Roman Dessert Pancakes – An Ancient Delicacy
Over spring break, I took on the challenge of creating an authentic Roman dish with the help of fellow classmates Tiffany, Abby, and Annie. The British Museum wrote a blog post with nine ancient Roman and Greek recipes and the one that caught our eye was the dessert pancakes with honey and sesame seeds. The recipe calls for fairly simple ingredients and can be found here: https://blog.britishmuseum.org/cook-a-classical-feast-nine-recipes-from-ancient-greece-and-rome/
Ingredients
• 120g flour
• 225 ml water
• 2 tbsp clear honey
• Oil for frying
• 1 tbsp toasted sesame seeds
Process:
We heated oil in a small pan for frying and while it heated up we mixed the flour, water, and honey together in a bowl until there weren’t any clumps left. Once the oil was hot we dropped a large spoonful of batter into the oil and let it fry until golden brown on one side. We then flipped it until the other side was also a delicious golden brown color. Next, we placed the pancakes on paper towels to drain off any excess oil before drizzling them with honey and sesame seeds. We decided to take our own twist on the pancakes and also add some everything but the bagel seasoning to the pancakes to add a little seeds and flavor.
Review:
The honey and toppings on the pancakes were a big hit and all 4 of our pancakes were eaten. The biggest downside was that the middle of the pancake was rather dense and chewy despite the outside layer of the pancake being crisp and golden brown. I think this is due to a lack of leavening agent or perhaps because the oil wasn’t quite hot enough. I wouldn’t make these Roman pancakes again but if they were placed in front of me I would eat them again.
The ingredients called for in this recipe are fairly simple and wholesome so it makes sense that they were staples in Roman desserts. I didn’t realize that sesame seeds were such an ancient staple but it was cool to learn about all the different things Romans used sesame seeds for. I can see how these pancakes were an easy yet yummy dessert to make. I can also easily picture Roman children with sticky honey covered fingers sitting around munching on the pancakes.
