Honey and Poppy Seed Globi, Secunda Mensa Sweets
Small balls of fresh cheese and semolina, fried then rolled in warm honey and sprinkled with poppy seeds. Tender inside, golden outside, dripping with honey.
Small balls of fresh cheese and semolina, fried then rolled in warm honey and sprinkled with poppy seeds. Tender inside, golden outside, dripping with honey.
To end the meal, reader, nothing beats globi: you mix fresh cheese with the finest flour, shape small balls and plunge them into boiling fat. As soon as they turn golden, you remove them and roll them in warm honey, then sprinkle with poppy seeds. They melt under the tooth and stick to the fingers — and that is their whole charm. Eat them hot, while around the table verses are still recited by lamplight.
- •Fresh cheese — a portion (soft base)
- •Fine flour (spelt) — as much as cheese (binder)
- •Honey — generously (coating)
- •Poppy seeds — a pinch (finishing)
- •Frying fat — a bath (cooking)
Honey and Poppy Seed Globi, Secunda Mensa Sweets
Small balls of fresh cheese and semolina, fried then rolled in warm honey and sprinkled with poppy seeds. Tender inside, golden outside, dripping with honey.
Why this dish? Honey sweets closed the cena during the secunda mensa. Cato the Elder describes 'globi', fried balls coated in honey — a delicacy that the guests of Virgil's time, a poet who died at Brindisi returning from Greece, savored at the end of the banquet.
To end the meal, reader, nothing beats globi: you mix fresh cheese with the finest flour, shape small balls and plunge them into boiling fat. As soon as they turn golden, you remove them and roll them in warm honey, then sprinkle with poppy seeds. They melt under the tooth and stick to the fingers — and that is their whole charm. Eat them hot, while around the table verses are still recited by lamplight.
Ingredients (period version)
- Fresh cheese — a portion (soft base)
- Fine flour (spelt) — as much as cheese (binder)
- Honey — generously (coating)
- Poppy seeds — a pinch (finishing)
- Frying fat — a bath (cooking)
Ingredients
- Ricotta or drained fresh cheese — 200 g (soft base)
- Fine semolina or spelt flour — 120 g (binder)
- Honey — 6 tablespoons (coating)
- Poppy seeds — 2 teaspoons (finishing)
- Frying oil (olive or neutral) — 1 bath (cooking)
Method
- Mix the well-drained ricotta and semolina (or flour) until you get a soft, non-sticky dough.
- Shape small balls the size of a walnut.
- Heat the oil and fry the balls in small batches until golden.
- Drain on a cloth, then roll them in slightly warmed honey.
- Sprinkle with poppy seeds and serve immediately, very hot.
How it was made : Cato the Elder (De agri cultura) describes globi: they are fried in fat, then coated in honey and sprinkled with poppy seeds. Since sugar was unknown, honey was the only way to sweeten Roman treats.
The contemporary twist : Arrange them in a pyramid drizzled with warm honey, like an 'ancient croquembouche', with a little grated lemon zest.
Sources : Cato the Elder, De agri cultura, 79 (globi)
Virgil · Charactorium