Thursday, July 30, 2009

The History Of The Cheesecake

By Dan Ruso

This article is about: cheesecake recipes

Cheesecake is a great dessert for many occasions and events. It has many good aspects.

There are many cheesecakes to choose from today. It ranges from very simple to very complicated cheesecakes. This list includes the new york cheesecake, chocolate cheesecake, fruit cheesecake, and so on.

The more complex cheesecakes include German chocolate, cinnamon swirl, and berry wild cheesecake. But there are many more.

Our cheesecake that we so love today, was originally used frequently in food sacrifices to the gods.

With the knowledge and discoveries we've made today, the history of the cheesecake can be traced back 2000 years.

This unnamed dessert was originally served to Olympians in the original Olympic games. This was in 776BC on the Isle of Delos.

Often served in smaller sizes than today's, the Greeks viewed this dessert as a good source of energy for the athletes.

After the Romans conquer the Greeks, they adopted and implemented much of their culture. This included the cheesecake dessert, which they named the placenta (also called Libum).

The earliest manuscript we have for the Roman placenta was written in the first century B.C. by the Roman politician Marcus Porcius Cato.

The simple recipe was:

Libum to be made as follows: 2 pounds cheese well crushed in a mortar; when it is well crushed, add in 1 pound bread-wheat flour or, if you want it to be lighter, just 1/2 a pound, to be mixed with the cheese.

After adding one egg, the final step is to cook in a hot fire.

Roman culture promoted the offering of food to god to ask for their blessings.

There were thousands of gods. Some of the bigger ones were Jupiter, Janus, Pomona, Consus, Ops, and Saturn. Each god had their individual roles.

The Roman believed their success in life relied upon these gods. This led them to lay down many sacrifices.

Although we love our cheesecakes today, we cannot compare with the Romans who used this dessert to appease the gods and bring favor upon themselves.

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