Roman Food

The rich Ancient Romans enjoyed their food. Expensive food, along with a lavish villa, was an obvious way of showing off your wealth to others. If you hosted a ban uet at your villa to which other Roman worthies had been invited, it had to go well if your social standing was to be maintained ! hence why elaborate and expensive foods were well provided. Roast peacoc" and ostriches and the li"e, would be provided. A different lifestyle also meant that the eating habits of the Ancient Romans were different to ours today. #rea"fast $the Romans called this jentaculum% was ta"en in the master&s bedroom and usually consisted of a slice of bread or a wheat panca"e eaten with dates and honey. 'ine was also drun". (unch $the Romans called this prandium% was eaten at about )).** a.m. and consisted of a light meal of bread, cheese and possibly some meat. In many senses, everything was geared up towards the main meal of the day ! cena. This was eaten in the late afternoon or early evening. If the master of the house had no guests, cena might ta"e about one hour. If he did have guests, then this meal might ta"e as long as four hours. A light supper was usually eaten just before the Romans went to bed, consisting of bread and fruit. The Romans were usually not big meat eaters and a lot of their normal meals involved vegetables, herbs and spices together with a wheat meal that loo"ed li"e porridge. +owever, for a rich man&s ban uet anything exotic that could be purchased was served. ,any meals were served with sauces. The Romans seemed to be particularly fond of sauces as it gave a coo" the opportunity to ma"e a dish seem a little bit more exciting that it may have been without the sauce. -ne particular favourite was garum which was made by mixing up fish waste with salt water and leaving it for several wee"s until it was ready for use. #y all accounts, it was a salty and highly flavored sauce. .auces made from vinegar, honey, pepper, herbs and spices were also popular. The Romans seemed to be very "een on sweet food and drin". -ne of the favoured drin"s was called mulsum which was a mixture of boiled wine and honey. -ne sign that a meal or a ban uet had gone down well was if guests as"ed for bags to ta"e homes dishes that they had enjoyed. This in particular pleased a master as it showed to everyone who was there that at least some of the courses on offer had been well received. ,ost food was either boiled or fried in olive oil. /ery few homes needed an oven as so little food was roasted. Two Roman meals were0
Baked dormice: "Stuff the dormice with minced pork or the meat of other dormice chopped up with herbs, pepper and pine nuts. Sew up the dormice and cook in a small oven." A sweet: "Take the crusts from a white loaf and break the bread into largish pieces. Soak them in milk. Fr them in hot oil or fat. !our hone over them and serve."

The writer 1etronius wrote about his eating experiences in around A2 3*0

"After a generous rubdown with oil, we put on dinner clothes. "e were taken into the ne#t room where we found three couches drawn up and a table, ver lu#uriousl laid out, awaiting us. "e were invited to take our seats. $mmediatel , %g ptian slaves came in and poured ice water over our hands. The starters were served. &n a large tra stood a donke made of bron'e. &n its back were two baskets, one holding green olives, and the other black. &n either side were dormice, dipped in hone and rolled in popp seed. nearb , on a silver grill, piping hot, la small sausages. As for wine, we were fairl swimming in it."