Sevillum (Sweetened Cheese Dough)

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Sevillum (Sweetened Cheese Dough)

Sevillum (Soft Cheese with a Herb Purée) is a traditional Ancient Roman recipe for a dish of soft cheese blended with flour, honey and egg that's baked to cook and served topped with honey and poppy seeds. The full recipe is presented here and I hope you enjoy this classic Ancient Roman version of: Sevillum.

prep time

15 minutes

cook time

10 minutes

Total Time:

25 minutes

Serves:

Rating:

Tags : Vegetarian Recipes Bread Recipes Cheese Recipes Baking Recipes Cake Recipes Ancient Roman Recipes

Original Recipe

Savillum (from Cato's De Re Rustica)

Savillum hoc modo facito. Farinae selibram, casei P. II S una conmisceto quasi libum, mellis P. [a column of three horizontal lines, the middle one of which is shifted to the right. It is an ancient Roman symbol used to represent '¼'.] et ovum unum. Catinum fictile oleo unguito. Ubi omnia bene conmiscueris, in catinum indito, catinum testo operito. Videto ut bene percocas medium, ubi altissimum est. Ubi coctum erit, catinum eximito, melle unguito, papaver infriato, sub testum subde paulisper, postea eximito. Ita pone cum catillo et lingula.

Translation

Recipe for savillum: Take ½ pound of flour, 2½ pounds of cheese, and mix together as for the libum; add ¼ pound of honey and 1 egg. Grease an earthenware dish with oil. When you have mixed thoroughly, pour into a dish and cover with a crock. See that you bake the centre thoroughly, for it is deepest there. When it is done, remove the dish, cover with honey, sprinkle with poppy-seed, place back under the crock for a while, then remove from the fire. Serve in the dish, with a spoon.

Modern Redaction

Ingredients:

For the sevillum:
225g cake flour
1.125g feta cheese, finely grated or crumbled
115g honey
1 egg

For the topping:
6 tbsp honey
4 tsp poppy seeds

Method:

In a bowl, mix together the flour, cheese, honey and egg. Mix well to combine, shape into a ball then flatten slightly and sit on a greased baking tray. Make a few slashes in the top with a sharp knife.

Transfer to the centre of an oven pre-heated to 180°C and bake for about 50 minutes, until the cake is cooked all the way through. At this point, take the loaf out of the oven, cover the top with honey and poppy seeds then return to the oven and bake for a further 10 minutes.

Transfer to a wire rack and allow to cool before slicing and serving. You can serve in bowls with extra honey drizzled on top.