As a reconstruction for Big Dig at Groundwell Ridge, Time Team are baking some Roman honey cakes (with help from Stephanie (7) and Stacy (10) Curl and friend Emma Furness). 'They're easy to make and are nice too.' said Stacy. If you would like to try them yourself here's the recipe:
Ingredients
200g / 7oz of Barley or Wheat flour
00ml / 3floz of water
3 tbsp of clear honey
2 tbsp of olive oil
Method
Mix all of the ingredients in a bowl and knead thoroughly.
Roll the dough as thinly as possible on a floured board.
Oil a baking tray and, using a 10cm / 4" diameter pastry cutter, cut out the round cakes and put them on the tray.
Heat an oven to 200 degrees centigrade / gas mark 6.
Bake for 15 minutes.
Cool on a wire rack and serve.
Evidence
Finds expert Sam Inder has been processing finds all day. 'We've still got a good range of material coming out.' said Sam, 'A lot of it is just what you would expect from Roman occupation, like Gray Ware, bits of roof tile and even some fragments of mortaria.'
Mortaria were the Roman equivalent of a modern general purpose mixing bowl. Their interesting feature is a grit lining on the inside, thought to have been used for grating or mashing down foods. This grit lining makes mortaria fragments quite easy to identify.
