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The Signature
Dining with Julius Caesar, a Journey Through Roman Diet and Meal Traditions By Alberto Lunetta
NAS Sigonella Public Affairs
Vivid descriptions of Imperial Rome lavish banquets made by satirical poets Martial and Petronius chronicle just how elaborate and sophisticated the Roman cooking tradition was. In addition to social properties of food, it was also considered to be essential for preventing illnesses. When looking at the foods available at the time of the Romans, it is surprising to see that many ingredients that we consider essential for our diet today were absent at that time. You may ask yourself: how did they survive without pasta, tomatoes, or coffee? After studying the recipes from historic sources, scholars eventually realized that Romans made up for the lack of modern foods with a number of other food staples. The Romans did not have tomatoes or potatoes, which became, and still are, the primary source of survival for European populations. Eggplant, chili peppers, corn, and turkey where also unknown since they arrived in Europe only after their discovery in America. Asparagus and artichokes were rare as they were mainly a privilege of the rich. There was no pasta either, and rice was imported from India only for use as a starch to bond ingredients. Among cereals, wheat was the staple food of all Romans. It was mainly imported from Egypt, which was considered the “bread basket” of the empire. Wheat was baked into bread or boiled into a type of porridge
A mosaic from a Roman house in Pompeii shows the rich variety of food available at the time. (Photo from fineartamerica.com)
similar to grits or cream of wheat. The ring-shaped bread molds used by the Romans are still very popular in the Mediterranean area. There were about 100 different kinds of bread, and bread was also the main food of the legionaries of the Roman Army where soldiers were required to pay up to one third of their wages for their food. They accompanied bread with cheese or beans and water or even diluted vinegar when the weather was too hot. At the time of the Romans, the Mediterranean Sea was richer than it is now in fish stock. Anchovies, sardines, jackfish, mackerels, giltheads, red mullet, sprats, tuna, white breams, squids, lobsters, oysters, and all varieties of shellfish found a place on the tables of the Romans.
Today’s steak lovers would be disappointed to hear that Romans did not eat beef. Just like in India, cows were used to work in the fields; therefore their meat wasn’t tender enough for the sophisticated Romans’ palate. On the other hand, pork, lamb, venison, hare, hake, chicken, ducks, geese, partridges, goats, porpoise cranes, flamingoes, thrushes, turtles, wild donkey, snails and frogs were very popular. Sheep and goat cheeses were very popular as they were also used to make food gifts. Even foie gras, which is commonly believed to be just a French specialty, is actually a Roman invention. Historical sources say that Apicius, "ITALIAN NEWS" continued on Page 13
