Itria with sesame and honey, symposion sweets
Thin, crunchy cakes of toasted sesame seeds bound with hot honey, lightly perfumed. Frankly sweet and crunchy, they are nibbled with fingertips between cups of watered wine—the direct ancestor of halva and Greek pasteli.
Thin, crunchy cakes of toasted sesame seeds bound with hot honey, lightly perfumed. Frankly sweet and crunchy, they are nibbled with fingertips between cups of watered wine—the direct ancestor of halva and Greek pasteli.
Grain nourishes the body, but the symposion nourishes the mind, and it needs its sweetness. I toast the sesame from Sardis until it dances and sings in the pan, I drown it in boiling honey, and I spread it all out to set into a hard sheet. We place a portion on the altar for the gods, we keep the rest for the cup. Believe me: a right thought comes better when the mouth still tastes of honey.
- •Sesame seeds — two full handfuls (crunchy base)
- •Honey — enough to coat (sweet binder)
- •Olive oil — a film (grease the surface)
Itria with sesame and honey, symposion sweets
Thin, crunchy cakes of toasted sesame seeds bound with hot honey, lightly perfumed. Frankly sweet and crunchy, they are nibbled with fingertips between cups of watered wine—the direct ancestor of halva and Greek pasteli.
Why this dish? Sesame arrived in Ionia via the Lydian roads passing through Sardis—a city Anaximander visited, as well as Sparta where he set up a gnomon. These small sesame and honey cakes, offered to the gods as well as shared among friends when wine flows, accompanied the long discussions of the symposion.
Grain nourishes the body, but the symposion nourishes the mind, and it needs its sweetness. I toast the sesame from Sardis until it dances and sings in the pan, I drown it in boiling honey, and I spread it all out to set into a hard sheet. We place a portion on the altar for the gods, we keep the rest for the cup. Believe me: a right thought comes better when the mouth still tastes of honey.
Ingredients (period version)
- Sesame seeds — two full handfuls (crunchy base)
- Honey — enough to coat (sweet binder)
- Olive oil — a film (grease the surface)
Ingredients
- Sesame seeds — 200 g (crunchy base)
- Liquid honey — 120 g (sweet binder)
- Olive oil — 1 tsp (grease the surface)
- Orange blossom water (optional, a wink) — a few drops (aroma)
Method
- Toast the sesame seeds dry in a pan, stirring, until golden and fragrant (3–4 min).
- In a saucepan, bring the honey to a simmer for a few minutes until it thickens slightly.
- Off the heat, pour the toasted sesame into the honey and mix vigorously to coat well.
- Spread the mixture on an oiled surface or a baking sheet, about 1/2 cm thick, smoothing with a wet spoon.
- While still warm and pliable, score diamonds or squares with a knife.
- Let cool and harden completely, then break into pieces along the marks.
How it was made : Itria (ἴτρια) were thin sesame and honey cakes mentioned as early as archaic Greek poetry, ancestors of pasteli (παστέλι) still alive in Greece. Sesame and honey formed the core of ancient sweets, cane sugar being unknown in the Mediterranean world. They were offered to gods and at weddings and festivals.
The contemporary twist : Break them into irregular shards and stick them into a ball of Greek yogurt with honey—a "deconstructed pasteli" to serve vertically.
Sources : Andrew Dalby, Food in the Ancient World from A to Z, Routledge, 2003 (entries "sesame", "itrion") · Athenaeus of Naucratis, The Deipnosophists, book XIV (on Greek pastries)
Anaximander · Charactorium