Tagenitai (Pancakes) is a traditional Ancient Roman recipe for a snack of yeasted pancakes fried in olive oil. The full recipe is presented here and I hope you enjoy this classic Ancient Roman version of: Tagenitai.
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Original Recipe
Tagenitai (from Galen, as quoted in Oribasius' Medical Compilations)
Oribasius was born in Pergamum, is said to have been at once the friend and physician of the emperor Julian, and to have contributed to his elevation to the imperial throne. For this he appears to have suffered the punishment of a temporary exile under Valens and Valentinian; but was soon recalled, and lived in great honour till the period of his death (387). Oribasius is regarded as a compiler; and indeed his anatomical writings bear so close a correspondence with those of Galen that the character is not altogether groundless. In various points, nevertheless, he has rendered the Galenian anatomy more accurate; and he has distinguished himself by a good account of the salivary glands, which were overlooked by Galen. He commented on and updated the works of many earlier authors, including Galen and Rufus, a Greek physician, who in the reign of Trajan was much attached to physiology, and as a means of cultivating this science studied Comparative Anatomy and made sundry experiments on living animals. It is amongst Oribasius' commentaries on Rufus that the recipe detailed below is given.
Translation
Pancakes are prepared with just olive oil; the olive oil is poured into a frying pan that is placed over a smokeless fire and onto the heated olive oil is poured the meal with a lot of water; then as it is briskly fried in the olive oil it sets and thickens like fresh cheese; at which point those who are preparing it turn it over at once, causing the upper surface to be bottom so that it is in contact with the frying pan and what was formerly at the bottom, when it is sufficiently cooked, they raise up so that it is at the top; and when the part that is underneath has set they turn the pancake over again perhaps two or three times until it seems to them to be cooked evenly... Some people mix with it some honey and there are those who mix in some sea salt as well; this is in fact a kind of flat cake, just like the other sorts of flat cake that the people in the country and the poor in the city make in a rough and ready fashion.
Modern Redaction
Ingredients:
200g wholemeal flour
500ml warm water
½ dried yeast
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp salt
olive oil for frying
Method:
Bring 100ml of water to body temperature and dissolve the sugar in this. Add the yeast, cover and leave in a warm place for 15 minutes until the mixture begins to froth.
Sift the flour into a bowl and add the yeast mixture. Mix this in then add salt to taste. Add the remainder of the water a little at a time until you have a smooth batter the consistency of double cream. Cover the bowl with clingfilm and allow to settle for an hour.
At the end of this time add oil to a frying pan and heat. Using a spiral motion, moving from the centre of the pan towards the edges pour in a ladle of the batter. Fry gently until the pancake is firm enough to turn over then cook on the other side. Keep turning the pancakes until they are golden-brown in colour and cooked through. Transfer the pancake to a warm oven and keep on frying until all the batter is used and you have a mound of pancakes in the oven.
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