Roman Meals

Latin I2013

Let’s Eat!

• Most Romans were poor.• “Bread and Circuses”• Annona---welfare tokens• Alimenta---similar to our WIC program for kids• Daily food in the city for the lower classes

would have had little variety: bread, vegetables, meat on occasion

• Wealthy Romans enjoyed a wide range of food.

Your Meals

• ientaculum: breakfast (usually bread dipped in oil or wine; wealthier people might add fruit, cheese, etc.)

• prandium: lunch (a light meal, usually cold leftovers)

• cena: dinner (largest meal of the day, might start as early as 3 PM)

Where Did Food Come From?

• Markets: vegetables, fish, poultry, meat, fruits• Thermopolium: take-out shop• Pistrina: bakery• Only the wealthy had culinae (kitchens) in

their homes

Pistrina

Thermopolium

Common Foods

• Bread• Poultry/fish• Vegetables• Meat: for the poor, on rare ocassions such as

public sacrifices

What the Romans did NOT have…

• rice strawberries• pastaraspberries• tomatoes coffee• potatoes tea• sugarhard liquor• corn butter• oranges chocolate • bananas

• Instead of butter, they used olive oil• Instead of pasta, they used thin pancakes• Romans had many varieties of wine from all

over the Empire---wine was always mixed with water (to make different strengths)

Fishy Business!

• Garum, aka liquamen• “Fish sauce” or “fish pickle”• Made from the heads, bones, and entrails of

fish which decomposed in a strong brine

Don’t think it’s around today?!

Vinegar, Molasses, High Fructose Corn Syrup, Anchovies, Water, Onions, Salt, Garlic, Tamarind Concentrate, Cloves, Natural Flavorings, Chili Pepper Extract.

A Dinner Party

• Triclinium--- “tri”=“three”, literally 3 couches, 3 people per couch (the ideal number for a dinner party)

• Guests reclined to eat, resting on the left elbow

• Slaves would remove guests’ sandals and wash their feet

Presentation!

• Wealthy parties would feature exotic foods such as peacock and flamingo

• Often cooks would present food disguised as something else (such as a pig that looked like a chicken, or cakes made to look like boiled eggs)

Utensils

• Spoons, plates, bowls, goblets• No forks• Slaves carved meat into small pieces before it

was sent to the table• Most eating was done with the fingers

Courses• Appetizer: gustatio

– eggs, shellfish, salad, mulsum---honeyed wine• Main course: fercula

– several courses, odd number, the chief dish would be served in the middle

• Pause for libation to the gods• Dessert: secunda mensa (“second table”)

– fruits, sometimes pastries• Sometimes slaves would replace the entire table top for

dessert…that’s why it was called “second table”

Roman Dinner Party Project!• You must invite 8 guests (and yourself) for the nine diners.

The guests can be anyone, real or fiction, living or dead.• Draw out your seating chart and show who will sit where.• Using web resources, plan your dinner with the gustatio,

fercula, and secunda mensa. Make a menu with the Latin and English recipe names. Include a description of the dish.

• Plan your entertainment. The Romans enjoyed poetry, dancers, music, acrobats, and so forth. You can use modern entertainers if you’d like.

What you’ll turn in:

• On unlined paper:– Your Roman-style seating chart/guests’ names (point

out who is the guest of honor)– Your decorated menu. Include the entertainment at

the bottom.• gustatio (appetizers), fercula (main course), secunda mensa

(dessert)---include a description of each dish in English.– Work should be historically accurate, neatly done

(preferably typed or printed), and show off all your research!

Menu: gustatio (at least 2 dishes) 20 ptsfercula (at least 3 dishes) 20 pts

secunda mensa (1 or more dish) 20 pts Seating chart: 8 guests 10 pts

Seating chart diagram 10 pts Entertainment: 10 ptsNeatness/layout: 10 pts TOTAL 100 points