554. Around the Roman Table- Faas. I enjoyed this book very much. It is difficult to appreciate Roman food since no one cooks this way anymore. Romans were interested in a mixture of different flavors in the same dish so to speak. They were not interested in the individual tastes of a food. Their food was very, very spicy. Much pepper was used. And a lot of salt. Part of this was for preservative reasons. To a Roman there was no art in cooking lamb to taste like lamb. Many baking tins survive shaped like rabbits, birds, pigs but what was in them did not necessarily taste like the shape of the animal. Their cooking was complex and sophisticated. Major food flavors were cumin, lovage and coriander and the like. Many of these are not so popular today. The wood stove was the cooking area but aromatic woods were used, somewhat like barbecue today. It is important to keep in mind that not all Romans were keen on faking taste. Each person cooked to suit themselves in that multicultural society.
Roman cooking did not evolve from nomadic culture. They were a city people. Thus large ovens developed- the Etruscan bread ovens- survive today as the pizza oven. I saw one like this in an eatery at Ercolano. It was amazing to watch young lads prepare dough, use a wooden paddle to shove pizza into the oven and extract it in about 30 seconds. Most Romans had a very simple diet which consisted of veggies, pulse (peas, beans) and fruits. What Faas describes are gourmet recipes which survive from Apicius and the like.
As Romans expanded, more spices from different areas became available. Romans apparently were always on the look out for new tastes. Romans were a feasting people. Thus they found the early Christians and Jews somewhat unfriendly when these groups refused to partake of pagan food and enjoy a variety of company..
Jentaculum (breakfast) was very simple and often taken on the run. Large breakfasts were considered unhealthy. Food offering was placed on the altar in the morning. Prandium (lunch) consisted of bread, porridge, cold meat. Soon after that a visit to the baths, then about 5 PM cena. Cena was the evening meal. To get an idea of how much the Romans must have been out and about, there are in Pompeii alone 118 bars (these are eating places), 20 hotels. This for a population of 20,000. That works out to less than 200 people per restaurant. This does not count the food sold on the fly out in the street. Must have been a very gregarious people.
Boiled meat was popular. Much cooking was done out in the street- such aroma must have lured many to their favorite eatery. When not dining out, Romans often went to someone else’s triclinium for a meal. Triclinium is a dining room. Three couches were arranged in the shape of a “U”. These were apparently large as each couch could hold up to three people. There was also the stibadium which was one large piece of concrete in the shape of a “U”. But these could hold upwards of 100 people. One survives at Hadrian’s Villa in the Canopus. Hadrian’s was even cooled as evidenced by the channels around where the diners reclined. Others had the same feature. Some even had a pool in the middle. Since the Romans loved flowers and nature up close, the aroma of cooking, wreathes on their heads and flowers nearby, the smells must have been lovely indeed. These were of course for large gatherings, but I suspect the shape promoted conversation and discussion and argument. Hadrian loved such activity. Apparently he was not the only one. Food was often cooked right there in front of the guests. No doubt this allowed the chef to show off and the person throwing the party to show off his favorite chef who was the masters slave in many cases. My guess is this explains why no kitchen has ever been found at Hadrian’s Villa. Meals were on wheels. Some triclinia were in barns so that guests could enjoy the flavor and smells of drying apples ands other fruits. In early times the meal was often had in the atrium- the floor stood for the underworld and the compluvium for the heavens and the triclinium itself for human society. The Romans seemed interested in relationships between themselves and divinity. Examine the Pantheon. The lararium was nearby where the Penates and Lares were kept. There was a certain religious aspect to dining. Guests of honor reclined at the head couch and the person throwing the party on left couch (if we face the “U” shape) nearest the honored guests. Couch on right was for lesser guests. Do not get uptight- someone like Martial may have been sitting there.
Nomenclator (a slave) announced dishes, sometimes to applause. Guests sometimes expressed sadness at cutting up the dish and destroying its appearance. My wife and I once went to a wedding reception. A very fancy affair in my view. There was a very large table with literally a mountain of food on it arranged in very artistic fashion. It was clearly a display piece for the was a small sign on it which said do not touch. I may have panicked a few food preparers for the sign was small and I walked up with my patera (plate) hoping to please my palate. Good thing I can read.
The word for course such as first course second etc. in Latin is mensa. This is interesting because mensa is also the Latin word for table. Evidently food was brought on tables. When that course was over the next table (mensa) was brought. The meal began with eggs and ended with fruit. Thus the Latin phrase ab ovo usque ad malum=from the egg to the apple. A portion of the secunda mensa was dedicated to the gods by the children. Good practice for the little tikes to think of something else besides their belly. Fruit served was apricots, cherries, dates, figs, peaches, pears, quince, apples, pomegranates, raspberries, nuts, grapes, strawberries, beechnuts, chestnuts, pistachios, pine nuts. Sweet cakes too made of flour, honey and curd cheese.
Sometimes at a convivium there was a written menu. Sarah and I once served a meal for my parents and their close friends on their wedding anniversary. We used written menus. We had much fun. A very classy affair.
Many guests would wear a wreath. A wreath of lotus would be in honor of Egyptian gods, rose and violet to soothe a headache and one of hazel and crocus and henna was reportedly soporific, one of fir was in honor of Pan. This would have added its own aromatic scent to the whole affair. Perfume was often worn and interestingly it was used in cooking. The unguent Catullus offers his guest in Poem 13 may have had extra humor added to it and consequently extra humor. He could make the guest smell good but since their was no food a pleasant odor was the guest’s only reward. Gifts were often handed out at a convivium- banks, paper, food, combs, books.
Romans used honey as a sweetener. Hives were located near different types of flowers which of course bloomed at different times, thus the Romans harvested honey at different times to get honey of different flavors. Tough to do this with sugar. They knew of sugar but did not care for it. Vinegar was heavily used. There was a fish sauce they liked which was used in all kinds if dishes. It was very high in salt. Romans employed countless herbs and spices. Roman loved lasarpithium. When Romans caused this to become extinct they turned to a variant called asafoetida. A variant form of lasarpithium is used by Catullus in Poem 7. This plant was eaten raw, boiled and roasted by the Romans. Something interesting is going on in Poem 7.
Romans chewed anis to freshen breath. Cinnamon/cassia were very expensive, oleum (olive oil) was used for cooking, baking, roasting, frying, perfumes were used in cooking too, best cheese came from goats and sheep, but cows milk was used too.
First flour was from far (spelt). Hence word for flour is farina. Cato the Elder used it to make something like a cooked cereal- polished far, egg, curd cheese, honey- kneaded then poured into a bowl. Romans ate all kinds of pastries. Flour also came from barley (hordeum), oats (avena), rye (secale), triticum (wheat), millet(millium). This alone gives a strong indication of how serious the Romans were about farming. They knew a whole bunch, their lives and enjoyment depended upon it.
I wonder if anyone has ever identified the plants in Pompeian murals. I wonder how many of these above mentioned are in there. Wish I knew botany. This is one of many reasons why I oppose the high degree of specialization in Classics- big mistake.
Panis- bread. Everything from sweet breads to hardtack eaten by soldiers. Bread was at every meal. It was used as eating tools, plates, spoon, even napkin. Think of that an edible napkin. Remember this was a non-throw- away society. Grape juice, nuts, sesame seeds, olive oil, wine, milk, eggs, spices etc., etc. were put into bread.
Pulses- I did not know what this was until I read the book. Pulses are veggies such as peas(cicer), beans(faba), lentils(lens). From these words names of famous Romans came-
Cicero, Fabius, Lentulus. Gives us an idea of how serious the Romans were about gardening. Remember even the Roman kings did their own garden work. So when Cicero in Cato Major has Cato talk about the beauty of a garden- he was not just talking through his hat. Romans took inedible plants and developed edible plants- cabbage (ever see the wild stuff?- sort of like skunk cabbage), cauliflower, sprouts, broccoli, lettuce, endive, onion, leek, asparagus, french beans, radish, cucumber, artichokes, etc., etc. We go to the store and buy the seed or plant- the Romans had to cultivate these into something durable and edible. They must have been very observant as to plant quality and nuances.
They loved turnips, beets, flower bulbs and pumpkins.
They enjoyed pigs on a spit. They marinated them first. And then cooked slowly. I have found that pork cooks best on a low gril. They introduced rabbit to northern Europe. Ate dormice which are not mice but relatives of squirrel. Dormice live in trees. They ate snails which evidently have been eaten since prehistoric times. Some snails from Northern Africa are as large as a person’s fist. Geese, chicken were very popular, eggs too. Romans loved sea food and began fish ponds(we call them fish farms). Red mullet were very expensive- the scomber (macherel) in Catullan Poem 95 must have been cheap fish unfit for those with quality palate. Romans ate jelly fish as a salad, and delighted in squid and octopus.
This was a mouthful.
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