Vatican: vegan Ezekiel bread

Today we visit the Vatican on our vegan world tour and bake a vegan Ezekiel bread. The Vatican is a bit of a special place for the world tour so I had a hard time choosing a dish that could represent a country with such a unique demographic. In the end, I went with a religious theme and decided to bake Ezekiel bread, a whole grain bread with beans and lentils described in the Bible verse Ezekiel 4:9.

Food in the Vatican

The Vatican City is a city-state inside Rome governed by none other than the Catholic Pope and the Holy See ​[1]​. The Holy See and the Vatican City, are two terms often used interchangeably which is not entirely correct, though understandable. The Vatican City is the actual geographical area created in 1929 which acts as the headquarters for the Holy See, a global entity. For our vegan world tour, I decided it made the most sense to visit a physical country instead of an organization so to the Vatican we go.

Apart from the Vatican / Holy See duality, the Vatican is a bit special when it comes to food. The Vatican is the world’s smallest country with regard to both area and population ​[2], [3]​. (Fun fact: the very small area means the Vatican is the 6th most densely populated country in the world ​[4]​.) Not only is the current population only about 500 ​[5]​, but the demographic of the Vatican are also very peculiar. No one is born in the Vatican but rather everyone there has moved in for a specific job, be it pope, cardinal, Swiss guard, or administrative staff ​[4], [6]​. This problem reminded me of our virtual visit to Antarctica, another “country” with a very unique demographic of mostly scientists and explorers. (As you may recall, we made vegan pemmican for that trip, a First Nation food popular among polar explorers in the 19th century.)

With this peculiar population makeup in mind, what is Vatican cuisine and what is a representative dish? This has been a tricky research topic and it’s been hard to find what food is served in the staff canteen or what people eat at home. So I decided on two research streams to find a representative dish: “what do popes eat?” and “are there any interesting dishes in the Bible?”.

Papal food

Since the Vatican is almost synonymous with the pope, I chose to look into what the popes have eaten throughout history. I also tried finding out what is served in the staff canteen but had a hard time. One reason it was hard to find this information is that Pope Francis did a surprise visit to the canteen in 2014 so now the internet is flooded with articles about how he likes to eat in the canteen (though from what I can tell, he ate there once) ​[7]​. Maybe the food wasn’t to his liking but it was free after all. Other than the canteen, Pope Francis enjoys simple meals made from local, organic ingredients grown at the Papal summer castle, Castel Gandolfo, outside Rome ​​[8]​. While Francis is advised not to eat too many carbs, Italian staples like pasta, gnocchi, and polenta are common occurrences. Pope Francis is originally from Argentina (where we had empanadas and chimichurri on this vegan world tour back in 2020) and enjoys membrillo, an Argentinian quince jelly, with his breakfast.

In history, there are a few popes that have been intimately connected to certain dishes or eating habits ​[9]​. During the late 13th century, Pope Boniface VIII used nothing but solid gold for all his eating utensils and tableware. He was also very afraid of being poisoned so he employed both a food taster and magic cutlery that would reveal any poisons. Another interesting pope was Martin IV, who Dante Alighieri condemned to hell. In his book, Dante describes how he encountered Martin IV in purgatory where he is forced to fast as punishment for his passion for eating eels cooked in wine ​[10]​.

Serving a dish with gold cutlery sounds expensive and making a vegan dish of Italian eels cooked in wine seems a bit tricky so I decided to look to the Bible for recipes instead.

Biblical dishes

My other research stream in trying to find a dish to represent the Vatican was to look to the Bible and see if there are any interesting dishes to be found. I did not manage to find many actual dishes, mostly lists of ingredients such as what spices were used, what animals were consumed (or sacrificed), and what dairy products were eaten ​[11]​. The one dish I found that had what most resembled a recipe was a multigrain loaf with beans and lentils which the prophet Ezekiel was commanded to eat for 13 months.

Ezekiel bread

Ezekiel was a prophet in the old testament and made an appearance in the Christian Bible, Jewish traditions, and the Islamic Quran (albeit under another name). He was set a task to eat nothing but a specific multigrain bread while lying down for 13 months. The bread was made from wheat, spelt (which is a type of wheat, not sure what the original language version called for), barley, millet, beans, and lentils.

Today, this multigrain combination with extra protein and nutrients from legumes is known as Ezekiel bread and is often promoted as an extra healthy bread. Though not mentioned in the Bible, at one point the tradition to start sprouting the grains before grinding them into flour started. The company Food for Life sells sprouted Ezekiel bread in many health food stores across the US which helps promote this sprouting tradition. But why did the sprouting of grains specifically for Ezekiel bread start?

Why is Ezekiel bread often sprouted?

The bread Ezekiel makes in the Bible is not sprouted so why are so many recipes calling for sprouted grains? I have been trying to find the origin of this practice and came across an article from Vice. Long story short, the article attributes the practice of sprouting the grains to a Southern Californian health guru named Edmond Bordeaux Szekely, active in the mid-20th century ​[12]​. Szekely allegedly found an old text from the long-gone Essene cult on the Dead Sea in the Vatican library. The text gives alternate versions of many Bible passages and served as the core for Szekely’s teachings. Szekely kept releasing newly translated fragments throughout his life, expanding his teachings. One of the many practices the “Essene” texts taught was to sprout grains for Ezekiel bread and bake it in the sun instead of using fire.

Ezekiel bread in the Bible

The multigrain bread with legumes was originally described to Ezekiel by his god in the Bible verse Ezekiel 4:9:

But take wheat, barley, beans, lentils, millet, and spelt; put them in a single container and make them into bread for yourself. This is what you are to eat during the 390 days you lie on your side.

Ezekiel 4:9

The first part, the actual recipe, is straightforward but the second part of the verse, about lying on your side for 390 days, is a bit cryptic without context. The book of Ezekiel was written by Ezekiel himself in 571 B.C.E. and tells of Ezekiel, a prophet who was visited by his god to communicate to the people of Judah that they have one last chance to repent before they would receive just punishment for their wicked ways ​[13]​.

The story starts with Ezekiel being visited by four creatures with four wings, four faces (human, lion, ox, and eagle) accompanied by spinning wheels within wheels ​[14]​. Ezekiel’s god also appeared, sitting on a throne that seemed to be on fire. His god told Ezekiel that he should speak to the people of Israel and warn them to repent of their sins. As part of this mission, Ezekiel was set a trial. He was to lie on his side for 390 days, 1 day for each year of Israelite sin, and eat nothing but a small serving of bread and water. This ordeal was to mimic the suffering of the people of Jerusalem when it was about to be besieged.

The original recipe for the bread he was to eat called for Ezekiel to grind multiple grains and legumes to make a dough. Initially, the recipe called for him to bake the bread on a fire fueled by human excrement but here Ezekiel drew the line, to which his god replied “Look, I will let you use cow dung instead of human excrement, and you may bake your bread over that.” Satisfied that he had some say in the matter, Ezekiel obliged.

9 But take wheat, barley, beans, lentils, millet, and spelt; put them in a single container and make them into bread for yourself. This is what you are to eat during the 390 days you lie on your side. 10 You are to weigh out twenty shekels of food to eat each day, and you are to eat it at set times.

11 You are also to measure out a sixth of a hin of water to drink, and you are to drink it at set times. 12 And you shall eat the food as you would a barley cake, after you bake it over dried human excrement in the sight of the people.”

13 Then the LORD said, “This is how the Israelites will eat their defiled bread among the nations to which I will banish them.”

14 “Ah, Lord GOD,” I said, “I have never defiled myself. From my youth until now I have not eaten anything found dead or mauled by wild beasts. No unclean meat has ever entered my mouth.”

15 “Look,” He replied, “I will let you use cow dung instead of human excrement, and you may bake your bread over that.”

16 Then He told me, “Son of man, I am going to cut off the supplyd of food in Jerusalem. They will anxiously eat bread rationed by weight, and in despair they will drink water by measure. 17 So they will lack food and water; they will be appalled at the sight of one another wasting away in their iniquity.

Ezekiel 4:9-17

How to make Ezekiel bread

Baking a loaf of Ezekiel bread is straightforward. Grind or buy prescribed flour, turn into a dough and bake. I wanted to stay close to the Bible verse so I looked for recipes that included all the named ingredients – wheat, barley, spelt, beans and lentil. (Spelt is a form of wheat, not sure what the original text calls for.) The verse only mentions the dry ingredients and doesn’t prohibit adding other items so a little bit of speculation is required. Many recipes do sprout their grains which sounds interesting but goes against the original recipe (see the section on the origin of sprouting above) so I chose not to sprout.

Most of the recipes I came across make batter-based bread baked in pans ​[12]–[17]​ and only one made a more classic dough capable of being shaped into a loaf ​[15]​. So I decided to follow this route and make a batter-based loaf. Looking at several recipes for inspiration and help with the ratio of flour to water and how much legumes to add. In addition to the biblical ingredients, the recipes call for yeast, salt, oil and honey.

To actually make the flours, I used a high-powered blender from Vitamix and it worked surprisingly well. I was able to grind whole, dried beans, and lentils into fine flour. I also ground some pearly barley and millet (leftover from our Mongolian milk tea with dumplings). The bulk of the bread is whole wheat flour and spelt flour so these two I decided to buy instead of grind myself.

Vegan Ezekiel bread

Making vegan bread is very simple. Most types of bread are vegan to start with, but some do contain dairy, egg or honey for tweaking flavour and texture. In the case of Ezekiel bread, all the recipes I looked at contained honey ​[15]–[21]​ and one also used dairy ​[21]​. These ingredients are not mentioned in the Bible verse and are not required to make bread so I used water instead of dairy and a dash of maple syrup instead of honey.

Conclusion

Ezekiel bread was a great find, I must say. I’m very happy with how it turned out. It is 100% whole grain and the beans and lentils add a lot of extra nutrients without affecting flavour or texture. I ate some of the bread while fresh but sliced most of the loaf and froze it for a few days. It freezes and thaws very nicely and is a filling snack or a good side for soup. I will keep making this bread to have in the freezer when needed. Next time though I will make the dough a bit firmer and include some whole seeds for texture.

Join me again next time when we travel from the Vatican in Southern Europe straight South to Southern Africa. If you don’t want to miss the next stop, you can subscribe to the email list and I’ll send you an alert.

Vegan Ezekiel bread

Print

Vegan Ezekiel bread

Inspired by the Bible verse Ezekiel 4:9, Ezekiel bread is a simple loaf of bread made extra nutritious by the addition of ground beans and lentils.

Equipment

• 1 High power blender or flour mill
• 1 bread pan

Ingredients

• 4 tbsp mixed dried beans
• 2 tbsp green lentils
• 3 tbsp millet
• 3 tbsp pearl barley or barley flour
• 300 mL whole wheat flour
• 200 mL spelt flour
• 1 tbsp Dry yeast or 25 g fresh
• ½ tsp salt
• 1 tbsp olive oil, plus some for greasing pan
• 1 tbsp maple syrup or sugar optional
• 500 mL water, lukewarm

Decoration

• 2 tbsp assorted grains and seeds, such as rolled oats and whole millet

Instructions

• Grind flour by placing all the whole ingredients (beans, lentils, millet, and pearl barley if using) in a high-power blender or flour mill. Either separately or all together.

  Run until the ingredients are ground.

  Sift through a sieve or flour sift to get rid of large pieces.
• Dissolve the yeast in lukewarm water.
• Add salt, maple syrup or sugar (if using) and oil.
• Stir in the flour you ground.
• Add spelt flour and whole wheat flour and stir everything. Work out any lumos The dough will be a more of a batter than a dough.
• Pour into lightly greased bread pan
• Let rest for 45-60 minutes.
• If using grains and seeds to decorate, sprinkle these on now.
• Bake at 175 °C (350 °F) for about 45 minutes.

References