The Roman Kitchen
- Thread starter Tengu
- Start date
Wayland (Lore and Saga) does a Roman living history demo for teaching, etc.,
http://www.lore-and-saga.co.uk
The Antonine Guard and the Ermine Street Guard are the two groups I know of.
http://www.theantonineguard.org.uk
http://www.erminestreetguard.co.uk
Sorry, Tengu, not being of much help
M
http://www.lore-and-saga.co.uk
The Antonine Guard and the Ermine Street Guard are the two groups I know of.
http://www.theantonineguard.org.uk
http://www.erminestreetguard.co.uk
Sorry, Tengu, not being of much help
M
There is something from Pompeii http://www.thelocal.it/20160802/refurbished-pompeii-kitchens-show-how-ancient-romans-cooked , and a fair number of modern books on Roman cooking will have stuff about the kitchen and how it was organised - this one does: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Around-Rom...F8&qid=1485553367&sr=1-15&keywords=roman+food (I've been meaning to write something about Roman food and drink for a long time, so I have a collection of such books).
Food was important to the Romans - and showing off your wealth and sophistication by having your guests taste amazing meals was, as always, important. Cooks were often slaves, but it was a skill, and so getting someone talented was something to be proud of.
I suspect that higher class citizens wouldn't go much into the kitchen, but they'd make sure that it was well run, in exactly the same way you dont see the family wandering down to the kitchen much in Upstairs Downstairs, but they'll want the meals done properly.
On the other hand, most people cooked their own food, but since the bulk of the Empire's population was still rural, it was relatively easy to obtain supplies. For places like Rome, you had large bakers, daily markets, etc. And you could just get a snack on the way - there was a type of pizza thing (but no tomato's!), with toppings. which you'd much while having a drink of wine in a bar.
There are loads of sites for supplies if you want to reenact a roman kitchen - knives, ironwork, pots and mortaria are all available http://www.trinitycourtpotteries.co.uk/1Roman Replicas.htm (mortaria turn up all over the Empire, they are like the Kenwood Chief, because you know when somewhere has become Romanised enough for someone to say 'I want one of those' - there even one found in mid Scotland). https://www.armamentaria.com/store/...dex&cPath=43&zenid=058boofsunppsiec8r3rfbgnt1
I'm sure there must be some journal articles about Roman kitchens and the status of cooks - Google scholar would be a good place to search, and the JRS a reasonable starting point.
Food was important to the Romans - and showing off your wealth and sophistication by having your guests taste amazing meals was, as always, important. Cooks were often slaves, but it was a skill, and so getting someone talented was something to be proud of.
I suspect that higher class citizens wouldn't go much into the kitchen, but they'd make sure that it was well run, in exactly the same way you dont see the family wandering down to the kitchen much in Upstairs Downstairs, but they'll want the meals done properly.
On the other hand, most people cooked their own food, but since the bulk of the Empire's population was still rural, it was relatively easy to obtain supplies. For places like Rome, you had large bakers, daily markets, etc. And you could just get a snack on the way - there was a type of pizza thing (but no tomato's!), with toppings. which you'd much while having a drink of wine in a bar.
There are loads of sites for supplies if you want to reenact a roman kitchen - knives, ironwork, pots and mortaria are all available http://www.trinitycourtpotteries.co.uk/1Roman Replicas.htm (mortaria turn up all over the Empire, they are like the Kenwood Chief, because you know when somewhere has become Romanised enough for someone to say 'I want one of those' - there even one found in mid Scotland). https://www.armamentaria.com/store/...dex&cPath=43&zenid=058boofsunppsiec8r3rfbgnt1
I'm sure there must be some journal articles about Roman kitchens and the status of cooks - Google scholar would be a good place to search, and the JRS a reasonable starting point.
I've got Running the Roman home by Alexandra Croom which is great on things like where the fuel for cooking came from, how the place was kept clean, how water was supplied , how the washing up was done and pretty much everything apart from the actual recipes and cooking..
Food in Roman Britain by Joan P. Alcock has a chapter on the kitchen as well as on where and how the various ingredients came from. I like how the equipment used has been done in this one, lots of illustrations.
Around the Roman Table by Patrick Faas has only 12 pages on the kitchen as such but there's bits in passing in the other chapters, I wouldn't bust a gut about getting hold of that one compared to the other two.
Roman Furniture also by Croom has a chapter on desks and work-tables and there's bits on storage , shelves and racks and a couple of pages on kitchens.
if you get stuck and they would be of use pm us.
ATB
Tom
Food in Roman Britain by Joan P. Alcock has a chapter on the kitchen as well as on where and how the various ingredients came from. I like how the equipment used has been done in this one, lots of illustrations.
Around the Roman Table by Patrick Faas has only 12 pages on the kitchen as such but there's bits in passing in the other chapters, I wouldn't bust a gut about getting hold of that one compared to the other two.
Roman Furniture also by Croom has a chapter on desks and work-tables and there's bits on storage , shelves and racks and a couple of pages on kitchens.
if you get stuck and they would be of use pm us.
ATB
Tom
Don't you see that and find yourself looking for the bleach ?
I hate these layouts of homes of the past; they're ill kept, dusty and uncared for, and that's not what is recorded in the written records.
M
I hate these layouts of homes of the past; they're ill kept, dusty and uncared for, and that's not what is recorded in the written records.
M
One just cannot get the slaves these days. No germ theory of disease, smell the only thing they really went by to determine disease free, as did our animal ancestors. Well developed immune systems if they survived infancy. Remember the kitchen is one of the few places that a slave could get a minor revenge.
Folk aren't stupid though; if your food is making you ill, yet your neighbours eating the same produce are fine…..tell me ? who would you suspect ?
M
M
To be fair, Faas's book is more about receipes, but the Croom book does look very interesting.
That Moroccan kitchen does fit quite well - although hopefully a fresh coat of limewash on the walls, etc would brighten it up, and yes, they would be relatively tidy!
If anyone has seen 'Tales from the Green Valley', or even any other programmes/books about domestic life (from the medieval period right up to the 19th century in much the UK, and pretty much up to now in parts of Eastern Europe and beyond), there are certain common features, which food preparation in the ancient world would have shared. People would have cooked on open fires, or at least a small grate, used wood, would have had to draw fresh water from somewhere, and would have had to eat seasonally and largely locally. The staple tends towards a pottage type meal, often grain based, with not that much meat.
And domestic life was generally hard, backbreaking work, with a huge amount of labour taken up with things we dont really think about. Fresh water on tap, the domestic washing machine and vacuum cleaner have all made huge differences to peoples lives.
Leaded water doesn't act quickly, and funnily enough there's good evidence that soaking in spas actually does help remove metals from the body.
"Epstein ( in 1978) carried out extensive studies on the profound effects of immersion on the human body. Later experiments were set up at the Bristol Royal Infirmary to test the hypothesis that during immersion there is an increase in urinary lead excretion. Although lead poisoning is very rare these days the work indicated that immersion therapy in spas could be used as a detoxification process."
The Romans also used stone and sycamore though as water pipes…and they themselves were aware of the issues of lead piping. Their 'cement' ended up coating the insides to a large extent and in doing so locked the lead away from the water anyway.
Long article, but relevant….
http://penelope.uchicago.edu/~grout/encyclopaedia_romana/wine/leadpoisoning.html
"Epstein ( in 1978) carried out extensive studies on the profound effects of immersion on the human body. Later experiments were set up at the Bristol Royal Infirmary to test the hypothesis that during immersion there is an increase in urinary lead excretion. Although lead poisoning is very rare these days the work indicated that immersion therapy in spas could be used as a detoxification process."
The Romans also used stone and sycamore though as water pipes…and they themselves were aware of the issues of lead piping. Their 'cement' ended up coating the insides to a large extent and in doing so locked the lead away from the water anyway.
Long article, but relevant….
http://penelope.uchicago.edu/~grout/encyclopaedia_romana/wine/leadpoisoning.html
I remember seeing a BBC programme years ago about the Devonshire Colic https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Devon_colic , and it had been observed that those suffers that had gone to Bath and laid in the warm waters had had their symptons easied, because the bathing stimulated excretion of urine, and thus the lead.
Didn't know that about lead Toddy, thanks. I see that there are claims for the chelation properties of foods. Heavy consumption of onions and garlic are supposed to work along with many other foods that seem to be part of the Roman diet, at least that of the well-off who were also supposed to have suffered most from lead pipes.
Tengu, the url of the pic https://fantasy-fantasytravel1.netd...sm-europe-dp13348345-1600_5.jpg?itok=tw3-44sW
Odd, it seems not Moroccan after all although that was my search originally.
Odd, it seems not Moroccan after all although that was my search originally.
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I only knew of it, Boatman, after doing some research about the lead lined troughs that caught and channeled the raw juice being pressed from cider apples. The acid in the fruit juice slowly ate away at the lead….and ended up in the cider. It was an issue in the past, but the cider drinkers could achieve a form of cure by 'taking the waters'.
M
M
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