Comment by adrian_b

The argument in favor of Cato's cheesecake being of Greek origin is that it had a Greek name.

Cato's cheesecake is named in Latin "placenta", which comes from a Greek word whose approximate meaning is "flat cake".

It was called "flat" because it was made from stacked flat sheets of baked dough, between which a filling was put. In the recipe of Cato, the main ingredients mixed in the filling were cheese and honey.

The name "placenta", with various phonetic alterations, continues to be used until today in some European languages, for this kind of cake.

Nevertheless, a Greek name does not necessarily mean that this kind of cake came from Ancient Greece. Before the Romans conquered all Italy, there were many Greeks in Southern Italy and especially in Sicily. After the Romans also conquered the Greek peninsula, there were a lot of Greeks in Rome, including many slave Greek cooks.

So the name of the cake could have its origin in some Greek cook from Italy or Rome.