Ancient Roman Cuisine
Etruscans and Romans ate lying down and preferred purees, ground meat, meatballs, and boiled and stuffed meats that were easy to digest.
General Information
Ancient Roman Volumes & Weights
Harpers Dictionary of Classical Antiquities entry for "Cena" (main meal)
The Origins of Fruits, Fruit Growing, and Fruit Breeding
Period Writings
Ancient Roman Recipe & Food Sources
Apicius De Re Coquinaria Recipe Chapters
- Book III: Cepuros (The Gardener)
- Book VII, Chap XI - Dulcia Domestica recipes (homemade sweets)
Cato Exerpts from On Agriculture (w/ recipes) (234–149 BC)
Virgil (70 BC - 19 BC)
Columella, On Agriculture (List of Books) (4 AD - c. 70 AD)
- Sec. 46 - 60 on Desserts & Cheesecake
The Excerpts of Vinidarius
Beverages
Honey Water (Hydromel)
Wine
Mulsum (honeyed wine, gustatio course)
Spiced Wine (Conditum Paradoxum, gustatio course) (Apicius 1,1)
Passum (sweet raisin wine, similar to Italian Vino Santo)
Conditum Paradoxum (surprise spiced wine”)
Posca (vinegar mixed w/ water, soldier, slave drink)
In the early days of the Republic, women were forbidden to drink wine, but during the Empire this rule was dropped. Other popular drinks included grape juice and goat's milk, and people could also drink water from public fountains.
Pulses
Ancient Cassoulet (Apicius 5.4.2)
Lentils w/ Coriander (Apicius, 192)
Spicy Mushy Peas (Pisae) (Apicius 5.3.6)
Vitellian Peas Or Beans (Apicius 5.3.5)
Beans in mustard sauce (broad or fava bean) (Apicius 5.6.3)
Peas Supreme Style (layered dish)
Punic Groats (Cato)
Soups
Roman Bortsch (Apicius 3.2.3) (beet & chicken soup)
Side Dishes
Asparagus Patina (Apicius 4.2.6)
Mushroom Patina (Apicius 7.13.6)
Alexandrine Marrow (Apicius, Book 3, IV-3)
Sauce for fried gourd or marrow (Apicius 3.4.7)
Oxyporium (salad dressing)
Breads
Pliny on Bread (& making leaven)
Athenaeus’ Deipnosophistae - On Bread
Unleavened
Panis Strepticius (Cato, Kneaded Bread)
Leavened
Cappadocian Bread (Hapalos Artos) (soft bread made w/ yeast)
Artolaganon – Ancient Greek Bread with Sourdough
Water Bread - Parthian bread (high hydration)
Ancient Roman Poppy Seed Bread
Mustacei (Must Rolls) (made w/ yeast made from must)
Roman Foods & Dishes
Ancient Roman "Pastry" Desserts
Ingredients
Cooking Syrups & Wines (defrutum, caroenum, sapa, & passum, plus recipes)
Amulum (thickener for sauces)
In Search of Silphion (.pdf)
Condiments
Garum/liquamen (fish sauce)
Fish Sauce (liquamen to be used in recipes) by Sally Grainger
Roman Sauces
Roman Mustard Sauces (for sausage, wild boar, etc., also oysters!)
Breakfast
Honey & Sesame Fritters (Teganitai from the Greek Physician Galinos (Galen))
Shop & Street Food & Beverages
Mulsum (honeyed wine)
Spiced Wine (Conditum Paradoxum) (Apicius 1,1)
Passum (sweet white wine made from raisins)
Lucanian Sausages (Apicius)
Honey-Glazed Shrimp (various sources - Greek)
Soft-Boiled Eggs in Pine-Nut Sauce (Apicius, 329)
Seasoned Mussels (Apicius)
Libum (a cheesecake from Cato)
Pear Patina (Apicius 4.2.35)
Evening Meal , Cena
Appetizers, gustatio (eggs, shellfish, salad, herbs)
Apricot Gustatio (Gustum de Praecoquis, Apicius)
Relishes
Olive Relish (Columella)
Epityrum (Olive Relish) (Cato, 119)
Beetroot & Leek Relish (Apicius 3.2)
Mushrooms w/ Coriander (Apicius 2.13.4)
Grilled Leek?
Salads
Columella Salad (Columella) (more a sauce or dip)
Oxyporium (salad dressing)
Eggs
Soft-Boiled Eggs in Pine-Nut Sauce (Apicius, 329)
Cheese
Columella’s Homemade Fresh Cheese
Virgil's Moretum (herb cheese spread for bread)
Garlic Cheese (Virgil's Moretum?)
Columella’s Fresh Cheese & Herb Moretum
Seafood & Meats
Seasoned Mussels (Apicius)
Sauce for Oysters (Apicius 9.6.1)
Honey-Glazed Shrimp (various sources - Greek)
Lucanian Sausages (Apicius)
Marinated liver (Apicius 7.3.2)
Stuffed Dormice (make w/ chicken legs)
Other
olives, green & black
roasted chickpeas
piece of cheese for cutting
Dessert, secunda mensa (fruit, nuts & sometimes honey cheesecakes)
Plakous (Greek cheese & honey desserts)
Ancient Roman Desserts – Pastries, Cakes & Biscuits
Apicius - Dulcia Domestica recipes (homemade sweets)
Athenaeus on Dessert & Cheesecakes (from Deipnosophistae)
Chrysippus of Tyana on Cheesecakes
from Dulcia Domestica - Apicius
Honeyed Dates (Apicius 7.11.1 P. 251)
Aliter dulcia (fried bread) (Apicius 7.11.3)
Pine nut & honey pudding (Apicius 7.11.5)
Another Sweet - An Experiment (Apicius 7.11.5)
Delian Sweets (Apicius 7.11.6) (Deep-fried honey fritters)
Tyropatinam (Apicius 7.11.7, a Roman custard)
Honey & Sesame Fritters (Teganitai from the Greek Physician Galinos (Galen))
Staitites (fried dough/pancake topped w/ cheese, honey, sesame seeds)
Globuli/Globi (Cato, fried dough w/ honey & poppy seed)
Encytum (Ancient Roman Fritters from Cato)
Libum (a cheesecake from Cato)
Savillum (cheese & honey mixture, baked & topped w/ honey & poppy seeds)
Almond & Semolina Pudding (Apicius 2.2.10)
Placenta (a Roman cake from Cato; layered cheese, honey, & pastry)
Spira, Scriblita & Spaerita (Polenta variations)
Peaches in a cumin sauce (Apicius 4.2.34)
Patina
Honey nut patina (Apicius 4.2.16)
Patina Versatilis (Apicius 4.2.2, similar to 4.2.16)
Pear Patina (Apicius 4.2.35)
Main Course, prima mensa (cooked vegetables, meat, wine)
For Pulses & Side Dishes, see above
Meats
Roast Wild Boar (Apicius, 330, 8.1.1)
Suckling Pig à la Vitellius (could use pork roast) (Apicius, 8.7.7)
Pine Kernel Sauce (Apicius, 8.1.4) (for pork or wild boar)
Pork & Apricot Minutal (minutal is a stew) Apicius 4.3.6)
Baked ham in pastry with figs (Apicius 7.9.1)
Numidian Chicken (6.8.5)
Chicken Fronto (Apicius ) (Pullus Frontonianus)
Ostrich Ragoût (Apicius, 212)
Roast Duck w/ Hazelnuts (Apicius 6.5.2) (or other fowl)
Another Cold Asparagus Patina (w/ fig-peckers or quail)
Fried Veal Escalope w/ Raisins (Apicius, 335)
Sauce for Veal Cutlets (Apicius)
"How to eat Bacon" (Anthimus)
Meatballs
Chicken Meatballs in Hydrogarum (Apicius 2.2.4)
Meatballs (Aliter Isicia Omentata) (Apicius 2.1.7)
Scallop Forcemeat Balls (Apicius 2.1.3)
Fish
Roast Tuna (Apicius, 435)
Mackerel in a Coriander Crust (Apicius, 10.1.4)
Seasoned Mussels (Apicius, Book 9)
Sauces for Shellfish (Book 9, 3 recipes - Mussels, Oysters, All Kind of Bivalves)
Honey-Glazed Shrimp (various sources - Greek)
Vegetables
Cabbage in the Athenian Way (cabbage salad)
Cooking Apicius: Roman Recipes for Today by Sally Grainger
Not all recipes with links below are from this book, but are other translations or redactions of the noted recipe from Apicius. This section is to give an idea of what may have been served for the different courses and what recipes Apicius recorded.
General Info
Appetizers
Roman bortsch (Apicius 3.2.3)
Barley and vegetable soup (Apicius 4.4)
Beef or lamb faggots (Apicius 2.1.7)
Chicken pottage to serve with meatballs (Apicius 2.2.9 )
Chicken meatballs in hydrogarum (Apicius 2.2.4)
Marinated liver (Apicius 7.3.2)
Stuffed kidneys (Apicius 7. 8 )
Prawn balls in hydrogarum (Apicius 2.1.1)
Chicken liver salad (Apicius 4.1.2)
Asparagus patina (Apicius 4.2.6)
Lettuce patina (Apicius 4.2.3)
Cheese and fruit dip (Hypotrimma) (Apicius 1.33)
Melon with mint dressing (Apicius 3.7)
Assorted salad leaves with oenogarum
Soft eggs in pine kernel sauce (Apicius 7.13.3)
Fish
Sauce for baked bream (Apicius 10.2.14)
Stuffed mackerel (Apicius 9.10.1)
Sauce for lobster (Apicius 9.1.6)
Whitebait patina (Apicius 4.2.20)
Fish patina (Apicius 4.2.12)
Sauce for tuna or mackerel (Apicius 9.10.5) - same as Roast Tuna above?
Simple oenogarum for fish
Vegetable Side Dishes
Lentil pottage (Apicius 5.2.3)
Indian Peas Another Way (Apicius 5.3.4) (fresh green peas w/ oil vinegar dressing?)
Vitellian peas or beans (Apicius 5.3.5)
Spicy mushy peas (Apicius 5.3.6)
Beans in mustard sauce (Apicius 5.6.3)
Spring cabbage with cumin (Apicius 3.9.1 & 3)
Carrots or parsnips in a cumin honey glaze (Apicius 3.21.3 )
Spring cabbage and chicken patina (Apicius 4.2.7)
Spinach or nettle patina (Apicius 4.2.36)
Mushroom patina (Apicius 7.13.6)
Boiled vegetables in simple oenogarum (Apicius 3.10.1)
Leek and beet greens with oenogarum (Apicius 3.2.1)
Sauce for fried gourd or marrow (Apicius 3.4.7)
Mushrooms in caroenum (Apicius 7.13.4)
Desserts
Almond and semolina pudding (Apicius 2.2.10)
Pear patina (Apicius 4, 2, 35)
Peaches in a cumin sauce 4.2.34)
Deep-fried honey fritters (Apicius 7.11.6) - same as Delian Sweets above)
Honey nut omelette or patina (Apicius 4.2.16)
Pine nut and honey pudding (Apicius 7.11.5)
Meats
Sauce for cooked meat (Apicius 7.6.12)
Baked ham in pastry with figs (Apicius 7.9.1)
Patina Apiciana (Apicius 4.2.14 & 15)
Chicken in sweet and sour sauce (Apicius 6.8.1)
Roast chicken in a honey and dill glaze (Apicius 6.8.2)
Numidian Chicken (6.8.5)
Duck with turnip (Apicius 6.2.3)
Sauce for cooked meats (Apicius 6.2.7)
Parthian chicken (Apicius 6.8.3)
Chicken or guinea-fowl in the style of Vardanus (Apicius 6.8.11)
Cold sauce for pork (Apicius 8.7.15)
Toasted pine kernel sauce for roast boar or pork (Apicius 8.1.4)
Ofellae Ostian style (Apicius, 7.4.1)
Ofellae Apician style (Apicius 7.4.2)
Terentine minutal (Apicius 4.3.2)
Pork and apricot minutal (Apicius 4.3.6)
Stuffed hare (Apicius 8.8.3)
Roast lamb with coriander (Apicius 8.6.8)
Boned shoulder of lamb in a creamy date sauce
(Apicius 8.6.7)
Roast lamb with asafoetida (Apicius 8.6.4)
