A thick drink, halfway between beverage and porridge: barley flour stirred into water or wine, with grated goat cheese and herbs. Tangy and filling, drunk fresh in one gulp.

Why this dish? Kykeon — a mixture of barley, water, grated cheese, and herbs, sometimes spiked with wine — was the Greek on-the-go meal-drink, already mentioned by Homer. For Aristophanes, a busy city-dweller rushing from the Agora to the Theater of Dionysus, it was a liquid snack that stuck to the ribs without leaving his work.

When I run from the Agora to the theater to supervise my choreuts, no time to sit at table! I stir my barley flour into fresh water, grate goat cheese into it, throw in a pinch of mint, and gulp — I stir and swallow! Some pour wine in, and I won't throw stones at them. It's the drink of Circe and Homer's heroes: if it nourishes demigods, it will nourish a comedian!

How it was made : Kykeon (from *kykaō*, 'to mix') is one of the oldest Greek preparations: Homer has Circe and Hecamede serve it in the *Iliad*, with barley, Pramnian wine, and grated goat cheese. It was also used as a ritual drink in the Eleusinian Mysteries. Its composition varied from simple barley gruel to the wine-laced version of banquets.

The contemporary twist : Serve chilled in a tall glass, like an ancient protein smoothie — the unlikely ancestor of drinkable yogurt.

Aristophanes · Charactorium