Placenta cake is a dish from

ancient Greece Ancient Greece () was a northeastern Mediterranean civilization, existing from the Greek Dark Ages of the 12th–9th centuries BC to the end of classical antiquity (), that comprised a loose collection of culturally and linguistically r ...

and

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

consisting of many

dough Dough is a malleable, sometimes elastic paste made from flour (which itself is made from grains or from leguminous or chestnut crops). Dough is typically made by mixing flour with a small amount of water or other liquid and sometimes includes ...

layers interspersed with a mixture of cheese (such as

ricotta Ricotta () is an Italian whey cheese made from sheep, cow, goat, or Italian water buffalo milk whey left over from the production of other cheeses. Like other whey cheeses, it is made by coagulating the proteins that remain after the casein h ...

) and

honey Honey is a sweet and viscous substance made by several species of bees, the best-known of which are honey bees. Honey is made and stored to nourish bee colonies. Bees produce honey by gathering and then refining the sugary secretions of pl ...

and flavored with

bay leaves The bay leaf is an aromatic leaf commonly used as a herb in cooking. It can be used whole, either dried or fresh, in which case it is removed from the dish before consumption, or less commonly used in ground form. The flavour that a bay leaf ...

, baked and then covered in honey.. The

dessert Dessert is a course (food), course that concludes a meal; the course consists of sweet foods, such as cake, biscuit, ice cream, and possibly a beverage, such as dessert wine or liqueur. Some cultures sweeten foods that are more commonly umami, ...

is mentioned in classical texts such as the Greek poems of

Archestratos Archestratus ( ''Archestratos'') was an ancient Greek poet of Gela or Syracuse, Sicily, Syracuse, Magna Graecia, in Sicily, who wrote some time in the mid 4th century BCE, and was known as "the Daedalus of tasty dishes". His humorous didactic p ...

and Antiphanes, as well as the '' De agri cultura'' of

Cato the Elder Marcus Porcius Cato (, ; 234–149 BC), also known as Cato the Censor (), the Elder and the Wise, was a Roman soldier, Roman Senate, senator, and Roman historiography, historian known for his conservatism and opposition to Hellenization. He wa ...

. It is thought to be related to

baklava Baklava (, or ; ) is a layered pastry dessert made of filo pastry, filled with chopped nuts, and sweetened with syrup or honey. It was one of the most popular sweet pastries of Ottoman cuisine. There are several theories for the origin of th ...

Etymology

The

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

word ''placenta'' is derived from the

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

''plakous'' ( – ''plakountos'', from πλακόεις – ''plakoeis'', "flat") for thin or layered flat breads. The

placenta The placenta (: placentas or placentae) is a temporary embryonic and later fetal organ that begins developing from the blastocyst shortly after implantation. It plays critical roles in facilitating nutrient, gas, and waste exchange between ...

of mammalian pregnancy is so named from the perceived resemblance between its shape and that of a placenta cake.

History

Most claim that placenta, and therefore likely baklava derived from a recipe from

Ancient Greece Ancient Greece () was a northeastern Mediterranean civilization, existing from the Greek Dark Ages of the 12th–9th centuries BC to the end of classical antiquity (), that comprised a loose collection of culturally and linguistically r ...

.Mayer, Caroline E.
Phyllo Facts
. Washington Post. 1989
Archived
Homer's ''

Odyssey The ''Odyssey'' (; ) is one of two major epics of ancient Greek literature attributed to Homer. It is one of the oldest surviving works of literature and remains popular with modern audiences. Like the ''Iliad'', the ''Odyssey'' is divi ...

'', written around 800 BC, mentions thin breads sweetened with walnuts and honey.Mayer, Caroline E.
Phyllo Facts
. Washington Post. 1989
Archived
In the fifth century BC, Philoxenos states in his poem "''Dinner''" that, in the final drinking course of a meal, hosts would prepare and serve cheesecake made with milk and honey that was baked into a pie. An early

Greek language Greek (, ; , ) is an Indo-European languages, Indo-European language, constituting an independent Hellenic languages, Hellenic branch within the Indo-European language family. It is native to Greece, Cyprus, Italy (in Calabria and Salento), south ...

mention of ''plakous'' as a dessert (or second table delicacy) comes from the poems of

. He describes ''plakous'' as served with nuts and dried fruits and commends the honey-drenched Athenian version of ''plakous''. Antiphanes (fl. 4th century BC), a contemporary of Archestratos, provided an ornate description of ''plakous'' with

wheat flour Wheat flour is a powder made from the grinding of common wheat used for human consumption. Wheat varieties are called "soft" or "weak" if gluten content is low, and are called "hard" or "strong" if they have high gluten content. Hard flour, or ...

and goat's cheese as key ingredients:

The streams of the tawny bee, mixed with the curdled river of bleating she-goats, placed upon a flat receptacle of the virgin daughter of Demeter oney, cheese, flour delighting in ten thousand delicate toppings – or shall I simply say plakous? I'm for plakous' (Antiphanes quoted by Athenaeus).

Later, in 160 BC,

provided a recipe for ''placenta'' in his '' De agri cultura'' which

Andrew Dalby Andrew Dalby, (born 1947 in Liverpool) is an English linguist, translator and historian who has written articles and several books on a wide range of topics including food history, language, and Classical texts. Education and early career ...

considers, along with Cato's other dessert recipes, to be in the "Greek tradition", and possibly copied from a Greek cookbook.

Shape the ''placenta'' as follows: place a single row of '' tracta'' along the whole length of the base dough. This is then covered with the mixture heese and honeyfrom the mortar. Place another row of ''tracta'' on top and go on doing so until all the cheese and honey have been used up. Finish with a layer of ''tracta''...place the placenta in the oven and put a preheated lid on top of it ..When ready, honey is poured over the placenta. (Cato the Elder, ''De Agri Cultura'')

Legacy

A number of modern scholars suggest that the Greco-Roman dessert's Eastern Roman (Byzantine) descendants, ''plakountas tetyromenous'' ("cheesy placenta") and ''koptoplakous'' (

Byzantine Greek Medieval Greek (also known as Middle Greek, Byzantine Greek, or Romaic; Greek: ) is the stage of the Greek language between the end of classical antiquity in the 5th–6th centuries and the end of the Middle Ages, conventionally dated to the F ...

: κοπτοπλακοῦς), are the ancestors of modern tiropita or banitsa respectively. The name ''placenta'' () is used today on the island of

Lesbos Lesbos or Lesvos ( ) is a Greek island located in the northeastern Aegean Sea. It has an area of , with approximately of coastline, making it the third largest island in Greece and the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, eighth largest ...

in Greece to describe a

-type dessert of layered pastry leaves containing crushed nuts that is baked and then covered in honey. The dough for this modern is made with thin leaves of crumbly pastry dough soaked in simple syrup. Ouzo is added to the dough. Through its Byzantine Greek name ''plakountos'', the dessert was adopted into

Armenian cuisine Armenian cuisine () includes the foods and cooking techniques of the Armenians, Armenian people and traditional Armenian foods and drinks. The cuisine reflects the history and geography where Armenians have lived and where Armenian empires exi ...

as ''plagindi'', ''plagunda'', and ''pghagund'', all "cakes of bread and honey.". From the latter term came the later

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

name ''iflaghun,'' which is mentioned in the medieval Arab cookbook ''Wusla ila al-habib'' as a specialty of the Cilician Armenians settled in southern

Asia Minor Anatolia (), also known as Asia Minor, is a peninsula in West Asia that makes up the majority of the land area of Turkey. It is the westernmost protrusion of Asia and is geographically bounded by the Mediterranean Sea to the south, the Aegean ...

and settled in the neighboring Crusader kingdoms of northern

Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...

. Thus, the dish may have traveled to the

Levant The Levant ( ) is the subregion that borders the Eastern Mediterranean, Eastern Mediterranean sea to the west, and forms the core of West Asia and the political term, Middle East, ''Middle East''. In its narrowest sense, which is in use toda ...

in the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...

via the Armenians, many of whom migrated there following the first appearance of the Turkish tribes in medieval Anatolia.. Other variants of the Greco-Roman dish survived into the modern era in the form of the Romanian ''

plăcintă ''Plăcintă'' () is a Romanian and Moldovan traditional pastry resembling a thin, small round or square-shaped cake, usually filled with apples or a soft cheese such as Urdă. Etymology The word ''plăcintă'' comes from the Latin ''Placent ...

'' (a baked flat pastry containing cheese) and the

Viennese Viennese may refer to: * Vienna, the capital of Austria * Viennese people, List of people from Vienna * Viennese German, the German dialect spoken in Vienna * Viennese classicism * Viennese coffee house, an eating establishment and part of Viennese ...

palatschinke Palatschinke (plural palatschinken) is a thin crêpe-like variety of pancake of Greco-Roman origin. The dessert is common in the Balkans, Central and Eastern Europe. History and etymology The dish is of Greco-Roman origin.. In 350 BCE, the a ...

'' (a very thinly made crepe-like pancake; also common in the

Balkans The Balkans ( , ), corresponding partially with the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throug ...

, Central and

Eastern Europe Eastern Europe is a subregion of the Europe, European continent. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural and socio-economic connotations. Its eastern boundary is marked by the Ural Mountain ...

References

Citations

Sources

* * * * * * * * * * *

External links

*{{cite news, title=American Pie, url=http://www.americanheritage.com/articles/magazine/ah/2006/2/2006_2_30.shtml, quote=The Romans refined the recipe, developing a delicacy known as placenta, a sheet of fine flour topped with cheese and honey and flavored with bay leaves., work= American Heritage, date=April–May 2006, access-date=2009-07-04, url-status=dead, archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090712030514/http://www.americanheritage.com/articles/magazine/ah/2006/2/2006_2_30.shtml, archive-date=2009-07-12 Ancient dishes Byzantine cuisine Ancient Greek cuisine Greek cuisine Historical foods Food in ancient Rome Cheesecakes Honey cakes Baklava Placenta la:Placenta (libum)#Ferculum Romanorum