Pegasus Food Competition 2012: Food Inspired by the Ancient World

 
I recently stumbled across a curious recipe by Dan Lepard on www.theguardian.com which included some main ingredients from the ancient world: a cake made with red wine, figs and honey. The flavours were also reminiscent of the spiced recipes from the ancient Roman collection of Apicius. The small amount of brown sugar gives a richer taste but the main sweetness comes from the honey and figs which is also balanced by the cinnamon and cloves. The result is completely different to the sugartastic cakes that we are used to today. The spices give it an almost christmassy smell and the figs add an interesting texture.

In terms of appreciating ancient flavours, in this recipe perhaps we can get quite close to understanding what they were, remembering that our palate is used to very different tastes in terms of salt, sweet, bitter and sour.

I made this cake for the 2012 Pegasus Food Competition (our Classics Department Journal at the University of Exeter) and decided to substitute the butter in the original recipe for olive oil. Also to keep with the theme I used a Sicilain Nero D’Avola.
Here is my version:

250ml red wine
200g chopped dried figs
1 tsp ground cinnamon
½tsp ground cloves
4 tablespoons olive oil
150g honey
50g dark brown sugar
1 egg
200g self-raising flour

Preheat the oven to 160 C.
Line an 8inch/20cm round cake tin with baking paper.
In a pan, heat the chopped figs, red wine and spices until the mixture starts to boil.
Take off the heat and stir in the sugar and honey, leaving a little for brushing over the cake later.
Beat the egg and oil together, adding to the mixture when it has cooled a little.
Finally stir in the flour until the ingredients are just combined, pour into the cake tin and bake for 30-35 minutes or until a knife comes out clean.

 If desired, some extra honey can be brushed over the cake when it comes out of the oven, adding a little sweetness and a lovely glazed finish.