ROMANS AND FOOD
In ancient Rome, food preservation was of practical significance in everyday life. It was necessary to preserve excess food which was not to be used immediately in order to store it for future use.
In the Roman Empire, various methods were utilized in the preservation of food. Smoking, drying, and salting.
Salt:
The use of salt was an important means of preservation for the Romans. They used it for dry-salting and for pickling. Various types of salt were used : rock salt (sal facitum), sea salt (sal navitum), and sometimes even salt mixed with spices (sal conditum).
They salted their meat and it was salted in the following way: ham was placed, skin side down, and cover completely with salt. Salt was also used by the Romans to preserve other items.
Fish was preserved in a manner similar to that used for ham. Fresh fish was washed with water and course salt was then rubbed into the fish. Layers of fish were alternated with layers of salt and covered with dry matting. They were then left to stand for 3 to 5 days, after which the pile was turned over and left for an additional 3 to 5 days.
Eggs were preserved ‘by rubbing them with fine salt.
Meats
Romans ate beef rarely. It was a mark of luxury and was eaten only on special occasions. When a cow had been sacrificed to the gods, the heart, liver, and lungs would be given to the priests, with certain portions burned on the altar. A reason why beef was rarely eaten was due to its size. Only the coldest weather could allow the beef to stay fresh. Cows were usually used for draft and dairy reasons rather than consumption.
Pork was the most popular. It had several names; sus, porcus, porca, and aper. There were fifty different ways of cooking pork as well as six kinds of sausages based on pork.
In the religious ceremony suovetauralia (sus+ovis+taurus), the pig had the first place. Others meats such as mutton and veal was also consumed. Goat’s meat was eaten by mostly lower classes.
Fowl
Domestic fowls the Romans ate:
• chickens
• dicks
• geese
• pigeons
Wild fowls the Romans ate:
• cranes
• grouse
• partridge
• snipe
• woodcock
The Romans also bred wild animals such as hares and boars, which were roasted and served. The dormouse was considered a delicacy.
Fishes
In the early times, fish was rarely consumed by the Romans. However, before the end of the Republic, this item, either a fresh or rare fish, brought the highest price. There was mullet (mullus) and a kind of turbot (rhombus). Fresh fish were expensive. Rich men had fishponds to breed fish. Salt fish, imported from most Mediterranean harbours, were cheap. A common dish of salt fish, eggs, and cheese was especially popular. Oysters were a delicacy.
Dairy Products
Dairy products used by the Romans:
• milk
• cream
• curds
• whey
• cheese (white cheese only… no yellow cheeses)
Cheese from:
• ewe’s milk was more digestible
• cow’s milk was more palatable
• goat’s milk was more popular, but considered less digestible
Honey was used as a sweetener.
Cereals
The general term for any grain grown for food is frumentum. The word “corn” also referred to grain, but not as the corn (maize) known today.
Romans ate:
• wheat
• barley
• oats
• rye
• spelt- – far – its use was gradually only reduced to using for cakes of the confarreate ceremony
The Useful Olive
Olives were second most important to wheat.
The best olives came from Italy. The best oil came from not fully ripe olives, although the most oil came from fully ripe olives.
Olives were used as:
• butter/fats
• relishes/dressings
• fruit(fresh/preserved)
Recipe:
• olives
• salt
1. Sprinkle with salt and leave it alone for five days.
2. After five days, shake salt off and dry in the sun or keep in boiled grape juice.
Half-ripe olives were picked with stems, placed in jars and covered with the best quality of oil. This was believed to retain the fresh flavor for more than a year. Green olives were pickled in strong brine, or crushed and preserved with spices and vinegar. This would be served as a relish. Aother relish used green, half-ripe, or ripe olives. The olives were chopped into pulp, seasoned with vinegar, coriander seeds, cumin, fennel, and mint. The resulting mixture was placed in jars. Oil was pour over to make it airtight. This would be served with cheese.
FRUIT AND VEGETABLES :
Almonds, plums, apples, pomegranates, figs, quinces, filberts, walnuts, grapes, chestnuts, pears…
Artichokes, garlic, mushrooms, turnips, asparagus, leeks, olives, beans, lentils, onions, beets, lettuce, parsnips, broccoli, marrows, pumpkins, cucumbers, melons, radishes…
MEAT :
Beef, veal, lamb, boar, mutton, dormice, sausage, goat, snails, hare, sucking pig, kid, venison, chicken, goose, crane, ostrich, dove, partridge, duck, peacock, fig-peckers, pheasant, flamingo, pigeon, thrushes…
FISH :
Carp, mackerel, rays, catfish, mullet, sardines, clams, mussels, shark, crab, octopus, sole, eel, oysters, swordfish, flounder, perch, trout, hake, porpoise, tuna, lobster, prawns, turbot…
UNKNOWN :
Oranges, tea, avocado, bananas, corn, sugar, chili pepper, peanuts, chocolate, potatoes, tomatoes, coffee, rice, grapefruit….
MEALS
Traditionally in the morning a breakfast was served, the jentaculum, at noon a small lunch, and in the evening the main meal of the day, the cena.
Due to the influence of Greek habits and also the increased import of and consumption of foreign foods, the cena increased in size and diversity and was consumed in the afternoon, the vesperna was abandoned, and a second breakfast was introduced around noon, the prandium.
In the lower strata of society the old routine was preserved, because it corresponded more closely with the daily rhythm of manual labor.
JENTACULUM
Originally flat, round loaves made of emmer (a cereal grain closely related to wheat) with a bit of salt were eaten; in the higher classes also eggs, cheese and honey, along with milk and fruit.
In the imperial period, around the beginning of the Common Era, bread made of wheat was introduced and with time more and more baked products began to replace this emmer bread.
The bread was sometimes dipped in wine and eaten with olives, cheese, crackers, and grapes.
PRANDIUM
This second breakfast was richer and mostly consisted of the leftovers of the previous day’s cena.
CENA
Among members of the upper classes, who did not engage in manual labor, it became customary to schedule all business obligations in the morning.
After the prandium the last responsibilities would be discharged and then a visit would be made to the baths.
Around 3 o’clock, the cena would begin. This meal could last until late in the night, especially if guests were invited, and would often be followed by a comissatio (a round of drinks).
Especially in the period of the kings and the early republic, but also in later periods (for the working classes), the cena essentially consisted of a kind of porridge, the puls.
The simplest kind would be made from emmer, water, salt and fat. The more sophisticated kind was made with olive oil, with an accompaniment of assorted vegetables whenever possible.
ALIMENTATION DES ROMAINS
Chaque maisonnée romaine possédait ses réserves de farine, de miel, d’huile, des olives conservées dans de la saumure et des raisins secs, qui sont les denrées de base indispensables à la cuisine romaine . Elles étaient soigneusement conservées dans des jarres (dolia) et des amphores. La nourriture dépendait fortement de leur capacité à la conserver.
L’alimentation est principalement composée de céréales comme l’orge, le blé et le froment.
Avec ces trois céréales on fabriquait une bouillie (pulmentum) qui resta, même pendant l’époque impériale l’aliment des plus pauvres.
Cette bouillie était relevée par des herbes aromatiques comme la menthe et assaisonnée d’huile, le beurre étant inconnu. Elle était accompagnée de légumes comme la laitue, les poireaux, les choux, les olives, les fèves ou de fromage de chèvre.
LA CONSERVATION DES ALIMENTS
Plusieurs méthodes ont été utilisées pour la conservation de la nourriture périssable :
Fumage, séchage, et salaison. La salaison était la technique la plus répandue et se faisait en utilisant du sel ou par immersion en saumure.
LES ALIMENTS
Le pain apparut assez tard à Rome (IIIe siècle av J.C). Des galettes de céréales le remplaçaient. Le pain était aromatisé avec des graines de pavot, d’anis et de céleri. On distinguait selon la qualité plusieurs types de pains: pain de fleur de farine, de farine moyenne, pain noir, pain complet, pain de son.
On le présentait généralement sous forme de miches rondes fendues en quatre.
La viande était réservée au jour de fête. Très tôt cependant, les familles riches prirent l’habitude de la consommer en abondance selon des préparations diverses.
Les romains avaient une préférence pour la viande de porc et pour les viandes bouillies plutôt que rôties. Ils appréciaient également les volailles et le gibier, mais aussi les oiseaux exotiques comme l’autruche, la cigogne, ou le paon.
Les sauces qui accompagnaient ces mets étaient généralement fort recherchées, l’une des préférées des romains était le garum obtenu à partir de poissons fermentés.
Pour la pâtisserie la préférence des romains allaient aux gâteaux à base de fromage souvent réduit en poudre. Ils étaient le plus souvent, présentés enduits de miel, saupoudrés de graines de pavots ou de sésames, et cuit sur des feuilles de plantes ou d’arbres aromatiques.
L’utilisation du sel était un moyen pour la conservation des aliments.
Le sel de roche (salt facitum)et le sel de mer (salt navitum), auxquels étaient mélangés également des épices.
Le sel de mer était obtenu en évaporant l’eau de mer dans des marais salants, ou des sources salées. Rome était bien approvisionnée en sel, un entrepôt important se situait à la bouche du Tibre.
Columelle mentionne l’utilisation du sel dans les préparations de fromage de chèvre, et Caton l’Ancien rapporte la façon dont on conservait les olives vertes dans la saumure et donne une procédure, connue parmi d’autres, pour faire des salaisons de jambons.
La charcuterie gauloise était renommée. Varron indique que les œufs étaient également conservés dans le sel.
CHEZ LE PRIMEUR :
Pommes, pêches, raisin, fraises, châtaignes, poires, figues, citrons, grenades, dattes, prunes, noix, amandes, choux, lentilles, fèves, laitue, chicorée, bettes, cresson, concombres, épinards, carottes, raves, melons, asperges, olives, poireaux, champignons, oseille, laurier, sauge, thym, ail, oignons, fenouil, sésame, persil, safran, poivre…
CHEZ LE BOUCHER :
Jambon, pâté, foie, saucisses, bœuf, porc, mouton, chèvre, lièvre, lapin, loir, canard, poulet, pigeon, grive, paon, merle…
CHEZ LE POISSONNIER :
Labre, rouget, murène, raie, esturgeon, sardine, thon, maquereau, truite, carpe, goujon, perche, langouste, huîtres, homard, crevettes.
Inconnus :
Chocolat, café, oranges, thé, sucre, tomates, patates, avocats, maïs, riz, bananes, pamplemousse, ananas….
LES REPAS
A partir de la fin de la République, les trois repas quotidiens sont :
LE JENTACULUM
LE PRANDIUM
LA CENA
Les deux premiers sont très légers.
Le jentaculum se prend vers 8 heures du matin. Il comprend pain, dattes, olives et fromage, quelques biscuits pour les enfants.
Le prandium se prend vers 12 heures. C’est un casse-croûte composé d’un morceau de pain, d’un peu de viande froide, de fruits et de vin. Il est suivi par une sieste.
La cena est le repas principal. Il n’a rien de spectaculaire chez le citoyen moyen. Chez les plus riches, il commence après le bain, vers 16 heures, c’est parfois un véritable festin qui peut se terminer à l’aube. (Voir sous «banquet»).
POPEA HERON
Leave a comment