When summer arrives, I find myself craving fresher, simpler recipes. I love making elaborate stews or dishes that simmer for hours, but the heat calls for something refreshing, and Epityrum fits the bill perfectly. This appetizer, handed down to us from Ancient Greece, is made with olives and fresh herbs, and spread over toasted rustic bread topped with feta cheese.
Although it was Cato the Elder who passed this recipe down to us in his De Agri Cultura, a manual on running an agricultural estate and his only work to survive in its entirety, the root of the word reveals that this dish actually originates from Hellenistic Greece.
Epityrum (ἐπίτυρον): The term comes directly from Greek (epi- ‘upon’ and tyron ‘cheese’), indicating that it was originally a preparation designed to be served over cheese or as an accompaniment to bread and cheese.
CXIX] Epityrum album nigrum variumque sic facito. ex oleis albis nigris variisque nuculeos eicito. sic condito. concidito ipsas, addito oleum, acetum, coriandrum, euminum, feniculum, rutam; mentam. in orculam condito; oleum supra siet. ita utito.
DE AGRI CVLTVRA, CATONIS1
CXIX. How to prepare white, black, or mixed epityrum: Pit the white2, black, or mixed olives. Season them as follows: chop them up, add oil, vinegar, coriander, cumin, fennel, rue, and mint. Store it in a small jar, ensuring the oil covers the top. Serve in this manner.
Traducción
About the ingredients
Of the ingredients mentioned in the original recipe, I have omitted both rue and cumin. In large quantities, rue can actually be toxic, so I saw no need to include it. Cumin, on the other hand, has a rather overpowering flavor, but for anyone who wants to give it a try that is down to personal preference.
The remaining herbs must be fresh. Mint, coriander, and fennel can all be easily found fresh at markets and grocery stores. As for the olives, it is best to buy them already pitted.”
When it comes to the bread, it works wonderfully on freshly toasted rustic bread spread with feta cheese. This recreates, with reasonable historical accuracy, the experience of epityrum just as it was originally intended: a dish designed to be eaten upon cheese.
Epityrum
3
raciones15
minutesIngredients
120g Green olives
120g Black olives
1 tbsp wine vinegar
120 ml extra virgin olive oil
2 sprigs chopped cilantro
A few chopped mint leaves
2 sprigs chopped fennel
Feta cheese, for spreading
Rustic bread
Instructions
- Prepare the olives: Finely chop both green and black olives
- Add the herbs: Mix in the chopped fresh mint, coriander, and fennel
- Dress it: Drizzle with the extra virgin olive oil and red wine vinegar. Mix well so all flavors combine.
- Assemble: Spread a slice of good feta cheese over warm, toasted rustic bread, and top it generously with the Epityrum. Enjoy!
Vídeo de la receta
- M. Porci Catonis De agri cultura liber
by Cato, Marcus Porcius, 234 B.C.-149 B.C; Keil, Heinrich, 1822-1894, editor
https://archive.org/details/mporcicatonisdea00cato/page/62/mode/2up ↩︎ - In Roman agricultural vocabulary, albus does not mean pure white, but rather green olives that have not yet ripened or turned a dark shade (what we would call green or color-changing olives today). ↩︎