Placenta

Crust brushed with honey that surrounds layers of cheese, honey, and tracta (thin sheets of dried dough)

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City/Region: Rome

Time Period: 2nd Century B.C.E.

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Cato the Elder served in the army, campaigned against Carthage and anything that threatened traditional Roman principles, and wrote De agri cultura. It’s one of the first significant pieces of Latin prose and contains lots of information on food, ingredients, and how to run a farm profitably, as well as recipes.

This is one of the several De agri cultura recipes for cheesecake-like desserts (Fun Fact: the modern meaning of placenta came from this cake. Somehow. Maybe that’s not so fun.) The dominant flavor is honey, and the bay leaf is strong in a good way that’s refreshing. The tracta cook up to be crisp and chewy at the same time, and the whole thing is really nice. Honey and cheese: what’s not to love?

“To Make Placenta:
Two pounds of wheat flour for the crust, four pounds of flour and two pounds of the best groats for the tracta. Soak the groats in water, and when it becomes quite soft pour into a clean bowl, drain well, and knead with your hands; when it is well kneaded, work in the four pounds of flour gradually. This dough is to make the tracta, and spread them out in a basket to dry…when they are dry…coat them with oil…Then moisten the two pounds of flour, knead, and form a thin lower crust. Soak 14 pounds of sheep’s cheese, not sour and quite fresh, in water. Soften it, changing the water three times…When the cheese is well dried, knead it in a clean bowl by hand, and make it as smooth as possible…Add four and a half pounds of fine honey, and mix it well with the cheese. Place the crust…on oiled bay leaves, and form the placenta. First, place down a single tracta…spread it with the mixture from the bowl, add the tracta one by one, covering each layer until you have used up all the cheese and honey. On the top place a single tracta, and then fold over the crust…then put the placenta [in the oven], cover with a hot crock, and surround with coals…When it is done, remove and spread with honey. This will make a half-modius cake. ”

— De agri cultura by Cato the Elder, 2nd Century B.C.E.

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Ingredients:

Tracta

• 2/3 cup (120 g) groats, preferably spelt or emer
• 2 cups (240 g) flour
• 3/4 cup (177 ml) water
• 1 tablespoon (15 ml) olive oil

Crust

• 1 cup (120 g) flour
• 1/4 cup (60 ml) water

Filling

• 1 3/4 lbs (790 g) crumbly sheep’s cheese or cow’s cheese
• 3/4 cup (255 g) honey

• Fresh bay leaves, enough to cover the bottom of your baking dish
• Olive oil
• Honey

Instructions:

1. For the tracta: Coarsely grind the groats in a mortar and pestle. Add the water and let them soak for about a day.
2. Work the soaked groats to the flour to form a dough. I did this with my hands on a flat work surface. You can add more water if you need to, but do it sparingly because you want the dough to be pretty dry.
3. Once the dough comes together, knead it for about 10 minutes until it’s nice and smooth. Divide it into 4 to 6 pieces and roll them into discs. They should be fairly thin, like a flour tortilla. You want the pieces to be no larger than your baking dish.
4. Lay them out on a lined baking sheet to dry. This can take a while depending on the temperature and humidity of where you are. In Los Angeles, mine dried overnight.
5. For the crust: On the counter or flat work surface, make a well in the center of the flour. Add some of the water and mix it with your hands until it comes together to form a dough. You may not need all of the water.
6. Once it comes together, roll it out into a large disc, about twice as wide as you want your cake to be.
7. For the filling: Rinse the cheese by mixing it with water in a bowl, then draining it in a sieve. Do this 3 times total. This process both gets rid of excess salt and makes the cheese softer. The last time, drain as much water out of it as possible.
8. Mash the cheese until it’s smooth, then mix the honey in until well incorporated.
9. To assemble: Preheat the oven to 300°F (150°C).
10. Oil the bay leaves and line the bottom of your baking dish with them. Lay the crust over the leaves.
11. Brush one of the tracta with olive oil and set it in the middle of the crust. Spread some of the honey and cheese mixture on it. Repeat with layers of oiled tracta and cheese mixture until you’ve used up all of the filling. Finish with an oiled tracta on top. Fold the crust over to enclose the cake as much as you can.
12. Cover the dish and bake for about 70 minutes.
13. Check the placenta at 70 minutes. If you want the top to brown some more, take the lid off the dish and cook it for another 10 minutes or so.
14. Take the cake out of the oven, slather it with honey, and serve it forth.

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