Ancient Greek Dinner Party

The diet of the Classical Greek world was often jokingly referred to as a dish of puls(grain or bean paste) followed by another puls. While this may be an exaggeration, their diet was one of frugality. Population growth and poor soil management drove the Ancient Greeks to the brink of famine on a regular basis. Thus, simple meals of grain, olive oil, and wine were the order of the day across the classes. The distinction between rich and poor was not characterized by more elaborate dishes, but rather the inclusion of meat and fish (prepared simply).

The Greek meal was divided into two parts, the opson (a basic grain) and the sitos (the flavorful addition to the staple). The sitos was often fish, cheese, honey, olives, or meat. The Greeks loved moral panic, and the term opsophagia was used to describe the vice of eating too much sitos with your opson.

When eating at home, men and women ate separately, attended by slaves. Women and children of poorer families served a meal to the men and then ate a separate meal afterwards. The Athenians in particular were fond of events known as symposia, where food and wine would accompany speeches and entertainment. The main objective of a symposium was to get a drunk as possible. A guest was chosen to lead the drinking and mix the wine. Greek wine was served as a concentrate mixed with water. Thus the less water the chosen guest included, the more debauched the night to follow.

Our raw materials are as follows:

Tuna, chick peas, goat milk, olive oil, cabbage, garlic, figs, goat cheese, parsley, marjoram, flax seeds, sardines, and olives.

The Greeks believed that good fish required little adornment.  A common means of preparation was to take a steak of tuna, rub it with marjoram, and wrap it in a cabbage leaf.

Tie your leaf shut with a string. This will seal in its flavor and protect it from burning. Light a bed of coals, and when they are glowing place your fish among them to bake.

We will now make a bread of barley flour, olive oil, honey, and salt. We are still many years from seeing leavened bread as a staple in any save the wealthiest homes.

Form a ball with your dough.  It should be firm but soft enough to remain malleable.  In this form the dough can and was, in fact, eaten raw.  It was also dried out to serve as a portable ration which could be reconstituted with warm water.

Form a dough and roll it flat into a cake. Place in an oven at 200 degrees until crisp. 

This cake will be brittle, not soft.

Next we will prepare a simple paste of chick peas and garlic. This dish was said to be the favorite of the mythical hero Heracles.

Mash it until it takes on a smooth consistency throughout.

Finally, we will prepare a barley puls. These nourishing pastes were eaten by rich and poor throughout the Ancient Mediterranean. The Greeks were known to flavor theirs with coriander, salt, and flax seeds.

Toast them in a pan.

Add in barley flower.

Gradually fold in goat milk. Stir constantly to work out lumps.  Cooking with milk was seen as a hallmark of the 'barbarian' diet but the increasingly cosmopolitan Greeks were quick to adopt the eating habits of their neighbors.

When you have the texture of oatmeal, your puls is ready to be eaten. Puls would often be prepared in huge quantities and feed a family for days

Take out your fish parcels when the leaves begin to brown.

Cut the strings and remove your fish. It will release a huge cloud of steam.

Toss together olives and parsley.

Our final plate consists of:

Baked fish with an olive/parsley garnish
 mashed beans
 figs
 barley cake with goat cheese and honey
 sardines
 puls
 red wine.