Ever noticed that sometimes the delectables laid out for consumption at AIA Tucson lectures and events are fancier than the average cookie or cracker? Well, they often are (even if you haven’t noticed). Want proof? Have a look at the following pieces of tasty evidence, prepared by Rosalva Parada, a UA graduate in Honors History and Classics.
Wheel and Grindstone Cookies and Cheese Straw Tails
The cookies are made with cacao nibs and meant to emphasize the importance of animals in powering the turn of so many wheels in antiquity…rolling, grinding, carrying….animals moved life.
The cheese tails are sprinkled with thyme (from the Athenian landscape) and fennel seeds (found in Pompeii). They are made with smoked cheese to remind us that animals often unknowingly took their tails to the sacrificial altar. Also, cheese represents an important animal product
Spectacular Munchies
Our talented chef put together a winning array of favorites from the past year (top photo), plus at least one new creation inspired by the event itself. These new cookies (bottom photo) are created with kamut flour and are meant to resemble the sand, Latinharena, in Roman amphitheaters that gave its name to the arenas we frequent today
The Brittleness of Empire
The brittle below, a featured nosh at the talk by Getzel Cohen, is composed from products that represent the expanse of Alexander’s influence. It features cashews (known to be from India), sesame seeds (from Egypt), almonds (from the region of Jordan), and pistachios (first recorded by Theophrastus during Alexander’s travels and introduced then into Mediterranean culture). The brittle likewise suggests how the empire shattered, to fall into the hands of his generals.
Nuts About Honey
These cashew honey caramel bars, also from the November Kuhn-fest, characterize the Middle Eastern preference for honey and nut-based sweets and the importance of that influence which descended over most of the Mediterranean and came to take shape in other iconic desserts such as baklava and halva.
Provincial Nibbles
These formed part of the spread at the reception for the lecture on Roman provincial sculpture given by the UA’s own Stacey McGowen.
This beastly biscotti, prepared using a recipe from the 17th century, reflects Roman provincial sculptural style.
Almond Pavers
These financiers are fashioned like paving blocks; since the French originally created them to represent gold ingots, it seems very fitting to pave the Roman roads, such as the Via Appia, in gold for the triumphant advent of an emperor.
“Peaches” of Empire
These cookies convey the aroma of the Mendesian unguent that was used in classical antiquity to anoint feet. The “peach” is scented with cinnamon, cardamom, and myrrh and then rolled in sugar. They are created in the style of Apicius and 1st century A.D. Roman cooking in that they are artistically contrived to resemble peaches out of other ingredients like the pit, which is an almond resting in the center. The presence of the peaches also represents the power of the benefactor in purveying them since they would have been originally sourced from the extremities of the empire in Persia or the surrounding areas
Noshes Old and New
These black olive and cacao nib biscotti represent the bridge between the old world staple (olive) and the discovery of (new world) chocolate. Biscotti are also designed to travel well.
