Io Saturnalia!
That is the cry that could be heard throughout the streets of Rome
during the festival of Saturnalia which begins December 17th.
So to honor this scythe-wielding god of the harvest
we'll be making Cato the Elders recipe for
globi, a proto cheesecake bite.
And let us look at how we might celebrate this most raucous of Roman holidays.
This time on Tasting History.
We know a lot about this holiday. The classics are bound with wonderful stories
of Saturnalia and how it was celebrated. They make a lot of mention of
wine, hence me pouring myself a glass of wine, and a lot of mentions of feasting but
there doesn't seem to be any talk of any particular dish associated with the holiday, so
when I think of feasting at the holidays I often go to cheesecake.
Deep fried cheesecake .
Dipped in honey.
And that is exactly what Cato the Elder gives us
in 'De Agri Cultura'.
"Globi to be made thus: mix the cheese and spelt in the same way.
Make as many as desired.
Pour fat into a hot copper vessel, and fry one or two at a time, turning them frequently with two sticks,
and remove when done. Coat with honey, sprinkle with poppy seeds and serve."
Now let's talk about that very first instruction.
"Mix the cheese and spelt in the same way".
In the same way as what?
I mean it would probably refer to whatever the previous recipes instructions were but the previous recipe
doesn't mix cheese and and any kind of flour so that doesn't make any sense. The only time that
they are mixed is actually in an earlier recipe for libum but every time that that recipe is
referenced elsewhere in the in the book he calls it libum so it's weird that he doesn't say its
name in in this recipe. What I did do though was I took the proportions of the cheese and flour that
were in that libum recipe and applied it to the globi,. and it worked so I guess you could say the
proof is in the globi. Anyway what you'll need is:
one cup or 240 grams of ricotta cheese,
one cup and one tablespoon (or 120 grams of spelt).
Other flours like durum or emmer will also work. The term
that's actually in the original recipe is alica which could refer to several different things,
but really you just want a whole grain flour.
One quart or one liter of fat or oil.
Now he's not specific as to what fat to use.
They could have used lard or a lot of different oils including
olive oil or safflower oil. I ended up using safflower oil because of its high smoke point.
Gives you a lot more leeway when you're heating the oil. You can use olive oil but it has a lower
smoke point so it's going to be easier to screw up, and I'm often screwing up so I go with a safer
choice of safflower oil.
1/3 cup or 80 milliliters of honey,
and some poppy seeds.
So the first thing to do is mix your flour and cheese in a bowl,
and combine it into a sort of dough.
Then portion out the dough into little balls.
Now these should be about an inch across or so. Much bigger and they
tend to not cook all the way on the inside when you're frying before the outside gets burnt, so
make them fairly, small a bite-size if you will. You should get about 12 to 15 out of this recipe.
Then pour the oil or lard into a pot and heat until about 350 degrees Fahrenheit or 175 degrees Celcius.
Now it can go 20 or 30 degrees on either side but don't go above 400 degrees Fahrenheit
because the outside of the globi will burn before the inside is cooked, and that's bad.
Then gently place a couple balls at a time into the oil and let them fry for between 60 and 90 seconds.
Every 10 or 15 seconds give them a little turn with the tongs just to make sure that they're getting done
all the way around especially if you don't have enough oil to submerge them. Also at about 60
seconds pull one out a little bit and check its color. You want to get like a nice golden brown
a little dark not too pale but if it gets like dark brown
it's too done so get it out of there right away.
As soon as they are a nice golden brown take them out of the oil and set them on a
wire rack to drain over a paper towel.
Then repeat the process until all of your globi are fried.
Now if you're anything like me a procrastinator extraordinaire you're probably starting to freak out
because Saturnalia is in just two days and you haven't even started your Saturnalia shopping yet.
And where are you going to find a human sacrifice at this late date,
and some people don't even know to celebrate the holiday at all,
but worry not because while the rest of our
globi fry I will walk you through exactly how to observe this most roman of festive occasions.
Allow me to set the stage the year is 217 BC and Hannibal had just given the Roman republic
quite a walloping at the Battle of Lake Trasimene.
It seemed like nothing was going Rome's way.
What were they to do? Well, as I always say when you have a problem the answer is probably in a book.
And luckily the Romans agreed. They had a set of sacred greek hexometers known as The Sibylline Books.
So they consulted these books and realized that they had been doing everything 'more romano', the Roman Way,
but it turns out that was completely wrong!
Seems that when in Rome do as the Greeks do.
Hm.
Now there were a bunch of things they needed to change but one of the most important was how
they were celebrating their December festival to honor the god Saturn, or the Roman equivalent of
the Greek titan Kronos/Chronos/Chornus. Now we don't exactly know what they were doing before but we do know how it
changed because Livy tells us,
"Finally, the month was December. Victims were slain at the temple of Saturn in Rome and a lectisternium was ordered;
this time senators administered the rite and a public feast,
and throughout the city for a day and a night "Saturnalia" was cried,
and the people were bidden to keep that day as a holiday and observe it in perpetuity."
So that was Saturnalia in a nutshell.
You know start the day off with a little human sacrifice and then follow that up
with senators performing a lectisternium and a lectusternium was when they would go to the temple
of Saturn and take a wooden effigy of him, parade him down the street to a public square, and
then set him on a plush sofa
so he could watch everyone have a feast.
Makes perfect sense,
and I can hear you already sounds fine enough except maybe for that human sacrifice part but we'll revisit that
later, but what exactly are we doing and why are we doing it? What are we celebrating with Saturnalia?
Well it's the temporary return of the golden age of Saturn of course,
and I'll let the second century writer Justinus tell you exactly why that's so special.
"The first inhabitants of Italy were the aborigines,
whose king Saturnus is said to have been a man of such extraordinary justice,
that no one was a slave in his reign, or had any private property,
but all things were common to all and undivided,
as one estate for the use of every one."
I like how he freely admits that slavery is unjust,
and yet they practice it in their own day, so seems a little hypocritical.
Also he is right in describing the age of Saturn as a golden age, but I do think he paints sort of a rosy picture
because while he may be egalitarian and all
he is also famous for having eaten five of his six children to hold on to power.
Hardly father of the year, but if you were a Roman slave you
might overlook a little prolocide for the chance to be treated as an equal even for just a few days each year.
"...The Athenians celebrate the honor of Saturn.. with joyous feasts,
in which each serves his slaves. We do the same and it is from them that we got the custom that the masters on this day,
eat with the slaves."
And it wasn't just that they got to eat with them they also got to dress like them
because most wealthy people wore togas most of the year but they would shun them during Saturnalia
and instead wear the greek synthesis which was sort of colorful evening wear and if you had
a slave you were supposed to dress them in nice clothes as well so that you guys were kind of on
equal footing. The poet Martial gives a wonderful little couplet about this change of costume
"You are indeed a reckless lad,
at Saturn's feast in toga clad!"
In addition everyone would wear a pileus
which was a sort of felt conical cap that was only worn most of the year by freed slaves.
Slaves and the wealthy alike would all wear this cap so again everyone looked the same. Also Cato the Elder
who gave us our recipe today said that slaves were given three and a half congii or 11 liters
about extra wine at Saturnalia, and that's really enough to loosen anyone's tongue but it's okay
because this was the one time of year that slaves were free to give a sort of
airing of grievances.
"I've listened a while and want to say a few words but being a slave daren't."
"Come on, then use the freedom December allows, since our ancestors wished it: speak!"
Horace goes on to have the slave kind of
ridicule his master though it's you know it's all in jest. It's kind of like a roast
'Boom! Roasted'
because everyone involved knows that in a couple days this is going to be over, and we're going back
to normal so really you need to know your master, because some people do not take criticism well.
Another thing slaves got to do was to gamble. Actually gambling was illegal for most people most
of the year, but the fourth century calendar of Filocalus shows December as being represented by
a man beside a table with dice and an inscription that says "Now you have licensed slave to game with your master."
While some people played with coins most people preferred to bet nuts and little
things like that because you know it's easier and who has extra cash around the holidays? Nobody.
So Saturnalia was celebrated for centuries well over 500 years so of course the holiday changed as it
went along. It started out as one day and then it expanded into seven days, and then it went down to
three, and then five, and then seven again, so you know the length changed as well as the customs.
One of the first things to go was that whole human sacrifice thing that kicked off the festivities.
Definitely a good change. Instead they switched over to giving Saturn wax candles which were
expensive but definitely easier to procure, and those wax candles were then lit and would line
the streets of Rome. It was really the only time that the streets of Rome were lit at night and
eventually it became customary to not only give them to Saturn but also to family and friends
and then those gifts expanded into also giving something called sigillaria which were little
wax or clay figurines and Macrobius says they were,
"Offered as an atoning sacrifice, for oneself and for his own..."
Kids would be given little toys just like they are now at Christmas.
(Blastoise kid, eat your heart out)
That was the year I got my Ghostbusters proton pack. I was just so excited. I have never been
so jubilant to this day. Also kids toys in the 80s were just better than they are now, that's a fact.
The gifts for adults also expanded from just wax candles and clay figurines.
Suetonius telling of the Emperor Augustus said,
"On the Saturnalia he would give gifts of clothing or gold or silver...,
or nothing but hair cloth, sponges, pokers and tongs, and other such things
under misleading names of double meaning."
Roman 1: 'Ooh! What'd you get from Augustus this year?'
Roman 2: 'He gave me a bag of gold, oh and a really nice toga.
It was really thoughtful of him. What about you?'
Roman 1: 'Uhhhh...
I got...
some tongs...
and...
a loofah.
Son of a -' >:/
But regardless if you were given something extravagant
or something that's tantamount to a gag gift
you had to give people something.
Martial actually has several poems on people not giving him what he wants and they're HILARIOUS,
so here are two of my favorites.
"Quid pro quo. Saturn's feast is past and gone, and of gifts from you not one,
not an ounce of silver-plate, nor a napkin, brought of late by a disappointed friend,
for my present; did you send. Not a jar of garum red,
into which a tunny bled; no dry olives in a pottle,
from Picenium, nor a bottle of small Syrian things to be
sign that you remembered me. Other people you may cheat,
smiling at them when you meet; but you won't gull me again,
for your trickery is plain."
"On Saturn's feast you used to send me plate, but now my luck is dead.
You give it to your lady friends instead...
how cheap is she, that lady gay.
For not a penny have you lost; you win her favor and I pay the cost."
He's just so petty and I freaking love it. Anyway while they did get rid of the
human sacrifice during the Roman republic it actually came back later on during the empire.
In the fourth century the author Ausonius claimed that it was the gladiators who died in combat who
"Towards the end of December appease with their blood,
the sickle-bearing son of heaven."
It was also during the empire that the tradition of crowning a Saturnalia Princess, or Prince of
Saturnalia became popular. It was often either a child or a slave who for one day got to boss the
people above him around, and the practice actually came back in the Middle Ages often known as
The Lord of Misrule during the Feast of Fools.
Now personally I think other than the human sacrifice
Saturnalia sounds like a real hoot and I think most people would agree with me, but there were
a few people in Rome who didn't really care for the seven days of raucous feasting and
and drunkenness. If you ever watched the video that I did on Roman bread you'll remember there
was a story of Pliny the Younger being asked by his uncle Pliny the Elder to go check out Mount
Vesuvius which was erupting and Pliny the Younger was like no i'm gonna stay here and do my studying.
A good decision in hindsight because his uncle died and he didn't, but it seems that his studious
ways never really left poor Pliny the Younger. In a letter to a friend describing a sitting room at
his private villa he says,
"I find it delightful to sit there especially during the Saturnalia
when all the rest of the house rings with the merriment and shouts of the festival makers;
for then i do not interfere with their amusements and they do not interfere with my studies."
What a square, because I know that if I got to go back to ancient Rome nothing could keep me
away from celebrating Saturnalia and all of its surrounding merriment. Unfortunately
I don't think that's going to be happening anytime soon so I will have to be content
with trying one of the dishes that they might have had at the feast, and that would mean finishing up
our deep fried honey covered globi.
So once all of your globi have fried, dip them into some honey
heating the honey a bit can make this a little bit easier and it gives it more of an even coating.
Then sprinkle with poppy seeds and they are ready to go.
So here are our 2nd century BC ancient Roman Globi.
These look and smell absolutely fantastic. Hm, they're really pretty.
So let's give them a shot!
They're really sticky as well,
They are really, really good. They're not super sweet, you know the honey is but the inside
isn't that sweet but it's nice and it's smooth but it's not melty. I don't think this cheese really
would melt maybe if you put like mozzarella in the inside it would but they are really, really good.
A little more dense than I would think because there's nothing puffing them up I suppose but
the flavor is really fantastic. I don't know what the poppy seeds do...
poppy seeds really ever have any flavor? But these are great.
I know some people are afraid of deep frying things,
but this was really, really easy and I cannot suggest you not doing this.
Does that make any sense? I - So I can suggest that you do do this, because they were easy
they're delicious and would make a perfect little holiday appetizer to have out on the table.
So make sure to Like/Subscribe this video and I will see you next time on Tasting History.