I like History and History is part of my job.
Reading books set in the past has made me curious and inquisitive about ancient recipes. For example, a dinner consumed on couches by the rich Romans or a sumptuous feast in a Renaissance court leaves me curious for more and wanting to try them.
It just so happens that my dear friend Patricia is a passionate baking experimenter and has given me the opportunity to do some research on the subject and see how these recipes have been “seasoned” by time.
Take note that early women (our great, great, great, grandmothers) looked for honey and used it as filling creating our pastries!
Legend has it that the first cookie or even better… toasted bread of the story goes all the way back to the ancient Romans. To the soldiers who were leaving to be the champions of their conquests, especially by sea, it was a kind of a sweet biscuit, the “nautilus” bread. In later centuries, it was sweetened more with honey and enriched with dried fruits, almonds, figs, walnuts, hazelnuts, and quince.
The real cookie we eat today were founded in the middle ages. The etymology of the word comes from medieval Latin “biscoctus”, composed of bis (“twice”) and coctus, the past participle of coquère, meaning “cook”.
In the middle ages our monasteries baked ricciarelli ( a type of macaroon), pinocchiati (pine nut crisps), gingerbread and many other flavours creating the specialized craftsmenship and workskops; therfore, multiplying these products.
Since then the “sweetness” has come a long way.
Today we find an endless amount of cookies and biscuits supplied by the industries, but the scent of our oven with healthy, controlled ingredients is the most unique and not to be forgotten!
