The Sabine Hills' own Goddess: Feronia, Goddess of Nature and Freedwomen

The Sabini, were an ancient tribe that ruled the land in which we now live. This mysterious tribe can trace its origins to as far back at the 8th century BC. Little is known (although more and more is being discovered) about them, but the Sabini co-existed in the same period of time as the Eutrusci, Latini, Volsci, Falisci, and centuries before the Ancient Romans. 

We (Guido and I) have a passion for local and ancient history, so we often visit historic sites to find out more about 'what was before'. We recently visited an archeological site called 'Antiquarium e Area Archeologica di Lucus Feroniae', at the foothills of the Sabine Hills. 

This vast site was only recently rediscovered, in the 1970's, and now offers a small museum with the amazing finds, that date back to the 7th to 5th century B.C. Many of the artefacts are dedicated to Feronia, the goddess of Nature, woods and springs, and of freedwomen, who was also known to have healing powers and the ability to bring peace among the different tribes. 

Lucus Feroniae was a popular meeting place for surrounding tribes due to the sacred cult of Feronia and the monthly markets held in this town. The archeological site we walked around contains a forum, market place, basilica, amphitheatre, temple, mosaic floors, thermal bath houses, ancient paved roadways: in fact a whole complex. I have included some photos here. Enjoy! 

(Post written by Sally)

Guido's Italian Sourdough Bread

Fresh out of the oven

The secret to making good bread is found in the quality of culture and the flour. I make my bread using a sourdough culture kindly donated to me by Signora Giacomina, a lady in the village. This culture is over 35 years old. They say the older the culture, the better the bread.

I always prefer using organic stoneground flour from an ancient water mill here in the Sabine hills. It's the same flour I use for all our Italian cooking classes.

Italian Sourdough bread
Ingredients:1 kg of stoneground flour, 400g of fresh sourdough culture, 650 to 700 mls of water, salt to own taste.
Start mixing some of the flour and some water and salt in a bowl. Add sourdough. Transfer all ingredients on to a worktop or wooden board. Start needing, stretching and folding the dough all the time. Make the dough into two loaves and place  them into two bread tins or on an oven tray. Let the dough raise overnight for at least 8 hours. Bake at 170 C in a convection oven (otherwise 200C) for about 40-45 minutes.

Olive oil, nuts, seeds can be added to the mixture.

Tips on fresh sourdough: The sourdough needs to be kept in the refrigerator and to be fed or 'refreshed' once a week. This means getting rid of half it (in weight), (which will be used in the new lot of bread you are making) and replace it with the same amount of flour and water. Sourdough can also be frozen for long periods. Once defrosted you can add half a spoonful of honey to help it to get 'active' again and be ready to use.