in Food & Drink, History, Life, Museums| August 17th, 2015 8 Comments

Ecce panis—try your hand at the kind of loaf that Mel Brooks’ 2000-year-old manmight have sunk his teeth into. Literally.

In 1930 a loaf of bread dating to AD 79 (the year Vesuvius claimed two prosperous Roman towns) was excavated from the site of a bakery in Herculaneum.

Eighty-three years later, the British Museum invited London chef Giorgio Locatelli, above, to take a stab at creating an edible facsimile for its Pompeii Live exhibition.

The assignment wasn’t as easy as he’d anticipated, the telegenic chef confesses before whipping up a lovely brown miche that appears far more mouth watering than the carbonized round found in the Herculaneum oven.

His recipe could be mistaken for modern sourdough, but he also has a go at several details that speak to bread’s role in ancient Roman life:

Its perimeter has a cord baked in to provide for easy transport home. Most Roman homes were without ovens. Those who didn’t buy direct from a bakery took their dough to community ovens, where it was baked for them overnight.

The loaf was scored into eight wedges. This is true of the 80 loaves found in the ovens of the unfortunate baker, Modestus. Locatelli speculates that the wedges could be used as monetary units, but I suspect it’s more a business practice on par with pizza-by-the-slice.

(Nowadays, Roman pizza is sold by weight, but I digress.)

The crust bears a telltale stamp. Locatelli takes the opportunity to brand his with the logo of his Michelin-starred restaurant, Locanda Locatelli. His inspiration is stamped ‘Property of Celer, Slave of Q. Granius Verus.’ To me, this suggests the possibility that the bread was found in a communal oven.

Locatelli also introduces a Flintstonian vision when he alludes to specially-devised labor saving machines to which Roman bakers yoked “animals,” presumably donkeys…or knowing the Romans and their class system, slaves.

His published recipe (a variation of the one in the video) is below. Here is aconversion chart for those unfamiliar with metric measurements.

INGREDIENTS

400g biga acida (sourdough)

12g yeast

18g gluten

24g salt

532g water

405g spelt flour

405g wholemeal flour

Melt the yeast into the water and add it into the biga. Mix and sieve the flours together with the gluten and add to the water mix. Mix for two minutes, add the salt and keep mixing for another three minutes. Make a round shape with it and leave to rest for one hour. Put some string around it to keep its shape during cooking. Make some cuts on top before cooking to help the bread rise in the oven and cook for 30–45 minutes at 200 degrees.

For an even more artisanal attempt (and extremely detailed instructions) check out the Artisan Pompeii Miche recipe on the Fresh Loaf bread enthusiast community.

True Roman bread for true Romans!

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Ayun Halliday is an author, illustrator, and Chief Primatologist of the East Village Inky zine. Follow her @AyunHalliday

Cum se face cafeaua la French Press (video)

Cum se face cafeaua la French Press (video)

Sistemul de filtrare prin presare cunoscut inca din 1862 sub numele de “Melior” este acum folosit la nivel mondial sub numele French Press sau Plunger Pot. Eleganta, practica si usor de folosit, Presa Franceza este o modalitate simpla de a face o cafea aromata si cu gust plin. In plus, pretul ei nu presupune deloc o investitie majora.

“Press pot”-ul are ca element distinctiv pistonul cu sita in capat, care separa si izoleaza zatul de restul bauturii, oferindu-i un gust aparte.

Ce avem nevoie pentru prepararea cafelei la French Press

Aceasta cana de sticla cu maner si piston nu mai are nevoie decat de apa incalzita, cafeaua macinata si zahar, optional. Din cauza granulelor mari, infuzia dureaza mai mult decat la alte metode: cam 4 minute. Dar credeti-ne ca merita!

- Temperatura ideala a apei – pentru a obtine o cafea perfecta – ar trebui sa fie de 90 – 96 de grade Celsius.

- Granulatia cafelei macinate pe care o folosim in acest proces de preparare trebuie sa fie medie catre mare, dar suficient de mare incat sita sa nu se infunde. Indicatiile mai spun ca trebuie sa fie si mediu prajita.

Pasii prepararii cafelei la French Press

1. Se fierbe o cantitate de apa dubla fata de capacitatea vasului de sticla al Presei.

2. Cat timp apa se aduce la temperatura mai sus mentionata, jumatate din ea se toarna in vasul de sticla, fara piston, pentru ca acesta sa se incalzeasca si sa nu scada temperatura cafelei pe care urmeaza sa o preparam.

3. Se pun 6 – 8 grame de cafea macinata in vasul golit de apa.

4. Se toarna apa adusa la temperatura de 85-90 C (dupa fierberea apei se asteapta aprox. 30 secunde ca sa-i scada temepratura) peste cafeaua din vasul de sticla, cu miscari circulare, pentru ca apa sa ajunga la fiecare particula de cafea.

5. Imediat se pune capacul peste vas, cu pistonul ridicat – sita pozitionata in partea de sus a vasului acoperit cu capacul. Sita trebuie sa fie pozitionata astfel incat sa apese crema cafelei usor pe suprafata lichidului. Se lasa asa timp de 1 minut.

6. Dupa ce trece minutul, se scoate capacul cu tot cu piston si se amesteca bautura cu o lingura de lemn cu coada lunga.

7. Se pune imediat la loc capacul cu piston si, dupa 3 minute, se impinge sita usor in jos, iar cafeaua trebuie acum turnata in cesti. Daca nu se consuma imediat, cafeaua trebuie mutata in alt vas, deoarece contactul prelungit al zatului cu lichidul va altera gustul cafelei pe care urmeaza sa o beti.

Pont: Pentru a limita cantitatea de zat din ceasca, ideal este ca sita sa nu fie coborata la maxim, ci sa pastreze dedesubt un strat de lichid incarcat cu zat.

How to Grow Garlic Indoors in a Pot

Growing garlic is an ideal project for the beginning or seasoned gardener. An entire garlic bulb is planted into soil and it creates a garlic vine. You can plant many different kinds of garlic, such as the White Pearl, Lautrec Wight and Purple Moldovan Wight. Garlic can be planted indoors in containers, where it can be grown in most seasons. Planting in containers indoors can also limit the garlic's exposure to disease or insects. Garlic does take attentive care and the right materials to grow a healthy, flavorful plant. This article will tell you how to grow garlic indoors in a pot.

Steps

1

Choose a pot that is at least 8 inches (20 cm) deep and has holes for drainage. If you want to plant more than 1 garlic bulb, the pot should be big enough to accommodate planting garlic bulbs 4 inches (10 cm) apart and 4 inches (10 cm) away from the side of the container.
2

Put on your gardening gloves.
3

Mix your potting soil with your gardening sand. It should be a 3 to 1 ratio of soil to sand.
4

Fill your container with soil, leaving an inch (2.54 cm) of space from the top.
5

Take conventional garlic bulbs. Hold them with the flat end (the bottom) facing down and the pointed end facing up.
6

Push the bulb 4 to 6 inches (10 to 15 cm) into the soil. There should be 1 inch (2.54 cm) of soil between the top of the bulb and the top of the soil. These planted parts of the garlic bulb are called "cloves". The whole garlic is the bulb.
7

Plant garlic bulbs 4 inches (10 cm) away from each other.
8

Place your pot so that it received approximately 8 hours of direct sunlight per day. A great place to store the pot is a kitchen windowsill.
9

Place the container of garlic in a sink, bathtub or another place that will allow water to drain. Water the soil by sprinkling it evenly with water. Allow it to drain through the holes in the bottom of the pot.
10

Water often enough to keep the soil moist, but not very wet. This will depend greatly on the sunlight and warmth of your house. The warmer your house, the more often you will have to water.
11

Watch the garlic as it starts to sprout chive-like green leaves.
12

Clip off the flowers at the base when they begin to sprout. When you do this, all the energy will go to making the bulb bigger.
13

Harvest your garlic 8 to 10 months later when the leaves begin to die and turn brown.
14

Hang the harvested garlic in a cool, dry place, like a garage. They should be dried for about a week.
15

Eat or cook with your dried garlic.

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Video

Dave shows you how simple it is to grow garlic in containers.

Tips

You may want to get them from a gardening supply store, since many supermarket bulbs are chemically treated to prevent sprouting and will not grow well.
If your container is large and you want to plant more than 1 row of garlic, make sure they are planted at least 18 inches (47 cm) away from each other.

Warnings

Do not hesitate to harvest your garlic once the leaves have died and begun to shed. The cloves can become malformed.
Growing garlic indoors can cause strong odors to be released. They may overpower other smells in your home.