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Fermentation Atlas

Fermented milk from Roman Empire

Oxygala (Roman soured milk)oxygala

Columella's recipe sets the freshest ewe's milk in a new pot with a plugged hole near the base, with bundles of green herbs in it. Over ten days the milk sours and the whey is let out through the hole three times, then dried herbs, leek and salt go in and the pot is sealed until needed. The result is a thick, herbed, salted soured milk, close to a strained yoghurt or labneh. Made in 6 steps over 10 days. The longest step, let the whey out after five days, takes 5 days (Columella). Lactic acid bacteria of raw ewe's milk does most of the fermenting.

Key numbers
Main step5 daysReported[columella][cesila2025]Let the whey out after five days
Fully documentedFermented milk10 daysMore fermented milkMore from Greece

Recipe

No fixed amounts recordedColumella gives no amounts beyond "a new pot" filled with milk; herbs and salt go in by eye.
Ewe's milk, as fresh as possible · Enough to fill a new pot[columella]
Bundles of fresh oregano, mint, onion and coriander · Tied so the ties stick out of the milk; taken out after eight days[columella]
Dried thyme and dried cunila (a savory-like herb; marjoram in one translation) (a little)[columella][cesila2025]
Chopped leek (as much as seems right)[columella]
Ground salt (as much as is enough)[columella]
Starter: spontaneous (the milk's own lactic bacteria)

Total time across the recorded steps: 10 days

Start
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What changes: A hole is bored near the bottom of a new pot and stopped with a twig

Step 1 of 6
Bore a hole near the base of a new pot and plug it
Time
Not documented
Temperature
Not documented
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented
Flavour
Not documented
Texture
Not documented
Colour
Not documented

Microbes at work in this step

Not documented for this step.

Method

Measured measured in a studySet fixed by a specification or tested recipeReported one source reports itTypical a general value, not sourced for this fermentUnconfirmed not yet checked against a source

What makes this one different

Oxygala is drained through a hole in the pot rather than hung in a cloth, and it is flavoured with herbs and leek and salted before it is sealed. Labneh is strained in a cloth.

Related ferments

Variants

  • Oxygala with dried cress (Columella)Dried cress (Lepidium) leaves soaked in brine for a day and a night are mixed into plain milk with salt, then treated as above.
  • Oxygala with fresh cress (Columella)Fresh cress leaves in sweet milk; whey let out after three days, then green savory, ground coriander, dill, thyme and celery seed and roasted salt are added.

Safety

Raw milk soured without a starter carries the usual raw-milk risks; the draining, salting and sealing were meant to make it keep. No ancient or modern data on its acidity exist.

History and sources

Every number is labelled with how it is known. How this atlas is made

Columella describes oxygala in Book XII of De re rustica (1st century AD), among the preserves the farm manager's wife (vilica) was expected to make (Cesila 2025).

  1. [columella] Columella, De re rustica XII.8 (Latin text), The Latin Libraryarchive
  2. [cesila2025] Cesila R.T. 2025, Tradução do prefácio e dos capítulos IV-VI e VIII do Livro XII do De Re Rustica de Columela, Phaos 25:e025005paper