Moretum, Herb-Crushed Cheese
A fragrant paste of fresh cheese pounded in a mortar with garlic, green herbs, a little vinegar, salt, and oil, spread on bread. Piquant, fresh, and lively, it is the ancestor of our herb cheeses.
A fragrant paste of fresh cheese pounded in a mortar with garlic, green herbs, a little vinegar, salt, and oil, spread on bread. Piquant, fresh, and lively, it is the ancestor of our herb cheeses.
Come, I will tell you the trick that our fathers knew. Take the stone mortar, throw in the garlic, the sheep's cheese, the garden herbs — rue, coriander, celery — and pound, pound again until everything blends into a single green flesh. A splash of vinegar, a trickle of oil, and you get a ball called moretum. Spread on bread, it is better for the spirit than a banquet that weighs you down.
- •Fresh firm sheep's cheese — a piece the size of a fist (base)
- •Garlic cloves — 2 to 3 (pungency)
- •Fresh herbs (coriander, celery, rue, lovage) — a good handful (green flavor)
- •Vinegar — a splash (acidity)
- •Olive oil — a drizzle (binder)
- •Salt — a pinch (seasoning)
Moretum, Herb-Crushed Cheese
A fragrant paste of fresh cheese pounded in a mortar with garlic, green herbs, a little vinegar, salt, and oil, spread on bread. Piquant, fresh, and lively, it is the ancestor of our herb cheeses.
Why this dish? Moretum is the early morning snack, the one the peasant of Latium crushes in a mortar before going to the fields — the same countryside of Lanuvium and Lorium where Antoninus loved to retreat from the tumult of Rome.
Come, I will tell you the trick that our fathers knew. Take the stone mortar, throw in the garlic, the sheep's cheese, the garden herbs — rue, coriander, celery — and pound, pound again until everything blends into a single green flesh. A splash of vinegar, a trickle of oil, and you get a ball called moretum. Spread on bread, it is better for the spirit than a banquet that weighs you down.
Ingredients (period version)
- Fresh firm sheep's cheese — a piece the size of a fist (base)
- Garlic cloves — 2 to 3 (pungency)
- Fresh herbs (coriander, celery, rue, lovage) — a good handful (green flavor)
- Vinegar — a splash (acidity)
- Olive oil — a drizzle (binder)
- Salt — a pinch (seasoning)
Ingredients
- Fresh sheep's cheese (like brousse or fresh pecorino) — 200 g (base)
- Garlic — 1 to 2 cloves (pungency)
- Coriander and celery leaves — 1 small bunch (green flavor)
- Wine vinegar — 1 tsp (acidity)
- Extra virgin olive oil — 2 tbsp (binder)
- Salt — 1 pinch (seasoning)
- Country bread — to taste (support)
Method
- Pound the garlic with a pinch of salt in a mortar (or mince very finely).
- Add the washed herbs and pound until reduced to a green paste.
- Add the crumbled cheese and crush everything together until smooth.
- Loosen with vinegar, then olive oil, drizzling while working the paste.
- Form into a ball and serve well chilled, spread on toasted bread.
How it was made : A first-century Latin poem, the Moretum (transmitted in the Appendix Vergiliana), describes step by step the making of this pounded cheese by a peasant, Simylus, at dawn. It was a popular, simple, and cheap food prepared in a mortar — the moretum even gave it its name.
The contemporary twist : Roll the moretum ball in chopped herbs and serve as an appetizer with olive oil grissini: an 'ancient Boursin' to share.
Sources : Appendix Vergiliana, Moretum · Columella, De re rustica
Antoninus Pius · Charactorium