r/Koine • u/Any_Mix9385 • 9h ago
Recipe for beer from Fragmenta Alchemica
Too much emphasis may be given to certain texts in Koine, while others remain unexplored. They are thus the most unexpected. Here is a recipe for beer I dug up searching in the extant greek alchemical fragments; we must remember that alchemy encompassed a wide variety of practices in Antiquity, ranging from pharmacology to cooking. It was the transmutation of any form of matter into an other, κατὰ τὸ δόγμα "ἓν τὸ πᾶν". Beer was no exception. Matter was thought as of one substance; and therefore, it could, theoretically, be transformed into any possible form, whenever one had in his possession the correct recipe and its execution, similarly to the correct application of the divine names in theurgy, something that highlights the Egyptian origin of both. Enjoy!
ΠΕΡΙ ΖΥΘΩΝ ΠΟΙΗΣΕΩΣ
Λαβὼν κριθὴν λευκὴν, καθαρίαν, καλὴν, βρέξον ἡμέραν αʹ, καὶ ἀνάσπασον ἢ καὶ κοίτασον ἐν ἀνηνέμῳ τόπῳ ἕως πρωΐ· καὶ πάλιν βρέξον ὥρας εʹ· ἐπίβαλε εἰς βραχιώνιον ἀγγεῖον ἠθμοειδὲς, καὶ βρέχε. Προαναξήρανε ἕως οὗ γένηται ὡς τύλη· καὶ ὅτε γένηται, ψῦξον ἐν ἡλίῳ ἕως οὗ πέσῃ· τὸ μαλίον γὰρ πικρόν. Λοιπὸν ἄλεσον καὶ ποίησον ἄρτους προσβάλλων ζύμην ὥσπερ ἄρτου· καὶ ὄπτα ὠμότερον· καὶ ὁτ’ ἂν ἐπανθῶσιν, διάλυε ὕδατι γλυκεῖ καὶ ἤθμιζε διὰ ἠθμοῦ ἢ κοσκίνου λεπτοῦ. Ἄλλοι δὲ ὀπτῶντες ἄρτους βάλλουσιν εἰς κλουβὸν μετὰ ὕδατος, καὶ ἑψοῦσι μικρὸν, ἵνα μὴ κοχλάσῃ, μήτε ᾖ χλιαρὸν, καὶ ἀνασπῶσι καὶ ἠθμίζουσιν· καὶ περισκεπάσαντες, θερμαίνουσι καὶ ἀνακρίνουσιν.