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For the modern reader, Roman food is undeniably fascinating as it represents the first historical period for which we have recognizable recipe books. There are also a number of descriptions of food and dining in the works of Roman writers and poets. These descriptions tend to be of the opulent banquets — replete with innumerable courses and rare, expensive, dishes — that, in the popular imagination at least, have come to represent the archetype of Roman dining.
In reality, these banquets are described in such exquisite detail precisely because they were extrordinary occasions. As such they were much more artistically exciting than the everyday food of the ordinary citizen. The food of the street-vendor, the ins and taverns, the fried fish shops and the ordinary restaurant, as well as the everyday meals of the Roman peoples (from the highest to the lowest). For the most part the recipes presented on this website represent 'ordinary' food.
Roman food is also all the more exciting as it can be seen as the wellspring from which much of modern European cookery derives (though it does not account for all European dishes). Though there are some combinations of flavours and ingredients that seem bizarre to a modern audience (and yet work well). With their emphasis on the balance of ingredients some Roman recipes even resemle the techniques and attitudes of modern 'Fusion' cooking. Indeed, in many ways Roman cookery was fusion food as influences in terms of ingredients and techniques came from all over the empire. As such there is no such thing as ethnically 'Roman' cuisine. Indeed, the basis of Roman cooking is Greek cookery and it grew from the influx of Greek cooks as slaves into Rome after the Roman conquest of Greece. These cooks brough with them essential Greek ingredients such as the fish sauch that became such a major component of Roman cookery.
Fish sauce ads both salt to the food, but it also adds the umami flavour that's only really been recognized as an improtant aspect of our taste sensation during the twentieth century. The way of eating and preparing Roman food was also differently. The only really important equipement in the kitchen was the knife and the pestle and mortar. Food thus seems either to have been chopped into bite-sized pieces or it seems to have been puréed before serving. The food itself was served in shallow bowls with bread and a spoon. The spoon had a standard bowl on one end and was pointed at the other, probably to spear chunks of meat. Otherwise food was eaten with the fingers. This is not to say that forks were unknown in the Roman world (two-pronged forks are known from a number of Roman sites) but there is no evidence to indicate that they were used regularly (or at all) during dining. As an accompaniment to meals wine was the drink par excellence and this was diluted with water before being drunk, in the Greek manner. After all, only Barbarians drank their wine undiluted. Which is not to say that Romans didn't adopt some of the practices of the peoples they conquered (the legions in Britain seem to have developed a prodigous taste for beer).
Naturally, there are Roman ingredients that are unfamiliar to us and the main such ingredients are described below:
Roman Ingredients
For Roman recipes the following native ingredients are used (the closest modern equivalent is also given).
Asafoetida Asafoetida is a gum derived from the sap of the roots and stem of the Ferula asafoetida plant. It has a very pungent aroma though this dissipates with cooking. It can be bought in health-food shops and Indian/Middle-eastern markets either as a liquid essence or as a fine yellow powder. Either are fine for cooking but remember to keep in an air-tight container otherwise its scent will taint other foods.
Caroenum Boiled Must (must is essentially very young wine (at the first stage of fermentation). The closest equivalent would be a sweet young white wine or grape juice. Boil until the volume is reduced by half.
Defritum The closest equivalent would be thick fig syrup. However, must sweetened with honey and boiled down to a third of its original volume can also be used
Liebstoeckl This is the plant Levisticum officinalis (lovage) and its dried roots were used as a spice.
Liquamen/Garum Fermented salted fish. This was a common addition to Roman food. The closest modern equivalent would be Nam Pla, Thai fish sauce
Passum A sweet wine sauce. This is made by adding honey to must and boiling until it has thickened.
Puledimu Pennyroyal (Mentha pulegium). Ordinary garden mint can be substituted.
Sautreia Summer savory Satureia hortensia. The commoner winter savory can be substituted for this.
Silphium Silphium (also silphion and laser) is generally considered to be a form of now-extinct 'giant fennel' and formed the crux of trade from Cyrene (modern Lybia) to the Roman empire. The valuable product was the resin (laser, laserpicium, or lasarpicium) of the plant. It was harvested in a manner similar to asafoetida, a plant with similar enough qualities to silphium that Romans, including the geographer Strabo, used the same word to describe both. The plant became extinct during the first century CE, probably due to a combination of over-collection and over-grazing. The Romans substituted asafoetida, though the taste was deemed 'not as good'.
Spikenard This is the plant, Nardostachys jatamansi, an aromatic plant with small leaves and red-purple flowers. This is used frequently in aromatherapy oils. Must be obtained from a specialized supplier. An alternate is to use equal portions of fennel and lavender a fifth of the final quantity of valerian root (note, valerian is a sedative and some people are very sensitive, use sparingly. Lavender should not be consumed by pregnant women).
You should note that the staples of ordinary households would have been bread and a wheat-based porridge that would have been seasoned with herbs and enriched with meat of fish (if it was available). The recipes presented here (though authentic) represent the food available on the best tables. Essentially they are items for Roman banquets. It should also be noted that citizens of the big Roman cities (an Rome itself) tended to buy what could be classed as 'fast food' (breads, stews, olives and cheese even something closely resembling pizza) from street vendors, taverns and food shops.
Like all the main period sections on this site the recipes in this 'Roman Foods' section are broken down into meal components. Simply click on the meal component on the left-hand column (eg 'Main Courses') to be taken to a page that lists all the recipes for that particular element of a meal.
You can also easily find any of the recipes on this site using the recipe search page.
I am also making a number of conversion tables available for converting between Volumes, Mass/Weight and Temperatures.
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