Pôma (nourishing beverage of the sympósion and the road)
Kykéôn, the barley and herb drink
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A thick, refreshing drink based on barley flour diluted in water, flavored with mint or pennyroyal, sometimes enriched with grated cheese and a dash of wine. Both nourishing and refreshing, slightly tart.
Pôma (nourishing beverage of the sympósion and the road)
A thick, refreshing drink based on barley flour diluted in water, flavored with mint or pennyroyal, sometimes enriched with grated cheese and a dash of wine. Both nourishing and refreshing, slightly tart.
When the road is long and the sun harsh, there is no need for a feast: I dilute my barley flour in cool water, crush a little mint into it, and drink. Some grate cheese and pour wine into it — each according to his purse and his thirst. This drink satisfies the hurried man without weighing him down: for by trying to feast too much on the road, one never arrives.
Ingredients
- •Álphita (toasted barley flour) — a spoonful (body)
- •Fresh water — a bowl (base)
- •Fresh mint or pennyroyal — a few leaves (flavor)
- •Grated goat cheese — a little (optional) (richness)
- •Wine — a dash (optional) (sharpness)
How it was made : Kykéôn (from the verb 'to mix') appears as early as the Iliad and Odyssey: barley flour was mixed into a liquid with various additions (grated cheese, wine, honey, herbs like pennyroyal). Both a drink and a food, it served travelers, harvesters, and, in ritual form, the Eleusinian Mysteries.
Sources : Homer, Iliad (Book XI) and Odyssey (Circe episode) · Andrew Dalby, Siren Feasts: A History of Food and Gastronomy in Greece