Tractum

Tractum was a Roman flat bread used as a thickener in dishes, rather than as a bread in its own right.

It was made from raw dough rolled out into discs, and let dry naturally.

It was then crumbled as a thickener into sauces, soups, stews. Had it been cooked first, it couldn't have been used as a thickener.

Tractum could also be used whole in dishes: it was often brushed with oil, and used in layers in a dish as you would wide flat pasta noodles.

But otherwise, it wasn't meant to be used as a Roman form of pasta.

The use of Tractum as a thickener may have evolved into the Medieval practice of using bread crumbs to thicken sauces with.

Language Notes about Tractum

"Trahere" in Latin means to drag or pull. One form of the verb is "tractum." Our English word "tractor" comes from this.

Trahere could also have a sense of meaning "cast." When Caesar crossed the Rubicon in January 49 BC and said "The dice is cast!", what he actually said in Latin was "Dadum tractum est!"

The plural of Tractum is Tracta.

Recipe Search

Also called:

Tractum (Roman)

Other entries for: Flat Breads
Bammy Bread, Barbari Bread, Bolo de Milho, Casabe Bread, Chapati, Fougasse, Hardangerlefse, Injera, Lagana Bread, Laganum, Lavash Bread, Lefse, Matzo, Numedal Lefse, Oppdal Lefse, Orindes, Pane Carasau, Pappadams, Piadina, Pita, Pupusas, Sangak Bread, Shao Bing, Stottie Bread, Taaftun Bread, Tigelle, Tortillas (Mexican), Tractum

Other entries for: Bread
Bagels, Biscuits, Bread Crumbs, Bread Improvers, French Breads, Kalakukko Bread, Quick Breads, Quignon, Rusks, Sippets, Tartine, Toast, Unleavened Bread