Moretum is a cheese-based paste with herbs, garlic, vinegar, and olive oil that was popular in ancient Rome. It was served as a spread with bread during the midday meal and was often made with a hard, salty cheese and the shrubby plant rue. The original recipe may have included walnuts and parsley, and later versions were sometimes cooked.
Moretum, a common part of ancient Roman cuisine, consists of a cheese-based paste that is kneaded together with herbs, garlic, vinegar, and olive oil. It is served as a spread which is eaten with bread. Spreading cheese was very popular in ancient Rome, so much so that several poems were written about it at the time. The poems served as a reference for new interpretations of the original recipe.
The name “moretum” is Latin and can be translated to mean salad. That’s not an entirely accurate description of the dish, however, because what has come to be known as a salad in modern society is nothing like moretum. Instead, the name is thought to refer to the fact that green herbs are added to the blend. Another interpretation makes note of a special type of heavy pottery, called a mortaria, which had a very rough surface and could have been used to help grind the compound into a paste.
The simplest recipe described in the poems calls for garlic, olive oil, coriander, cheese, vinegar and rue to be combined and then kneaded into the shape of a ball or cake. Exact measurements aren’t clearly known, so many interpreted recipes use proportions that give reasonable taste to the person preparing the dish. Changes in the size and flavor of ingredients since Roman antiquity could also explain some translation problems.
One aspect that the poems do not reveal is the type of cheese that should be used. There is a mention in the poems that a hard, salty type of cheese was used. This could be a cheese like feta, although it’s not certain, because the ancient Romans ate a wide variety of cheeses.
Another ingredient that is often left out when trying to remake the original recipe is rue. Rue is a shrubby plant that grows in the Mediterranean. It has been used in ancient times as a medicinal aid for stomach problems and has a very bitter taste. The sap is a skin irritant that can cause blisters and contains chemicals that can be harmful to pregnant women.
Moretum was served during the midday meal called prandium. This meal traditionally included cheeses, salami and bread. It would also often include spiced and hard-boiled eggs.
The original moretum spread might have also included walnuts and parsley. Dried fruit would not have been rare. Later recipes, which developed in the Middle Ages, also indicate that the spread evolved into a dish that was sometimes cooked.
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