta called chenna poda. Well, it turns out that a recipe that I'd seen for cheesecake that goes back to the very, very, oldest days of the Roman Republic, is nearly identical to the Indian recipe. It was kismet! It's also extremely simple, easy to make, and if time traveling with your mouth is your thing, it takes dessert baking back to its' earliest days.
Ancient Roman Cheesecake
Here's What You Need:
- 1 cup of flour
- 1 and 1/2 cups of ricotta cheese
- 1 well beaten egg
- 1 tsp of vanilla
- 4 squares of dark chocolate
- parchment paper
- 1/3 cup of good honey
- A baking sheet
Here's What To Do:
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.
Put the ricotta in a small bowl and beat it until it's smooth and creamy.
Add the well beaten egg to the ricotta.
Add in the vanilla
Add the ricotta, egg and vanilla mixture to the cup of flour.
Chop the chocolate finely. I used 1 disc of Chocolate Olive chocolate from Cocoa Planet.
Blend it into the dough.
Put the dough onto a flour work space and knead it until it's smooth.
Divide it into 4 pieces.
Shape each piece into a round
Place the rounds onto a parchment covered baking sheet.
The Romans used to bake these little cakes under a clay cover or dome. I decided to use my clay cloche for the topper just for authenticity sake.You can use an oven-proof clay pot or bowl or if you don't have one. Just put them straight into the oven.
Bake them for between 30 to 40 minutes or until they're firm and slightly golden.
If you use a topper for them, remove it for the last 5 minutes of baking to give the cakes some color.
Heat 1/3 of a cup of honey in a small pot.
When it's warm, pour it into a baking dish, and place the just out of the oven cakes in it, to absorb the honey.
Let them soak for at least 30 minutes, flipping them occasionally so that both sides are coated.
Drizzle a bit of honey over each cake.
Serve them up.
These are not cheesecakes as we normally think of them. They're not overly sweet, and absorb the flavor of the honey they've been soaked in. They're dense yet still light. I added chocolate but they would have been excellent with orange zest, or cardamom, or cinnamon, saffron, or anything else one would want to add. This a recipe that's wide open for whatever tickles ones' fancy. Coming up next, another way to do a banana, and I mean that in the nicest possible way. Follow along on Twitter @kathygori