antipinkkitten Roman culture is considered a juggernaut of the Ancient World. We previously touched on the Persian Empire and Greeks, and how their massive trades shaped the ingredients present during their time. The Romans, took this to new levels. This week, we’ll capture it in a dish of Roman Chicken Legs and Libum (An Ancient Roman cheese bread).
Let’s talk about Ancient Rome
The Roman culture started in 625 BCE, with their origins coming from the Latium and Etruscan peoples. Between its start and 510 BCE, Rome speed-ran into becoming the force we think of, with the transition from kings to a Republic. It stayed a republic until 31 BCE, until it became an empire, where Augustus became the first Roman Emperor; after his uncle, Julius Caesar’s assassination and consequential war with Egypt, against Marc Anthony and Cleopatra.
Often, we look back to Roman history in a romantic sense, between the epic battles, the glorious arts and people involved and we forget that they were people living lives similar to ourselves. They had families, they ate, they had customs and hobbies, just the same. They also had bloody revolutions, crazed emperors and constant infighting/individuals who attempted to take over due to the breakdown of their stability.
This is one of the reasons why the Roman Empire is so well-documented, researched and studied. Everyone loves a good story.
The Recipe
Getting into the brass tax of this week’s recipe, we need to talk about the ingredients available. As we mentioned in the podcast this week, we have the luxury of many other bloggers, museums, researchers compiling recipes long before we were even born. However, we also had the difficulty of digging through piles of inaccurate (albeit, impossible) ingredients in these recipes.
Even our favorite Museum in the world (Because, Kansas City), struggled with this. The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, had an exhibit from May 2014, focusing on Roman art, provided these amazing little recipe cards explaining how to make some of the recipes depicted in Frescos and mosaics. The one in question is for Libum, the cheese bread mentioned above. The method of cooking it, the use of all-purpose flour (which is bleached and wasn’t available until 1906), using cottage cheese (1831 origin) and cooked in a manner which doesn’t match what we know they looked like (One cake pan vs. buns).
With this, it took additional research to make sure we were more accurate. Using Spelt flour instead of others, ricotta instead of cottage cheese, and making sure spices used were present (One recipe wanted allspice instead of pepper, ignoring that Romans had access to pepper and Allspice being an Americas-only spice).
Overall, we can’t fault these recipes. They are attempting to be accessible and provide some of the best flavor possible. But, what is our unofficial slogan – Sometimes history isn’t tasty. However, this week’s recipe is.
Libum
Ingredients
- 500g of Spelt or Einkorn flour
- 280g of Ricotta Cheese
- 2 eggs
- 100g of water (or less)
- 8 bay leaves
Instructions
- Place flour into bowl, adding ricotta cheese. Mix until flour mixture is flakey.
- Add two eggs and continue to combine mixture.
- If mixture is too dry (and is unable to be rolled out) slowly add warm water until texture is more tacky.
- Roll out dough into 8 smaller balls.
- Preheat oven to 350 Fahrenheit.
- Take a baking pan and line with parchment paper and place bay leaves down. Place dough balls on top of the leaves and cover with foil.
- Cook for 25 minutes covered, then uncover and cook for remaining 20.
- Serve immediately with honey and olive oil.
Notes
This is a dense bread, so you may find yourself playing with the recipe over time (less flour, different types of flour, etc). It’s not meant to have a rising agent, so expect it to be more of a flatbread texture, in a bun.
Roman Chicken Legs
Ingredients
- 8 Chicken Legs (Skin on)
- 1/4 tsp Black Pepper
- 1/4 tsp of Sea Salt
- 1/2 tsp Cumin Seeds
- 1/2 tsp Fennel Seeds
- 2 Bay Leaves
- 2 cloves of Garlic
- 2 tbsp Olive Oil
Instructions
- Grind Cumin Seeds, Fennels seeds and bay leaves. Add Pepper and Salt.
- Add spice mixture to Olive oil, setting aside.
- Mince garlic cloves to add to mixture.
- Place Chicken legs in a pan, and brush on mixture to the chicken. Cover completely and allow it to sit for 30 minutes.
- Brush mixture on other side of chicken legs, sitting for another 30 minutes.
- Preheat oven at 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Add chicken legs and cook for 25 minutes on one side.
- Flip chicken legs and cook for an additional 20 minutes.
- Serve promptly.
Notes
You can marinate overnight in the fridge, with placing the legs in a mixture in a bag. This will give it more flavor, but takes a bit more planning.
Reviews
Meghan’s Review
4 out of 5 stars
I loved the chicken. It was tender, flavorful and was a knock-out. I wish I could have grilled the chicken instead of oven baking it though, along with an overnight marinade. It would have made the flavors bolder and would have made the skin crunchier. The Libum was fine, but I found I couldn’t eat more than one bun due to how dense it was; even with the honey.
Brad’s Review
3.5 out of 5 stars
The chicken legs where amazing! The herbs that were used made it smell delicious even before we cooked the legs. And after we cooked them, the herbs gave a flavour that I can’t quite explain. You have to try it yourself to understand. The cheese bread rolls, left something to be desired. But Meghan had the amazing idea to drizzle honey on them and they definitely became better. But they were so dense and filling; that eating one was more than enough. The chicken was what made the meal.
