Mola salsa
"Mola" means "mill", "millstone", and by extension, "flour". "Salsa" is the matching form of the adjective "salsus" meaning "salted". So mola salsa means "salted flour".
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Making mola salsa
Salt was used for purification, and also for making mola salsa, ("MOW-la SAWL-sa"- a purified cake made with a mixture of flour, water and salt.) To make Mola Salsa with salt from the Salinum, mix a small portion of spelt flour with a small amount of water until it becomes a paste. Add some salt and 'knead' it a bit with your fingers. Flatten it into small, round wafer-like cakes, the thinner the better. The cakes can be burned in the Turibulum as an offering to the Gods.
Uses of mola salsa
Mola salsa was offered to Vesta both at home lararia and also by the Vestal Virgins on behalf of Rome itself.
The sprinkling of mola salsa on sacrificial victims gives us the word immolatus. According to Rich:
Proprement, saupoudré de farine (mola salsa) ; se dit d'une victime destinée au sacrifice : c'était une des cérémonies habituelles avant de l'égorger (Cato, ap. Serv. ad Virg. Aen. X, 541) ; de là ce mot a été employé dans le sens moins spécial d'immolé ou égorgé en sacrifice (Hor. Od. IV, 11, 7).
