Plakous with Honey and Fresh Cheese
A cake of thin layers filled with fresh cheese bound with honey, perfumed. Inspired by the cheese and honey sweets offered to the gods and served at the close of Greek banquets.
A cake of thin layers filled with fresh cheese bound with honey, perfumed. Inspired by the cheese and honey sweets offered to the gods and served at the close of Greek banquets.
To end the evening and to honor the gods of my house, nothing beats *plakous*. I beat the freshest cheese with the honey from my hives until it becomes soft as cream, I slip it between sheets of dough thin as a veil, and I let the oven do its slow work. The first portion is not for my guests: it goes to the altar, for what is good is first shared with the gods. The rest we savor as we drink the last cup.
- •Fresh ewe's cheese — a good amount (filling)
- •Honey — generously (sweetness)
- •Wheat flour — as needed (thin pastry)
- •Eggs — a few (binder)
Plakous with Honey and Fresh Cheese
A cake of thin layers filled with fresh cheese bound with honey, perfumed. Inspired by the cheese and honey sweets offered to the gods and served at the close of Greek banquets.
Why this dish? To the household gods as to guests, one offers the sweetest. Antonia has *plakous* prepared, a cake of honey and fresh cheese shared at the end of the symposion, with a portion set aside as an offering on the domestic altar — an ordinary gesture of piety from a matron of Asia Minor.
To end the evening and to honor the gods of my house, nothing beats *plakous*. I beat the freshest cheese with the honey from my hives until it becomes soft as cream, I slip it between sheets of dough thin as a veil, and I let the oven do its slow work. The first portion is not for my guests: it goes to the altar, for what is good is first shared with the gods. The rest we savor as we drink the last cup.
Ingredients (period version)
- Fresh ewe's cheese — a good amount (filling)
- Honey — generously (sweetness)
- Wheat flour — as needed (thin pastry)
- Eggs — a few (binder)
Ingredients
- Ricotta or fresh ewe's cheese — 400 g (filling)
- Honey — 120 g (plus for drizzling) (sweetness)
- Thin filo pastry sheets — 1 package (layers)
- Eggs — 2 (binder)
- Mild olive oil or melted butter — for brushing (glaze)
Method
- Beat the fresh cheese with honey and eggs until smooth.
- Grease a mold and layer half the filo sheets, brushing each with oil.
- Spread the cheese mixture, then cover with the remaining oiled filo sheets.
- Bake at 180°C for 35-40 minutes until golden on top.
- Remove, drizzle with warm honey, and let cool slightly before cutting into portions.
How it was made : *Plakous* was a cake made with cheese, honey, and thin layers of dough, a distant ancestor of the honey-layered pastries of the Eastern Mediterranean. Cheese and honey sweets regularly appeared among domestic offerings to the gods.
The contemporary twist : Flavor the cream with a little orange blossom water and sprinkle with toasted sesame seeds before baking, as a contemporary festive dessert.
Antonia · Charactorium
