Sesame Biscuits - Itrion

Sesame Biscuits certainly are part of my childhood food memories. There is something about the texture and the sweetness combined with the toasted flavour that makes them more than just a satisfying snack.

In the discussion about cakes in Book XIV of The Deipnosophistae or Professors at Dinner of Athenaeus, a type of biscuit made with sesame seeds and honey is mentioned, called Itrion.

Mark Grant provides a recipe in his book Roman Cookery: Ancient Recipes for Modern Kitchens (p.54). As he says, it contains 3 natural ingredients and as I found, it is very simple to make…

You will need:

60g clear honey
100g sesame seeds
olive oil

Heat up the honey in a pan and let it bubble for about 10 minutes. If it starts to brown too much, turn the heat down – keep an eye on it!!
Add the sesame seeds and keep stirring the pan for about 4 minutes.
Grease a small tin or glass dish and a spoon with the olive oil and pour the mixture in, flattening down and levelling it out to the sides.
Leave it to set for a few hours then tip out of the tin and cut into squares.

The quotation in Athenaeus mentions that the biscuit was enjoyed with a flask of wine!
Personally I found they went particularly well with a cup of black tea to compliment the sweetness. Yum.