Moretum

It’s been a while since I last shared a recipe on here. In fact, it’s been over a year. Well, I am changing that today.

Moretum is an Ancient Roman cheese and garlic spread, which, according to Wikipedia, was eaten with bread.
Wikipedia also links to a poem, which shares the original recipe. And I must say, after reading the first bit, I’m impressed with the way it is described so visually.
Luckily for you (or not), this recipe is not a poem.
This recipe is also not historically accurate. It is very much adapted to the way I like to prepare food and the way I like to season it.

Ingredients

• 250g feta cheese (I use cow’s milk feta cheese, as it is not as intense)
• 1/4 teaspoon salt (The exact amount depends on the type of cheese used, and how much salt is already in it.)
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 1-2 peeled garlic cloves (I used two small ones, because that’s what I had lying around, but if you prefer a more garlicky taste, feel free to add more.)
• about 6 tablespoons chives, cut into small pieces (I’m using a frozen, precut version, as it is hard to get fresh ones from the garden in the winter)

Recipe

Start by crumbling the feta cheese into a mixing bowl. You don’t have to crumble it into really fine pieces, as that will happen naturally over time. Just make sure not to leave them too big, as it will make crushing them more difficult.
The image above shows how the chunks get smaller over time and form a paste consistency as more oil is added, and they are mashed together.

While the Romans used mortars to crush the ingredients together, we’ll be using a normal fork. For this first mashing cycle, you want to reduce the cheese crumbs into smaller chunks, which almost happens automatically when crushed with a fork.

Now add the salt and 1 tablespoon of olive oil.
Continue mashing until the olive oil gets mixed into the cheese and the consistency starts to get more creamy.

Add another tablespoon of olive oil and use a garlic press to crush the garlic cloves into a paste. Mix the garlic paste into the cheese mixture and continue mashing it until it reaches a spread-like consistency.

Lastly, add the remaining tablespoon olive oil and the cut chives and give it a rough stir. You don’t want to mash the chives, as it would break them apart.
By adding the olive oil without mashing it, we are also left with some olive oil strains in the paste, which gives the paste a nice texture.

That’s it. You can leave it to stand for a couple of hours, to allow the garlic flavor to infuse with the paste, or serve it immediately. If you don’t want to use it in a single day, you can over it with aluminum foil and store it in the fridge for multiple days.

I especially like eating it on baguette, but it is also a perfect ingredient for other meals.