Feeding a Greek Hoplite - Ancient Rations
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Subtitles: Jose Mendoza | IG @worldagainstjose
PHOTO CREDITS
Kozinksi / Pasteli: via www.flickr.com/photos/3047881... under CC BY 2.0
Oracle at Delphi: By Zde - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, commons.wikimedia.org/w/index...
Bronze body armor: By AlexanderVanLoon, CC BY-SA 4.0, commons.wikimedia.org/w/index...
#tastinghistory #ancientgreece
For more ancient Greek and Roman episodes check out this playlist to learn about garum, placenta, Roman bread and more: czcams.com/play/PLIkaZtzr9JDkCHpSx2Kf2XWRcgqjClDff.html
this is my favorite playlist of yours. anything greek or roman i’m obsessed with. very much looking forward to your thebes video. 😘
Another option for your pan with this kind of thing, is to look at silicone ones. With a lot of things where you don't need to heat it up in the container, they work really well. I have a couple that were for rice crispies treats from a long while ago that also work great for other things.
First of all, I plan to order your cookbook in the very near future. Secondly, a couple of ideas for a future episode; Salmagundi - a salad with many ingredients and many recipes. I suggest an Elizabethan England version and an 18th-century Colonial American version, or, Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte's last meal during his exile on St. Helena.
dude you look good in that helmet :D
I grew up eating these in Greece, I remember watching my grandmother make it .
this video is proof that there is an inherent primal need for a sweet little treat
thus froots evolved
Ancient pre-workout, or pre-warout as it were.
not too surprising since back in the early days of humanity that would have meant looking for nice fruits and berries, keeping us healthy
@@Heylon1313 monke wan banan
Marching and fighting is a lot of work and needs a lot of calories. And packing calories into as small and light a package helps logistics.
Max is one of the few cooks that really means it when the recipe calls for "only two ingredients"
“Hey guys! So here’s my go-to, two-ingredient dinner recipe for suuuuper lazy days! First off, we start by mincing an onion, adding in some garlic, throwing in a bit of some home-made chicken stock, seasoning to taste with salt and pepper…”
I will never not consider salt, herbs/spices, and liquids ingredients. If you put water in your dish, it's an ingredient. Salt? Ingredient. Cinnamon? Ingredient. If the dish won't taste the same without the object, it is an ingredient in the recipe. Just because it's not the main component doesn't mean it's not an ingredient, and I'm sick of people who think otherwise
Or "super fast, super simple, super easy." No three-day proofing and 4 hour clean-up (though forgetting to line the sides of the pan with parchment paper did have me going 'Noooo the stickinessss!') of sixteen pieces of cookware for an "easy" pizza (that needs to be cooked twice).
@@catpoke9557 If i left out Salt/Water/Cinnamon from an ingredient list would the dish turn out the same? Anything that goes into a recipe is an ingredient imo
@@Josefsson9013 Yes, exactly! If you leave any of those out it wouldn't come out right. So clearly they are all ingredients to the recipe. If someone tried to argue that they made a recipe that requires those but it's somehow only two ingredients, they really mean two main ingredients. Which to me is false advertising.
Fun fact:
In the Greek Land Forces, the term "Hoplite" is still used to describe the equivalent of the "Private" class.
Old habits rarely die
that is really cool.
Are they upgraded at the barracks into Centurions?
@@dremora4957 nah, once you hit the iron age the greeks get 'em too, but at their academy, not barracks
I really hope they don't have to bring assault rifles and kevlar body armor from home
I mean, they purposefully did that for nationalistic reasons in order to reclaim their byzantine and ancient heritage after being ruled by the Turks for over 400 years. So it's not old habits, it's purposeful reusing of old names for propaganda purposes.
In the Island of Rhodes (Rodos) , we have our own local variation of "Pasteli" , we call "Melekouni" , literally meaning "honey and seeds". It consists of honey, sesame, orange zest, cinnamon and a raw almond placed in the center of the bar. It's way softer than Pasteli and thus more pleasant to consume. We usually give them away for free at weddings.
what's the point of raw honey if you're gonna cook it tho 🤔
@@Broockle read again
@@Broocklemy god reading comprehension really doesn’t like you huh?
I miss Rodos so much 😭 i was able to get some Melekouni from the bazaar market there and i kept going back to the vendor the whole day 😂
@@MrTNuke why buy them when you can show up at greek weddings uninvited and grab as many as you like? 😂
King Leonidas looking at his camp: "This is where we snack!" (gestures to the Athenians' mess tent) "And that is where they DINE!"
Todd, when I first read your paragraph, I read ...... the "Athenians' men's tent "..😂 I read it again and realized you typed "Athenians' mess tent!" 😂😂😂
😂 Well played sir. 😎
Go tell the Spartans, stranger passing by that here obedient to our laws we ate.
And then he was horrible to a slave, because Spartans.
We should be glad that slavery ended sometime ago in most civilized countrys.
My brother made a linothorax as part of a historical recreation project at college, and compared it to the composite lamellar silk armour worn by samurai. The big difference for the linothorax is it was made from relatively cheap materials and quite often the linen would have been woven by the mother or spouse of the hoplite that wore it. It was made for that hoplite and that hoplite alone. The layers of linen would have little charms and prayers or coins or flowers pressed between the layers for luck and divine protection. And with use it would mold and shift in the heat to fit the wearer perfectly.
My brother's friend managed to both graze his knuckles and dislocate a finger punching him while wearing it! So it was pretty effective. He also tested some squares of the material with a bow and arrow though sadly was never able to make the squares of silk lamellar to compare because he couldn't source the laquer needed.
I mean, as a general rule of thumb, if soldiers wore it for several hundred years, yeah it was probably very successful ^^
Like chainmail, that thing was used from Antiquity to the early modern period, at least a millenia and a half worth of use because it's super useful and effective ^^
As for Linothorax, although the armor itself rarefied around the 1st century BCE, probably because chainmail appeared, the principle remain really effective and most soldiers in the middle-ages would wore an armor or an under-armor made of cloth. It's just that they wove only the outer layers the inner ones were made of unwoven cloth which remain effective.
In fact, even today kevlar bulletproof vests are still layers of cloth assembled in an armor, it's just that Kevlar is a super strong synthetic cloth XD
This seems like the precursor to the medieval gamebson.
True lacquer is very difficult to use even if you can get it. I don't know anything about Samuri armor but, in other applications, it has to be applied in thin layers that are individually dried in precise conditions of temperature and humidity. It's not a skill that you just pick up casually.
@Krankar Volund chainmail is still in use, though not in military applications. It's mostly used as PPE for butchers and divers now
@@DickEnchilada 32 True, I've also seen it in documentaries as a shark protection ^^
My mother used to give me this as a child. She called it sesame candy. My father was Italian but he was obsessed with Greek culture, played the bouzouki, and drank ouzo, so I guess that's why we had sesame candy, too. It's really good.
I still have his bouzouki.
The fact that body armor made out of fabric was used from the ancient world with the Linothorax up to the late middle ages with the Gambeson just shows us how effective fabric armor can be. Also it's quite affordable and when you have to ear it an extended period of time pretty comfortable compared to heavier material.
It's still used, Kevlar baybeeeeee
It was also the least maintenance intensive. Ancient steels rusted very readily, so a knight's page and squire, legionnaire or man-at-arms would spend a lot of time every day polishing and oiling the metal. While the English army was on a forced march before the battle of Agincourt, the rings of their maille rusted together, that was how quickly it happened.
@@charlesc.9012 Yeah especially maille is ridiculous to clean (and honestly produce in comparison to plates, assuming you have access to sheet metal), I have a ton of respect for reenactors who wear full hauberks, because unlike a medieval man-at-arms (be they knighted or not), roman contubernium or a migration era higher class warrior they don't have a bunch of servants to deal with it. I mean sure the barrel trick works, especially with some vinegar, but it takes hours and is never perfect meaning the rust will quickly spread again even in dry environment.
t. brigandine and lamellar wearer (it's not great either but lacquer or wax+grease can be easily applied to rivets and plates and won't just rub off immediately)
@@Sk0lzkythe trick is in the storage. Keep it packed in a moisture proof container, lots of wd40 and oil and and the expectation of seeing your under armor turn black from the rubbing of the rings
@@JzargoKitty I was gonna mention that is nobody else did. Kevlar is pretty much an extremely advanced Gambeson. In a somewhat modern D&D-style campaign, I had a body vest made from a Domesticated Spider farm's spider silk. I bring this up because we're starting to develop lab-synthesized spider silk, and it is stronger than steel and kevlar, and it's applications are going to be used in body armor mixed with keratin for even more strength and bonding.
There is a very real chance the US, South Korean, or Chinese military might eventually be using basically Bone Armor made from Spider silk and bone material. That is metal as FUCK.
However it's funny to me how we're never getting rid of the idea of stacking basically fiber on top of itself until nothing can go through. Worked for thousands of years and it's still gonna work for thousands more.
There was an ultra distance runner, Dean Karnazes. In an interview discussing his diet 15 years ago he mentioned he snacked on sesame and honey since he was Greek and wanted to embrace his heritage. He used the bars for fast energy on runs lasting several hours
Well honey is a simple carb so it quickly hits the system and sesame seeds are carbohydrates which are slower to break down so I can see how it works well.
@@SilvaDreams
A quick energy burst followed up a slow and steady energy stream. Surprisingly ingenious combination of ingredients for energy needs while being very simple and delicious.
Same guy who gorges on entire pizzas and never gain significant weight?
@@SilvaDreamsgood amount of protein and fats as well, so even better.
@@Sevensliders I think that guy is American...he could eat while running 😮
One of my history teachers in school always had these on her desk as a commercially made candy. They were individually wrapped and one would enjoy as a candy. I thought of them as old fashioned candy but never realized how really old fashioned they are. Thanks again for this tidbit from history. Fascinating as always! 🙏
I remember those. My mother used to get them in the 1970s-80s.😊
I used to pick up a version of this in a health food store. It was soft and chewy. I think it was called Nookie. Haven't seen it in forever.
Yes, I first encountered a modern version of this in my teens, when I was doing day-release studies set up by my employer. I attended a college in a town about an hour's travel from home, and encountered something called 'Sesame Snaps' in the college canteen. I guess these commercially made versions are made with some kind os sugar or corn syrup rather than honey, but they still taste very good. That was over thirty years ago, now. More recently, I came across a version that included coconut, of all things. This was at the oriental hypermarket in our area, which supplies all the local Chinese takeaways and restaurants. They sold them by the box, and yes, I bought a box!
I would get these at the Asian grocery store. Sesame candy.
Love that - I did the reverse in university and brought a homemade version in as bribe for a presentation on food in Ancient Greece. It worked😅
Back when I was a conscript in the Finnish army, we had Greek "Itrion" bars in our field rations. So basically it was just like 2500 years ago, but at least we got our gear and food from the state!
Lol that’s so bizzare, do you eat itrion or pasteli in 🇫🇮?
@@allstarlord9110 honey and sesame is a beatiful mix.
here in Poland they sell it as 'sezamki' in thin pieces
@@andruloni I thought pasteli was just a traditional Greek treat, i had no idea that other people ate things similar to it
there’s a Georgian snack called gozinaki, which is usually walnuts, but can be made with all sorts of seeds or nuts; it’s very popular in Russia, where its most often made out of sunflower seeds or peanuts, or, if you’re feeling fancy, hazelnut or almond. There’s a stereotype of it being one of those “mediocre” sweets that grandmas always have lying around, but it’s actually really really good. Perfect hiking snack, too!
My best friend's Punjabi mom made basically this, all the time. We used to have it as snacks playing D&D and at band practice constantly. It's so simple and so good that much of the world's said "Hell yes" to it. They'd usually throw a couple spices in, maybe some dates, maybe nuts, but it was always super easy and super delicious. Can't go wrong with honey and toasted seeds/nuts.
I've been eating sesame seed and honey candies since I was a kid, had no idea they go back this far.
We used to be able to buy ‘sesame snacks’ in the UK - thin wafers containing nothing but seeds and honey. They had a three month shelf life!
@@clogs4956 Same in Poland. They're called Sezamki here and are still sold practically everywhere.
@@Edidin Canada too. You can get these nearly anywhere under a variety of names. There are some things that just go together no matter where you are in the wold. If sesame grows there and bees make honey there, people will pu them together.
Bro just made sesame snaps and pretended he was doing food history.
@@clogs4956 we still have them in Canada. Sesame Snacks are everywhere, and I used to eat them as a kid all the time too... still do from time to time
Xenophon's "Anabasis" is one of the first, if not the first accounts we have of ancient warfare written by a commander, or somebody who was actually there. In a remarkable change from most histories of this time period, there is no ridiculousness, no melodrama, no heroic derring-do...just a soldier's story of what happened to them, and how they escaped after being double crossed.
It's also just a very thrilling read, and the language is simple and plain. Highly recommended.
He also writes how he came across ancient (even for the Greeks) Mesopotamiam ruins on one of his journeys. Didn’t have a lot of time to explore though, as the Greeks were chased by a rival army. That event always amazes me.
Well, there are moments of daring do but realist and logical. It is a very good read I agree with you.
@@ilikemoviesandmorethe fall of civilisations podcast on the Assyrians goes into this in depth and it is very fascinating!
_just a soldier's story of what happened to them…_
You take that to be an accurate account of what happened?
Growing up in California in the '70s and '80s this was a standard candy at health food stores. It was one one of the few candes my mom you let me eat when I was little.
Same, but BC in the 80s and 90s. Basically the California of Canada 😂
@@k.16761 I visited BC in the 90s, but I really only remember the flower gardens on Victoria Island.
I think the entire west coast of the NA continent had these in their health food stores. I remember seeing them in Oregon and I think even Trader Joe's had something similar.
In the early 90’s at the vacuum store where mom bought the bags for our vacuum, they had sesame snaps on the counter beside the register. The cashier would give one of the sesame snaps to me and my sister if we went to the store with our mom to get the vacuum bags, it was a real treat.
S Ontario late 70s they were found in grocery and convenience stores. My brother and I loved them and mom would sometimes put them in our lunch box. I still eat sesame snaps today!
Smart mom!
There is a similar Georgian snack called "gozinaki", although it is made with walnuts usually. And there is also soviet version made with sunflower seeds, known as "kozinaki", that is still popular in Russia, Ukraine and Belarus to this day.
So it's like Ancient Greek Rice Krispie Treats almost but with honey and sesame instead of puffed rice and marshmalllow? That's really neat! Thank you for sharing!
It's a granola bar!
i was also thinking of rice treats as soon as he started pressing the mxiture into the pan. it's just a different kind of seed and sweet but basically it's the same idea! haha, imagine eating a rice treat for breakfast. :D
I was thinking the same thing!
@@gwennorthcutt421 i have lots. I love rice crispie treats with a passion and have started many days with it lmao
@@AspiringSpaceWizard i was making a joke but thats great :D i mean its basically cereal with a sugar binder, os it makes sense.
This is so interesting to me because I grew up eating Sesame Snaps, which is a commercial version of this. They were a common lunchbox addition and you can still find them in gas stations across Canada.
Reminds me of flapjacks in the UK, also a school staple. Ik they exist outside the UK but under a different name I think. They're just oats, butter and golden syrup, could also add raisins or currants
We have Sesame Snaps in the UK too! They're brill for running :)
had them down in australia too
It’s funny I was going to say the same thing. I ate those too, and they’re widely available in the USA
And grocery stores!!
I went to this international candy store a couple weeks ago and picked up this weird bar in an orange box with Greek writing on it, I didn’t understand what it meant and inside was this sticky loaf of sesame seeds and honey, at least now I know what it was. It was pretty tasty too.
This could be fun - I live in a rural area in Oregon with lots of raw honey varieties - Meadowfoam (tastes like cotton candy), fireweed, sage, carrot, buckwheat, coriander...the list goes on, and they're all interesting. I've made baklava and mead...time for something new!
what's the point of raw honey if you're gonna cook it tho 🤔
@@Broockle I think in american context it means it's likely to be 100% genuine as opposed to just "honeys", as US (and that includes all states) lacks product naming regulations.
PS I concur - we call this kinda candy "sezamki" where I'm from and it's imo best with buckwheat honey as it goes really well with the sesame nuttiness
@@Sk0lzky
RawHoney means no HighFructose-Cornsyrup....? 😰
@@Broocklecorrect. Lots of "honey" in the US is adulterated with HFCS (corn syrup)
@@shadows_assassin3131
didn't know adulterated can be used like that 😀
I'm so glad you mentioned marshmallows... i couldn't help but think of this as a sort of ancient greek rice krispie treat!
Literally my thought when I saw it. And heard it described.
Me too!
reminds me of a greek granola bar lol
I thought the same thing!
I was thinking the same thing!
I've made sesame honey cookies like these several times and I definitely recommend adding just a few pinches of salt. It tastes really good and balances out the sweetness of the honey.
Most sweets improve with a pinch of salt.
@@ragnkja - Salt? >_
@@MossyMozart
Yes, it’s a flavour enhancer. Just don’t add too much (a pinch is usually a good start) if you don’t want the sweet to taste salty.
Salt was the thing that sprung to mind immediately for me too when Max was listing the only 2 ingreds? It helps bring out the savory sesame flavour well and should also help slightly cut that sickly-sweetness honey-based sweets can have (at least to my palate).
@@anna_in_aotearoa3166 And tbh old recipes have the habit of ommiting things that are "obvious "
Fun fact: here in Italy (and I would assume in Germany as well), there's a good few snack vending machines that sell something extremely similar to Itrion ^^
I suspect it's a broadly European (and definitely anatolian and north levantine) thing because it's all over central europe, Ukraine, Balkans, Turkey and middle eastern coast (idk about israel but syria lebanon etc has these)
Hey Max, loved the episode! We also have these currently in Bulgaria, as well as, I believe, in our neighbours, Turkey and Greece. Never knew they originated in Ancient Greece. Ours are called сусамки, basically "tiny sesame", and they ARE great! We also have similar with de-shelled sunflower seeds and with peanuts, also quite jgood, but personally I love the texture of the sesame! Keep up the good work! 🎉
We have this in Turkey!!! Its called krokan. Its made with sesame or other nuts😊😊
Well ... this is strange, I'm from Romania and my mom made this since i was a child, we can also find this exact sesame treat at most corner stores, I'm glad this recipe traveled so far because it's delicious!
Ancient Thrace!
It's weird when we find really old recipes that we still eat today, isn't it?
For me this recipe was tiropatina, from Apicius' De Re Coquinaria; the book is at least 1600y old, if not more. The result was disappointing - not because it turned out bad, but because it turned out extremely similar to the milk pudding that everyone cooks here in Latin America. (With honey instead of condensed milk, but close enough.)
Not so much... it's commonly sold in many countries called sesame snaps and here in the UK we have an oat and honey version called flapjacks but supermarkets tend to use glucious syrup rather than honey, except any natural products that do use honey. Try making the flapjacks they're a lot more soft and chewy, just make sure you don't bake them longer or it will go hard.
I'm not Greek but I grew up eating this. It's incredible!
me too, delicious!
also like sunflower seeds and peanuts.
i never thought of it before, but seeing him make it like this, it reminds me of rice crispy treats
Are you Indian, we have these too but with molasses instead of honey
@@duckpotat9818 in Mexico we also have this, also with a kind of molasses 🤣
This type of sesame & honey cake is popular in China as well.
You can also use specific varietals of honey to really mix it up!! Cotton honey has a very light and “cloud” like flavor, orange blossom honey (I’m sure you can figure that one out) and many others!
Hi Max...
In some places of south of Italy we call it "giurgiulea" or "giurgiulena", from the Arabic word "sesame seed".
This video helped me to realize that it is more ancient than the Arabic influence in Italy (middle age), but maybe it come from the Greek colonization of southern Italy (before the roman empire).
I'm also fascinated with the raisin cakes that fueled King David's army in Samuel. This Greek delight is crossed between lembas bread and an MRE. Cool video.
That helmut is surely a look ❤️! U looked super cute! ..😏
Greek here! As you said, these are still around, so simple yet so delicious! Thanks for covering this recipe! 💛
Not only in Greece. Every supermarket here (Danmark) has them, conveniently placed at the checkout 😉
They are thin, about 2-3mm and made with syrup in stead of honey.
@@natviolen4021 we have them too in sweden
@@natviolen4021 same in the Netherlands, I love the stuff! really fun to know that a version of it has been around for so long.
@@natviolen4021 Same here in Italy. Single packed, simply delicious.
@@natviolen4021okay why do you have to say it like that ?
Oh my God, this is a treat in Slavic culture as well. I'd eat it often when we had family gatherings. Just honey and sesame, it goes well with a strong black tea. I had completely forgotten about it! Thanks Max!
"many, many layers of linen tightly woven and glued together"
I thought the Linothorax would be something akin to a medieval gambeson, but from that description, it sounds more like an ancient version of proto-Kevlar. Cool!
In Poland we have something similar called 'sezamki'. They are thin and crispy, but unfortunately now made mostly of glucose syrup. But if you are lucky you can find ones made with honey. They were one of my favourite treats as a kid, but they stuck to the teeth like crazy. Still, I have it as an emergency snack in my car, because you never know when you'll need them 😂
Basically it's the same in Bulgaria with "susamki". Maybe it's a Slav thing nowadays :D
In czech republic we have it too, and i love it
We call them sesame snaps in Canada :)
@@TheAshesvondustand they're imported from Poland
I was just about to say it XD Personally I hate them, but it pleases me that we Poles have something in common with ancient Greeks XD
So proud of being Greek right now!!! Itrion is called "pasteli" nowadays (the accent on the e) and apart of being the best snack, you can add it to fresh salads to give body and crunchiness especially green salads. Also you can add it graded with cookies to make cheese cake base. Keep up the good work!!
Wow, awesome ideas! Thanks for sharing. Hopefully Max sees as well 😊
Oh it is so good. Moment he said honey and sesame seeds I immediately thought of Pasteli. Kinda cool that it is still prevalent today. Going to appreciate it so much more now that I know its history :)
@@everyusernameistakenomfg Thank you too!! Have a nice day!!
@@user-xy2nx6zo8y he actually said it was called pasteli
@@aSipOfHemlocktea These people obviously went to the comments first.
Modern British Army ration packs actually sometimes contain sesame seed bars, which are basically just itrion - seems some things never change!
7:54 linen armor from acient Greece is made with the same idea as kevlar or the front of your car today: you arent expecting it to stop the hit all together, you want it to disperse the energy over a much much larger area to slow down and mitigate the force.
this is also a traditional chinese snack that i've had since childhood black sesame and honey crackers/crisps the taste is so nostalgic and fragrant i love it
Came here to say this. It's Chinese sesame brittle, which often has other types of seeds mixed in, like peanuts, walnuts, or pretty much whatever else you want. It's made of melted caramelized sugar, but honey works just as well, as the cooking process is very similar. As my mother would say, it's good for jerking your teeth out.
This is also very similar to an Indian treat
The common one I grew up with was whole roasted peanuts, cut into rectangular finger-length and width blocks. The difference is the Chinese use maltose sugar, which binds things better and isn't quite as overwhelmingly sweet. The key to a good Chinese brittle is there has to be a balance between the sweetness and the nuts/seeds; if it's too sweet and overwhelms the nuts/seeds it's just not as good.
This sweet sesame crisp reminds me at first glance of the hard sesame candy made today in Vietnam - my mother is Vietnamese, and as a kid, sesame candy was always a treat to beg for and very occasionally be granted when we went to an Asian grocery store.
Reminds me of the sesame bars my grandma often buys😊
It is called Kẹo vừng lạc , the most famous (and even sometime the only) kind of candy in Vietnam from Iron Curtain era to nowaday. I still enjoy these little sweetpack every week, pretty nervous about the risk of diabete though 😂😂😂
My parents would always say no to both the hard ones and the soft ones for fear of the first breaking your teeth and the second yanking out your baby teeth or fillings, lol.
That's what I thought of too, except our Vietnamese one is made with melted caramelized sugar and peanuts too. So good.
I love those things.
You can buy these sesame honey biscuit snacks anywhere and in any convenience store today. Amazing to see where it originated from.
I literally bought one of these at a convenience store. They're called Sesame Snaps and they are very common here in Southern Ontario. They probably use a bunch of corn syrup, but when you're hiking, they still function the same. They're much better than most hiking snacks, like granola bars (of similar price) or chocolate bars, because they're just nuts glued together. No filler, just dense protein and fat, held together by a little sugar.
It's always kind of amazing to find common ground across such lengths of time and space.
Oh wow!
Korea ALSO has these as traditional treats! It's the same thing although Koreans have a greater variety of sesame seeds and also add peanuts
It's called "Gahng-Jeohng" and "Kkaeh" is "sesame" so it's
Kkae-gangjeong
Very similar, although the binding ingredient in gangjeong is barley malt taffy (yeot). But that was what I thought of when watching this, too.
That's a popular candy in Puerto Rico! It's called Dulce de Ajonjolí and still made with mostly just sesame seeds and honey but I think caramelized sugar is also used to make it harder. Similar sesame candies are found all over the world, I would love to see a timeline of how it traveled from one culture to another.
I was going to comment this. Yup, dulce de ajonjolí.
Considering the simplicity of the recipe, ease of transport, and the attractiveness of the taste I wouldn't be surprised if it was independently invented multiple times too.
It’s made in Guatemala as well
@@coolnormalandwelladjusted and in Dominican Republic too
I don't think it did travel. It's so simple, why wouldn't most cultures with sesame seeds and honey do it? There's examples from Europe, China and South America, so it was just probably a commonality in a sense. No one really discovered it, they probably all did.
Wow what a flashback! My grandma used to make something exactly like this when I was a kid! I had totally forgotten about it til watching you make this and my memories came back!
5:22 “… and hopefully some food.” Hit different 😂 when your relief forgets to bring chow. It’s rough
I got rice crispy vibes from this. I guess the best snacks are made from a nut, seed, or grain with something sweet to hold them together, examples being pecan pralines, candied walnuts, rice crispy treats, and those no-bake oatmeal cow pattie cookies that school cafeterias used to serve.
grain + sugar definitely is a recurring winning combination. like meat on stick or stuffed dough
I thought about rice crispies, too. It even looks like them.
When I was a kid, these were the only candies I was ever allowed to eat. They had them at the health food store for some reason which is where we got all of our groceries. I always loved them so much!
Haha, me too. That and carob. Tbh I still love both today!
@@thistwilightgarden2708 Me, too! LOL
Here in Canada, we used to sell pretty much exactly these. (I say "used to" because they got cheap, and now make them with glucose syrup and barley sugar instead of honey.) They're called "Sesame Snaps" and (new, cheap ingredients notwithstanding) are one of my favourite snacks. They give a satiety that most other snack foods just don't offer, and a little goes a long way. Our version is much thinner - basically sesame wafers - so there's also more nibbling to get through the same amount of product. I suspect the extra chewing also adds to the feeling of eating more.
Tried making this recipe since I had both ingredients. I added in some onions, minced until liquid, and ate the whole batch. It tasted great. However, I would warn that this is the only time I've ever crapped out a log made solely of toasted sesame seeds. Was quite bewildered.
As you already said, we still have this in modern Greece. It's called Pasteli now and you can find it everywhere. 😊
My mom always kept "sesame snaps" (basically this but in thin wafers) around when I was growing up, they do get stuck in your teeth but I always really liked them. I had no idea they went back that far!
Benne wafers in the south U.S.A.
I love sesame snaps so much i bought a case from costco a while back lol. I have a few snaps left.
near me they sell something called sesame snaps, they are small packaged things that look just like that and they are sweet. i love those sesame snaps and its neat to hear about the history of these little guys.
Oh man, these are my favorite video type. Old recipes are cool too but I love it when you show us what rations or standardized food soldiers, sailors, royals or whomever ate.
Can you do an episode about Latvian food and drink, like piragi, kaposti and Riga black balsam??? My husband’s family would love it!
Oooh I need to look those up. Wonder if there are any historic cookbooks from Latvia
@@TastingHistory I absolutely love your show! Thank you so much! It means a lot to us! Let me know if you need any help!
@@TastingHistory I'm not Latvian, but I love hearing about Latvian food, especially about their rye bread, which is absolutely the most wonderful bread I have ever eaten (I think that it means something coming from a slav). Latvians also have this weird rye bread-soup dessert and delicious rye bread kvass. Rye is one hell of a grain, would love to know more about its history.
@@TastingHistory Latvian foods are not complex or of the "roman standard..." since it is a poor and a war torn region but there are alot of pastaries, pancakes and simple ( yet tasty) meat stews/soups/kotletes.
@@solitudecityguard845 you are right about pastries. Three of my favorites are klingeris (Latvian birthday cake), Piparkūkas (Latvian gingerbread) and Alexandertorte.
Yum! This recipe reminded me of "Alegrias", a delightfully sweet Mexican treat made with honey and amaranth seeds. Now I'll be craving one all day! 😋
That was my thought, too! Only had it once but yum.
This would also be better for energy because amaranth seed has more protein in it than sesame. So it will keep you going longer.
Ah this is the version I'd had before, Alegrias was quite good
It's like an ancient Greek rice crispy treat
I buy this stuff from the local mediterranean store. I have loved these my whole life.
Halva is very very common here in Ontario Canada. From the fine ground sesame versions to the "snap" types of whole seed. The Sesame Snap type is usually sold 3 for 1 dollar. These are a blend of simple "food" type items, to items the center on different faith based diets. It's good stuff Max :) and your very very thick slick of snappy sesame seeds made my teeth wince :D but mouth water :D The next thing to look at in confection terms is the history of the marshmallow (starts in Egypt and ends with Jelly Beans).
I love that stuff so much. I grew up with this Turkish kid in NY and his mom had me try it one day. Instantly fell in love with it. The floury kind is my favorite
Bulk Barn usually has stacks of these. My elderly mother who had to eat gluten free really enjoyed these and usually went through a couple of packs a day. Gave her energy and satisfied cravings.
yeah you can get them in the US too, always tasty
It was a coin toss whether Max still had the helmet on after the intro played.
0:07 i grew up eating this all the time. we call it layee, or til layee (sesame brittle). it's the exact same thing. never knew ancient greek hoplites had this.
i love that you always give a detailed description as to how the foods you make taste. I'm always so so curious! Thanks for not just saying "it tastes good!"
In Mexico we have a similar snack called alegría which is made with honey and amaranth seeds. Sometimes they add hulled pumpkin seeds. Delicious!
Alegría is tasty!
I always have a couple of bars of pasteli (as we call it now in Greece) in my hiking bag, as emergency food. On longer hikes, I eat just a medium bar for breakfast and it is enough to hike for a full day. I don't think it is just the energy in these that keeps you going, more like their whole nutritional profile.
Sesame Snaps. :) I had no idea that the recipe was so old.
India has jaggery mixed with sesame.
China sells white bars of sesame and sugar as well as bars of black sesame seeds.
It’s definitely a childhood favourite of mine that’s lasted quite some time, although I never considered it with honey, i suppose we can call these seed cakes. :)
Thanks for sharing!
Due to the significant Greek population in Australia pasteli is a very nostalgic sweet here! Admittedly not everyone likes it but as a Korean-Australian honey and sesame are two or my favourite flavours.
I would really like it if you explored African food! One of my fixations right now is the Malagasy culture: the people of Madagascar are ethnically very close to the Austronesians of Southeast Asia, because they represent the most westward expansion of the Austronesians. It'd be so cool if you explored this connection in food!
Definitely sounds intriguing!
I'm Australian and never heard of Austronesians before. Is it like Micronesians or Melanesians?
@@kellysouter4381
Yes, those are both examples of Austronesian peoples.
@@kellysouter4381 Austronesians are those who speak the Austronesian languages, and they are spread from Madagascar to Easter Island; in most of the older literature, they are descended from people who left Taiwan, settled in the SEA and the areas you described, but some people think that that the term is too broad, because it's possible that Austronesian language and culture were migrated through trade, rather than whole migrations of people.
Austronesians are older than the Malay cultures, but they came after the Melanesian cultures (sorta, it's complicated and not very definite, because we're attempting to create definite groupings in cultures were there were definitely overlaps)
We used to have sesame brittle or candy frequently.
Its always been available at Middle-Eastern Markets around the Metro -Detroit area, with the great number of people living here from the many countries who imported their great food.
Love the story telling! Can’t wait for more about the Greek military history. Thank you!
we eat pastelli in greece all the time, i loved it as a kid. i didnt realize people ate it so far back. but i guess its so simple , why would'nt they!
I remember the first time seeing 깨강정 thinking, “hey, that looks like my yiayia’s recipe!” Ancient humans across Eurasia quickly realized that sesame+honey = crunchy yummies.
Hey! we have exact same dessert in India also. We just use jaggery (a form of cane sugar) instead of honey. It is called Tilsakri (Til: Sesame seeds, sakri: Sugar) or Gajak. It is enjoyed a lot in winters all over India.
The idea for this probably even originated in India (the earliest evidence of culinary use of sesame is in India).
@@pscar1 I didn't know that earlier. Thank you for this enlightening information. Charred sesame remnants dating back to 3500 BCE have been discovered in India. India gave so many cuisines to the world, and we Indians also assimilated so many cuisines from others and made them our own :)
7:20 Linen armor was actually used well into the middle ages. Gambesons were thick, quilted coats, made of many layers of coarse linen, that formed the base armor for many rank-and file soldiers. They were also used as padding underneath heavier armors like chainmail and full plate.
We also have this in northern India and it is an absolute staple food during the winter. We call it 'patti' and it's made with sesame seeds or maybe peanuts or maybe something else. It's incredible how similar this is.
😂 I never knew one of my favorite hiking snacks was THAT historic. We buy something similar by the box from REI for hiking or just any kind of travel snacking. Yum! Okay, now we'll be putting it out to share at SCA events, too.😊
we have it also in Romania, its ok, my healthy snack choice sometimes.
My thoughts exactly, down to the local Lidl and buy up their supply.
reminds me of the sesame snaps that were a store bought treat from the candy aisle when I was a kid. I loved those things!
They still do them in the world foods bit in supermarkets. It's in the polish section, love them
They’re definitely widely available in supermarkets in New Zealand 👍
They're still very common in Canada, you can find them at dollar stores and gas stations
In Australia we have “golden days sesame snaps” which are essentially candy bars you can buy from the supermarket that are exactly like this, but very thin.
This is actually one of my favorite treats and I never knew the history behind it. Another example of why history is cool! Thanks for this information and video! Awesome stuff!
I'm Danish and my mom used to make these as snacks for us as kids! I can smell it through the screen! It fun to think about how I ate as an ancient Greek soldier when I was 6 years old, lol. I also love how this is found everywhere in the world!
In Greece too it is a snack given to kids. Though it is not that often made at home for some reason - maybe housewives preferred to make more elaborate sweets, leaving the "itrion" or pasteli as it is called today to be purchases ready made from the shops. As said, it is a snack that is mostly given to kids, adults love it too but it is too fattening for them, LOL!
This seemed a lot like Alegría, a traditional Mexican candy made with amaranth and honey. Only you don't toast the amaranth, you pop it, like popcorn. Which then lead me to realizing that it's a lot like popcorn balls, but then I think you hit the nail on the head with calling the honey taste marshmallow-like, it's basically ancient rice krispie treats.
I often have a small version of this at work or in my bag. They are called sesame snaps we used to be able to buy them at the school canteen as well. (In Australia)
Thank you. I made these with anise honey, and combined the sesame seeds with crushed peanuts. Fantastic.
Oh this is similar (outside) to a snack in Vietnam called Bỏng gạo. It is basically roast rice to brown color,mix with malt syrup or sugar then cut into shape like a box. Very delicious and compact snack for picnic when I was a kid. It is still being sold nearby the hospital where I'm learning.
i was reminded of those puffed sesame balls too! seems like anywhere there were sesame seeds people have been using it for candy/sweets :D
Only Max could find a way to reference Winnie the Pooh when discussing Ancient Greek military rations !! You made my day! Haha. Love it!
And to reference Tennessee Williams, twice.
I grew up with Pasteli and it's nice to hear my ancestors did enjoy it too.
In Mexico they make a similar thing using amaranth instead of sesame. It is common to find for sale on the street. YUM!
So it's like a rice crispy treat. It's weird how many recipes are kind of similar to each other.
Also, I finally got a copy of the cookbook. I love it and made three things from it so far.
Yay! What’d you make?
Max, i love your videos so much! My cookbook is going to get here in Brazil in a couple days! :D
@Tasting History with Max Miller ended up making the hippocras, Tuh'u, and Sally Lun buns. The Sally lun I sent two to my grandmother as she normally makes rolls for me, so I thought that would be a good treat for her.
I'm planning on making hardtack as an offering for my grandfather as he was a sailor and the type of weirdo who loved his hardtack.
You're right. Imagine the Allied soldiers of D-Day eating Rice Krispie Treats before invading Normandy.
@@runehood6682 *clack clack*
The oil from the sesame is the best thing, when chewing it comes out and mixes with the honey. Love this stuff.
As other Greeks here also said, it survives as pasteli today, and it's still popular.
LOVE those plates upon which you served it forth. Also, you nailed the timing of the ad break again. That’s three, I believe. Kudos. 😊
one of my favourite snacks, as a greek, is sesame peanuts, which is this mixture as a peanut coating. its honestly so good!
OK, so Rice Krispie Treats x granola bars x Payday candy bars. Yum.
We have stuff like this in our supermarkets, I didn't know it was an ancient greek ration cake. Thanks for the great video ;)
And probably not made with the same pure ingredients as the original 😉
@@kellikelli4413 that's likely but the ingredient list is just Honey, sesame and salt.
Honey is likely not raw but otherwise it's not that easy to cheat here in the EU when it comes to food.
@@Azaghal1988
I immediately thought of the American stores which have all kinds of crap ingredients of not labeled organic.
I didn't realize you were referring to stores elsewhere.
@@Azaghal1988
Given that the honey is cooked during the preparation it doesn’t really matter if it’s raw or not. It’s just that it can be hard to find honey that’s minimally unfiltered and not raw.
We have a similar confectionery in the UK called Sesame Snaps & they're delicious (syrup rather than honey).
We have our old traditional sweet something like this but uses cane sugar or jaggery. There is also another similar recipe "Khajaa" where caramelized sugar is airated by folding hundreds of times and coating the outside with sesame seeds. Yum.
I like that *if* you mess up during a recipe it stays in the video and you roll with it. Recipes and cooking are meant to be an adventure (if you have the budget) so I always love to see that!
Yes - it keeps it real. It would have been easy to edit but better to know that even the teacher makes mistakes sometimes.
Also helpful to throw in how to AVOID making those mistakes, or to correct for them once made rather than throwing out edible food.
Itrion seems like a great, fast breakfast food similar to cereals. Perhaps itrion was the Wheaties of it's day? I can imagine amphora jars filled with seasame honeyed cakes decorated with famous heroes in ancient Greece eateries advertising: "Champions of Ares start the day right! Eat well, fight strong, run fast and hop-lite! Itrion!"
True Greek cereal for true Greeks.
With summer coming up, I was wondering about the variety of potato salad recipes. I would love to see a show on the origins and of America's cold potato salad. Always enjoy your show.
Max has found a niche that no one else has thought of. Brilliant! This is fun. I enjoy watching these videos. Thanks, Max.
This is a treat that is still made in Greece to this day. It's known as "παστέλι" nowadays, and while the most common version is still sesame seeds and honey, there are also version that replace the sesame with almonds or peanuts (equally as delicious, and with some extra crunch - although can be pretty hard on the teeth).
I can confirm that this snack is still very popular in Greece, but I didn't know that it goes back millennia. It is mind-boggling if you think about it
Well, it's clearly a great food, so who would think of NOT continuing to eat it? I wanna try some now.
Bought your book so happy I can watch you cook the recipes in it so I know what I’m doing