Isn't It Actually So Beautiful That Deities Take The Time To Try And Guide And Teach Us? How Wonderful

This is from one of my textbooks* and I think it's super cool. I hope the Apollo worshippers out there like this!

* "An Introduction to Ancient Greek: A Literary Approach, Second Edition" revised by C.A.E. Luschnig and Deborah Mitchell

Reblog if you think public libraries are important and should be maintained.

Peaky Blinders Season 3 | Episode 2

This year's Saturnalia is in less than a week, meaning that the time of feasting and indulgence is not so far away either. Food was a very important part of the festivities in the Ancient Times because the entire holiday season in Ancient Rome was meant to give the people a chance of tasting delicious meals and otherwise indulging.

I am covering a few of the Roman Saturnalia recipes and, in order to give everyone a chance to celebrate, some modern recipes that match the theme and requirements of the holiday.

Some of the recipes included contain ingredients not everyone can eat, such as meats, nuts, or dairy. I will be offering substitutes for these ingredients. For cheeses, I'd like to suggest some recipes of dairy-free cheese substitutes you can make if you are allergic.

The first recipe I'd like to go over is Mustacei, or Roman Must Cakes. The first notion of it comes from Cato's De Agricultura where he says:

Mustaceos sic facito. Farinae siligineae modium unum musto conspargito. Anesum, cuminum, adipis, casei libram, et de virga lauri deradito, eodem addito, et ubi definxeris, lauri folia subtus addito, cum coques.

Translated, this recipe sounds like this:

This is how to make Mustaceos. Moisten 1 modius of wheat flour with must; add anise, cumin, 2 pounds of lard, 1 pound of cheese, and the bark of a laurel twig. When you have made them into cakes, put bay leaves under them, and bake.

While this recipe is relatively simple, the measurements is where difficulties arise since Cato uses Roman modius. There are many methods of making these cakes, here's the one I'd like to offer:

INGREDIENT LIST

400-500g plain flour (you can use gluten-free flour)

150-200ml of 2-3 day old grape juice (can be fresh)

1/2 tsp dried yeast (optional)

25-60g cheddar or pecorino cheese, grated (or vegan pecorino or cheddar)

2 tsp ground aniseed

2 tsp ground cumin

50-80g pastry lard or hard vegetable fat

olive oil

bay leaves (15 or 20)

DIRECTIONS

Prepare a bowl and add the grape juice in. Dissolve yeast in the juice. The yeast is optional, you can use just the must (grape juice).

Take a bowl, put in the flour, cumin, and aniseed. Mix. Add grated cheese into the flour mix.

Add lard or vegetable fat into the flour mix, mix until it comes together. Add the juice mix.

Knead until the dough is done. Roll the dough up and cover it with a towel. You can let it stay overnight.

Prepare and oil up your baking tray. Place bay leaves on it.

Roll the dough on a floured board until it's about 1 cm thick.

Use a pastry cutter to make individual cakes around 5 cm in diameter each.

Place the cakes on the bay leaves and bake for about 45 min at 180°C.

Serve warm.

The second meal idea follows another Ancient Roman cookbook, this time by Apicius, De Re Coquinaria. He says the following:

2Elixatas cucurbitas exprimis, sale asparges, in patina compones. Teres piper, cuminum, coriandri semen, mentam viridem, laseris radicem, suffundes acetum. Addicies cariotam, nucleum, teres melle, aceto, liquamine, defrito et oleo temperabis, et cucurbitas perfundes. Cum ferbuerint, piper asparges et inferes.

Which, if translated, sounds approximately like this:

Press the water out of the boiled pumpkin, place in a baking dish, sprinkle with salt, ground pepper, cumin, coriander seed, green mint and a little laser root; season with vinegar. Now add date wine​ and pignolia nuts ground with honey, vinegar and broth, measure out condensed wine and oil, pour this over the pumpkin and finish in this liquor and serve, sprinkle with pepper before serving.

Some people replace date wine with grated dates moistened with wine, some don't: that part is up to you. However, there are some general methods of cooking this recipe with modern measurements in mind:

INGREDIENT LIST

1 pumpkin, squash, or gourd

1 tsp peppercorns

1 tsp cumin

1 tsp coriander seeds

3-4 mint leaves, shredded

1 garlic clove

3-4 tbsp vinegar

30-60 g dates, finely chopped

45-70 g blanched almonds, finely chopped

2 tbsp clear honey

4 tbsp Wine or Grape Juice

15-30 ml olive oil

Sea salt to taste

DIRECTIONS

Cut the squash or any alternative you're using. Place into a steamer or cook on the stove until done.

Remove the excess water. Transfer the pulp to a saucepan or skillet. Whilst the squash is cooking, grind the spices or prepare them if you're using grinded spices.

Add the mint and garlic, grind or mix together with spices. Add the mix to the squash.

Next add the oil, dates, almonds and the honey. Mix it all together.

Place the final mixture back on the heat and simmer for the flavours to combine.

Serve sprinkled with salt and black pepper.

The last recipe I'd like to describe is that of a beverage. You don't have to have any sort of alcohol to enjoy Saturnalia, this is completely optional. This is purely for educational purposes.

Disclaimer: Do not do this unless you are completely certain what you're of age, you're doing, and know how to properly store it.

In the original text by Apicius, or Apicio, the following is said:

Folias rosarum, albo sublato, lino inseris ut sutilis facias, et vino quam plurimas infundes, ut septem diebus in vino sint. Post septem dies rosam de vino tollis et alias sutiles recentes similiter mittis, ut per dies septem in vino requiescant, et rosam eximis. Similiter et tertio facies et rosam eximis et vinum colas et, cum ad bibendum voles uti, addito melle rosatum conficies, sane custodito ut rosam a rore siccam et optimam mittas. Similiter, ut supra, et de viola violacium facies, et eodem modo melle temperabis.

If we translate this passage, it becomes this:

Make rose wine in this manner: rose petals, the lower white part removed, sewed into a linen bag and immersed in wine for seven days. Thereupon add a sack of new petals which allow to draw for another seven days. Again remove the old petals and replace them by fresh ones for another week; then strain the wine through the colander. Before serving, add honey sweetening to taste. Take care that only the best petals free from dew be used for soaking.

INGREDIENT LIST

A bottle of dry white wine 1 1/2 cups of rose petals Honey, to taste

DIRECTIONS

Take a bottle of premade or store bought wine and pour into a large pitcher or jar.

Pluck the rose petals from the flowers and place them on a piece of cheesecloth. It's best to use freshly collected petals but you can use dry ones, too.

Tie the cheesecloth and submerge it in the wine, leaving to sit in the refrigerator for a few days up to week. After the time has passed, fish the sachet from the wine and replace with more fresh rose petals in new cheesecloth.

Repeat this twice, so the wine steeps for a total of three weeks.

Once it is done sitting, serve the wine with honey to taste (and optional rose petals for garnish).

Before we speak on modern dishes, I'd like to mark down a few honorary mentions of Roman foods that are taken from Ancient cookbooks and follow Ancient recipes but were not included in the list above to save space and time.

If you want to follow Ancient Roman recipes and have the ingredients to do so, you can make: Arrosto di maiale con salsa allo zafferano, Aliter Ius in Avibus, Dulcia Piperata, Chiacchiere, Globi Dolce, Prosciutto in crosta dell’antica Roma, and more. I will be linking all sources on these recipes as well as some cookbooks on my Navigation page.

I also want to recommend some wines as mulled wine was a very prominent part of the celebration. Here are some wine types, not brands, that I personally recommend for the Saturnalia: Chianti Riserva, Sangiovese, Primitivo, Nero d'Avola, Montepulciano, Pinot Grigio, Candoni Moscato. Only get those if you're an adult and know how to deal with alcohol.

These are modern recipes that fit the general theme of the Saturnalia. All of these recipes contain typical ingredients of the festive feast. You don't have to use meat, you can replace it with cauliflower, tofu, and any meat analogues you'd like. For sweets, you can replace eggs with yogurt or heavy cream whereas flour can be non-gluten. You absolutely can replace other gluten-containing ingredients with gluten-free alternatives, and replace nuts with crushed dried fruits or other ingredient with a similar texture.

Links to recipes will be in my Sources.

ANTIPASTO & MAIN COURSES

Rotolini di speck e fichi - Speck and fig rolls

Lonza di maiale in salsa di noci - Pork in walnut sauce Carré di maiale alle mele - Pork with apples Honey Garlic Pork Tenderloin

DESSERTS & BREAD

Struffoli - Honey Balls Noci Dolci - Sweet filled walnuts Crostata di mele - Apple crust cake Buccellati - Sicilian sweet fig pastry

Lievito madre or pasta madre - Classic Italian sourdough Libum or Focaccia al Formaggio - Cheese focaccia Focaccia morbida - Soft focaccia

Sources are in my pinned.

this is my world and all i can think about

Do you know where to find out about ancient roman festivals?

Depends on what kind of info you're looking for but for general information, any book on ancient roman religion and even the wikipedia page on ancient roman festivals will get you started.

If you're looking for references, the most straight forward book to refer you to would be H.H. Scullard's Festivals and Ceremonies of the Roman Republic, which goes through each month of the religious calendar.

I'd also suggest taking a look at:

Jörg Rüpke, A Companion to Roman Religion: this is a thorough introduction to roman religion at large, but you'll find plenty of passages on festivals.

Rasmus Brandt, & Jon Iddeng, Greek and Roman Festivals: Content, Meaning, and Practice: more focused on the greco-roman aspects but some chapters of interest for you.

Harriet I. Flower, The Dancing Lares and the Serpent in the Garden Religion at the Roman Street Corner: This is about household religion rather than big, publicly-funded festivals but important to understand as the foundation upon which everything else is built.

Jörg Rüpke, On Roman Religion : Lived Religion and the Individual in Ancient Rome: good complementary read to understand the more personal religious experience.

In term of relevant blogs, take a look at @asklepiean's religio romana tag, and check out the many resources gathered by @honorthegods

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Learn these, and forget everything else.

1. The Celtic Cross Tarot Spread

Gives you a comprehensive answer to any question

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Guides you towards making the right decision

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Reveals which higher power you are connected to

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Shows you alternate realities

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Shows you a person's true colors

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Tells you about your life in general

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Reveals your true passion and how to live it

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Gives you advice about life's many departments

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Reveals your sex life with a current or future partner

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Reveals the truth about your past life

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Reveals who your allies and enemies are

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Tells you about any future children of yours

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Answers any question about the future

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Reveals the timing of any event

sometimes you just gotta sit in your room and watch ghibli movies as you feel your heart overflowing with love for the little but overwhelmingly beautiful things this life can give us