Have you ever wondered what theancient Romansused to eat?
If so, this article will give you some answers.InRome Cooking will accompany you on a short journey through thecuisineof centuries and centuries ago.
How do we know what the Romans ate?
Other, more yucky ways
TheRomans would eat three times a day: a quick breakfast, a lightsnack for lunch,and a moreconsistent dinnerstarting between 3 and 5 PM that for rich families could even last up to 6-8 hours on special occasions. For lunch, the ancient Romans used to go to the so-called“thermopolia”– some kind of fast-food restaurants – because most houses did not have a kitchen.
These places were so common in the 1stcentury that only in the town ofPompeii, inhabited at that time by 15,000 people, there were about 90 of them.
Theancient Romans’ dietwas mainly based oncereals, vegetables, legumes and cheese, whilemeat and fishwere mainly consumed by rich people. Ancient Romans used to use a lot of spices, so their cuisine was very similar to the currentMiddle-EasternandNorth Africanone.
What kind of fruits and vegetables did the ancient Roman used to eat?
Themost common vegetables in ancient Rome were lettuce, cabbage, and leek. The rich ones could also affordasparagus, mushrooms and artichokes, which are now so common in modern Roman cuisine. In terms of legumes, they were very fond of broad beans, lentils, and chickpeas.
Talking aboutfruit, ancient Romans used to mainly eatapples, pears, plums, chestnuts, figs and grapes. Instead the citrus fruits only arrived in the 4thcentury AD. Among apples, the most popular one was thequince, especially for thejamthat even at that time was made out of it.
It’s interesting to know that the ancient Romans used to loveapricots– for example, they used to add them to a commonstewed pork dish– which were imported to Rome fromArmenia.
Did they use to eat bread?
The Ancient Romans werebig bread consumers, but not everybody could have the same bread. There was ablackone which was affordable by thepoorand a white luxury one called“panis candidus”– which means“candid bread” for the rich. From the 4th century BC, they also started to eat the so-called “puls”, awheat mush.
What kind of meat and fish did the ancient Romans eat?
Only the rich could afford meat in any significant quantity. Beef butcherywas prohibited until the 2ndcentury BC as cows were needed in the fields. Ancient Romans mainly used to eatpork, which was usually firststewedand thenroasted. In terms of fish, they mainly ate shellfishandmorays. The most common seasoning was the“garum”, a spicy sauce made with fish entrails and fermented in direct sunlight.
What did the ancient Romans drink?
It was definitely common to drinkwineall day long, for bothpoorand richpeople, evenslaves! However, it was absolutely prohibited forwomen. There were many different qualities of wine and most of them had quite astrong taste, reason why they were usuallydiluted with water and mixed with spices, culinary herbs or honey. The“Posca”, for example, was an economic drink made of water and sour wine, very popular amongst common people and legionnaires.
How about the weird banquet dishes?
In here we are going to mention only a few of them, so you get the gist of how it was like to eat at a Roman banquet:dromedary feet,flamingos, and parrots– slowly cooked and then roasted with dill, vinegar, flour, dates and spices –nightingalescooked with rose petals,saw breastsfilled withsea urchins…and so on. Would you try any of these dishes?
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