(I’d recommend a little salt if your cheese is bland.) Shape into small balls and flatten by pressing a bay leaf into each. Mix the flour with the juice, then stir in the anise, cumin, lard, and cheese. Here are two Roman recipes you might want to try both were considered worthy to be given as offerings, and they’re also quite tasty.ġ 1/2 cups (300ml) grape juice or sweet wine But who am I to stop you?) These cakes were often part of the religious offerings, so if you’re going to splurge, splurge on the cookie tray. (Just remember the Romans didn’t have chocolate. Gingersnaps, pfeffernüße, paprenjak, nut rolls, honey buns – your favorite holiday cookie is most likely quite appropriate for Saturnalia. Candied fruit, jams, and tarts would all be appropriate, as would sweetened nuts and seeds - but the real star of the show should be cookies and cakes. If you’re not a carnivore, try legume or winter vegetable dishes that are thick enough to be scooped up with flatbread.ĭessert is where Saturnalia really shines – baked goods and sweet treats are what make this holiday special. If you don’t eat pork, go for poultry, lamb, or game seafood would be OK if you can get it fresh, but most Romans rarely ate beef. Pork is the easiest and most authentic choice for Roman meat dishes (if you’re fresh out of wild boar, sausages and bacon are both perfectly fine). Be sure to include lots of bread: rolls, rounds, and especially flatbread. Hummus would be fine, and those little miniature quiches are surprisingly authentic. ![]() The Romans considered raw vegetables unhealthy, so skip the crudités and serve your veggies in the form of pickles, chutneys, or relishes. If you’d like to give your midwinter holiday get-together an authentic Saturnalia feel this year, here are a few suggestions to get you started.įocus on finger food: sausage rolls, deviled eggs, cheese, olives, nuts, seeds, and dried fruits would all be period-correct. Because Saturn was associated with grain, baked goods were a staple feature of his festival, but other than that any kind of festive potluck with friends and family would do. Saturn was an agricultural deity, and Saturnalia was the time to show him how thankful you were for his bounty by stuffing your face with as much of it as you could. And of course, food – lots and lots of food. The Romans celebrated Saturnalia in ways that would look very familiar to our modern eyes: decorating homes and shops with winter flora exchanging gifts with friends and family giving bonuses to employees and servants even wearing gaudy holiday clothes. (But not really.) Augustus and later emperors tried to trim the celebrations back to a few days, but it never worked the season eventually became so overblown that conservatives complained about too much secularization, too much focus on material goods, and that a holy day had become an excuse to quit work and get drunk. ![]() Being Romans, that day became a few days, then a week, then almost a whole month of partying, gift-giving, and relaxation of the strict Roman social order into something kinda-sorta almost resembling equality. Officially, Saturnalia was the festival of Saturn, the father of Jupiter and his siblings he was a god of peace and plenty, and the Romans worshiped him at the winter solstice with a day of rest and feasting. From its origin as a single holy day in December, the Roman festival of Saturnalia snowballed into a month-devouring extravaganza of parties, presents, shopping, eating, and funny hats. I think many of us can relate to this ancient observation by Seneca. ![]() ![]() December used to be a month – now it’s a whole year.
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