Bake Libum "cheesecake" (a soft bread based on ricotta cheese). These are two current internet versions of an Ancient Roman recipe from the book De Agri Cultura by Cato,
Libum
Serves 2
10 oz ricotta cheese.
1 egg.
2½ oz plain flour.
Runny honey.
Beat the cheese with the egg and add the sieved flour very slowly and gently. Flour your hands and pat mixture into a ball and place it on a bay leaf on a baking tray. Place in moderate oven (400ºF) until set and slightly risen. Place cake on serving plate and score the top with a cross. our plenty of runny honey over the cross and serve immediately.
Ingredients
1/2 cup plain all-purpose flour
1 cup ricotta cheese
1 egg, beaten
bay leaves
1/2 cup clear honey
Instructions
Sift the flour in a mixing bowl.
Beat the cheese until soft, stir into the flour.
Add the beaten egg to the flour/cheese mixture, forming a soft dough.
Divide the dough into four and shape each piece into a bun.
Place on a greased baking tray with a fresh bay leaf underneath.
Heat the oven to 375F/190C. Bake for 35-40 minutes until golden brown.
Warm the honey, pour into a flat plate, and place the buns on it to rest until the honey is absorbed.
Offer some to the domestic spirits as represented in a wall niche, eat the rest with honey and pine nuts.
We pretended to share our Libum with the following:
Panes & Penates (pronounced Pah-nays and Pe-nah-tays)
The spirits of the pantry and kitchen, responsible for ensuring plentiful food and a comfortable home life - hence wise to offer food gifts to them first.
Lares (pronounced Lah-rays)
The protective guardian spirits of the household. (We used special cuddly toys from two generations)
At other times Lares have also included dead close family members (We used photos of deceased great-grandparents and grandfather)
Parentes (pronounced Pah-rent-ays)
Close family, living or dead - eg; Living close family members you are physically separated from at that moment, or dead siblings/parents/children. (We used photos of living grandparents)
Genius
A snake representing the masculine potency of the male head of the household (we used a toy snake)
We did not include offerings to placate Manes (the general "divine dead"), Lemures (angry spirits), Umbrae (returned spirits) or our Genius Loci (Another snake representing the masculine potency of the house/land, which could be a proxy for/boost to the Genius if required) on this occasion.
Source: https://brewminate.com/roman-household-spirits-manes-panes-and-lares/
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