flipMoretum, Goat Cheese Spread with Garlic and Herbs
Moretum, Goat Cheese Spread with Garlic and Herbs
Why this dish? Living in Rome and later teaching in Nicopolis, Epictetus knew moretum, a shared dish of simple people. Goat cheese is part of his attested diet: a convivial food when disciples gather.
Fresh goat cheese crushed in a mortar with garlic, fresh herbs, salt, vinegar, and oil, until it forms a fragrant green paste. Spread on maza or bread: it is the food of conversation, shared while talking at length.
When my students stay late to discourse, I have them grind in the mortar this goat cheese with garlic, rue, coriander, and a dash of vinegar. Crush, rub, until everything becomes one — like the soul that gathers its judgments. Spread it on the barley and share: a philosopher does not eat alone what can nourish the discussion. You see, pleasure is not the enemy; it is becoming its slave that is.
- •Fresh goat cheese — a good piece (base)
- •Garlic — a few cloves (pungent aromatic)
- •Fresh herbs (coriander, rue, celery, parsley) — a handful (flavor)
- •Vinegar — a dash (acidity)
- •Olive oil — a drizzle (fat binder)
- •Salt — to taste (seasoning)
Moretum, Goat Cheese Spread with Garlic and Herbs
Fresh goat cheese crushed in a mortar with garlic, fresh herbs, salt, vinegar, and oil, until it forms a fragrant green paste. Spread on maza or bread: it is the food of conversation, shared while talking at length.
Why this dish? Living in Rome and later teaching in Nicopolis, Epictetus knew moretum, a shared dish of simple people. Goat cheese is part of his attested diet: a convivial food when disciples gather.
When my students stay late to discourse, I have them grind in the mortar this goat cheese with garlic, rue, coriander, and a dash of vinegar. Crush, rub, until everything becomes one — like the soul that gathers its judgments. Spread it on the barley and share: a philosopher does not eat alone what can nourish the discussion. You see, pleasure is not the enemy; it is becoming its slave that is.
Ingredients (period version)
- Fresh goat cheese — a good piece (base)
- Garlic — a few cloves (pungent aromatic)
- Fresh herbs (coriander, rue, celery, parsley) — a handful (flavor)
- Vinegar — a dash (acidity)
- Olive oil — a drizzle (fat binder)
- Salt — to taste (seasoning)
Ingredients
- Fresh goat cheese (young log) — 200 g (base)
- Garlic — 2 cloves (aromatic)
- Coriander + parsley + celery leaves — 1 large handful (flavor (rue, toxic, is replaced))
- White wine vinegar — 1 tsp (acidity)
- Extra virgin olive oil — 2 tbsp (binder)
- Salt — 1 pinch (seasoning)
Method
- Peel the garlic and crush it in a mortar with a pinch of salt until it becomes a paste.
- Add the chopped herbs and continue pounding to release the aromas.
- Incorporate the crumbled goat cheese and mash to combine.
- Loosen with vinegar, then olive oil in a stream, until you get a homogeneous spreadable paste.
- Taste, adjust salt, and serve at room temperature with maza or bread for spreading.
How it was made : Moretum is described in a short Latin poem from the Appendix Vergiliana: a farmer, Symilus, grinds in a mortar cheese, garlic, herbs, salt, vinegar, and oil for his morning meal. It was a popular, green, and pungent dish. Sometimes rue (ruta) was added, a bitter herb now discouraged as toxic: it is replaced by other herbs.
The contemporary twist : Shape it into a quenelle on a slate board, sprinkle with borage flowers: the "Stoic pesto" ahead of its time.
Epictetus · Charactorium
