Panis Quadratis Research Paper

Ancient Roman food is diverse and simple yet delicious. Panis Quadratis and moretum are the most well known foods from Rome. Panis Quadratis is a Roman version of bread. The bread was named Panis Quadratis because of the four “cuts” made before baking that created eight equal sized portions in the bread. This recipe is well known because of the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in Pompeii on August 4, 79 AD. Moretum, on the other hand, is latin for salad, but is more of a cheese, garlic, and herb pesto and is eaten spread on slices of bread. It might have also been named moretum because the ingredients were crushed together with a mortar and pestle. (Wilson-Okamura “Moretum”) As for making these recipes, the Panis Quadratus takes about a week on its

The recipe calls for 1 cup of leaven, 3.5 cups of spelt flour, 3.5 cups of whole wheat flour, 3 cups of tepid water, 2 teaspoons of salt, and coarse ground flour for dusting. Extra implements needed are cooking twine and a sharp knife. Combine the leaven and water in one bowl and the flour and salt in another, then mix those together and let sit for an hour. After one hour of autolysing, take the dough out and punch it down gently on a clean surface. Stretch and fold the dough four times at 30 minute increments, then form the dough into a ball. Lightly dust the pan used to bake the bread with coarse ground flour and place the bread in the pan. Use the cooking twine to make a linear groove along the side of the loaf and cover the dough to rise. Dust the bread with more flour and get a sharp kitchen knife to score the bread four times and make eight even sections on the loaf. For the bread to be just like the ancient Romans made it, then a personal stamp will have to be added. Now let the dough rise until it is twice the size it was. Once it has fully risen, preheat the oven to 400℉ and bake for 40 to 45 minutes. (Monaco “Panis