Tragēmata for travel (road provisions and end-of-meal sweets)
Dried figs with honey and walnuts for the road to Pella
PreservingReconstruction🍯 🍄facile20 min
Dried figs split open, stuffed with walnuts and sesame seeds, glazed with honey and scented with thyme. Concentrated, chewy, and sweet, they travel well and end a meal.
Tragēmata for travel (road provisions and end-of-meal sweets)
Dried figs split open, stuffed with walnuts and sesame seeds, glazed with honey and scented with thyme. Concentrated, chewy, and sweet, they travel well and end a meal.
Athens judged me too often; at my age, I took the northern road, to the table of King Archelaus. What does one pack for such a journey? Figs dried in the summer sun, split and filled with nuts, rubbed with honey and thyme — they do not spoil, and their sweetness consoles the exile. Taste them: you will find all the summer of Attica, even far from her.
Ingredients
- •Dried figs — a handful (sweet base)
- •Walnuts (or almonds) — a few kernels (filling)
- •Sesame seeds — a pinch (crunch)
- •Thyme honey — a drizzle (binder and preservation)
- •Thyme — a pinch (flavor)
How it was made : Figs were dried in the sun on racks (ischades), then packed into baskets or jars; they were so associated with Attica that Athenians were said to be unable to do without them. With walnuts and honey, they formed an energy reserve for soldiers, travelers, and sailors.
Sources : Athenaeus of Naucratis, The Deipnosophists · Andrew Dalby, Food in the Ancient World from A to Z (2003)