Sweet, but not cloying like so much modern cheesecake. It’s tasty but very dense. I predict many days before we finish the other half.

Gretchen and I learned of this ancient Roman cheesecake on a YouTube video, Tasting History, with Max Miller.

She decided to make some Salvillum.
https://youtu.be/GP4VDh4HJm8?si=pmZzCdLQ-hKExGZf

Salvillum, ancient Roman cheescake

In addition to a more modern version of the recipe, here’s what Cato wrote:

“Make the savillum this way. Take half a pound of flour and two and a half pounds of cheese, and mix together as for the libum. Add 1/4 pound of honey and 1 egg. Grease an earthenware dish with oil. When you have mixed the ingredients well, pour into the dish and cover it with an earthenware lid. See that you cook it well in the middle, where it is thickest. When it is cooked, remove the dish, coat with honey, sprinkle with poppy seeds, and put it back beneath the lid for a short while, then remove from the fire. Serve it in the dish with a spoon.”
— De Agri Cultura by Marcus Porcius Cato, 2nd Century BC

-jsq