Tasting the Culinary History of the Mediterranean, One Dish at a Time.
Friends, Romans, Baking Enthusiasts: Lend me your ears! …. Who wants to make Pompeiian Bread? If you do then you’ve come to the right place. Many of us have seen the iconic images of carbonised loaves of bread that were excavated from Pompeii, Herculaneum, and other settlements in the Bay […]
Give us this day our daily bread — and a good bread starter is what we need to make it. But what’s a bread starter, you say? A bread starter, pasta madre, or levain, is what we have used to make bread for millenia long before active dry (instant granulated) baker’s […]
Salvete amici! This ancient recipe is one that I am particularly proud of. It’s challenging and it’s delicious, and there’s nothing I love more than a tasty challenge! Cheese-making is often considered an artisanal craft that is trying, difficult and messy but it’s really not! And we have the Romans […]
Okay, before I even start with a brief historical introduction to this recipe I am going to start by telling you to take a deep breath and open your minds and hearts to potatoes on pizza. First of all, as North Americans or Britons or anyone else that lives outside […]
Friends, Romans, Countrymen: Lend me your ears… and your culinary curiosity… because this week’s ancient recipe is a very unique one. It’s Cato the Elder’s recipe for ‘Libum‘ from “De Agri Cultura” and it is, quite literally, like nothing I have ever tasted before and it is delightful! It’s almost […]
This summer I had the privilege of working on the Pompeii Food & Drink Project (PFaDP) for its final field season. For those who are not familiar with the project, Dr. Betty-Jo Mayeske and a team of archaeologists and historians have been painstakingly working at Pompeii (Pompei, Italy) for 17 […]
As a part of ‘The Life of Food’ series we are presenting a group of ancient recipes based on food history gleaned from archaeological data, ancient documentary records, and art. The following recipe was developed by researching theories on the origins of the ubiquitous conventional durum pasta secca, its arrival in the Mediterranean, […]
Last summer was one of the greatest summers that I’ve ever spent in Rome. I had the pleasure of working at an archaeological site, Monte Testaccio, in Testaccio, excavating and cataloguing thousands of amphorae potsherds with ArchaeoSpain and CEIPAC (University of Barcelona). More importantly, however, I had the pleasure of working […]
Sounds kind of threatening, doesn’t it? Cement shoes… Calabrian Ricotta Balls…. Fuggetaboutit? I think not! These little tesori will be the best ammo you’ll have in your arsenal the next time you have to cook for the family! It took me a while to release this recipe because I wanted to keep […]
The culinary use of lemons is often limited to garnishes, desserts or liqueurs. But this citrus fruit can do so much more than simply flavour water and liquor and it was eating and cooking in Ravello, Italy, that taught me this. The Amalfi Coast isn’t just home to beaches, sun […]
About the author: Farrell Monaco is a lover of history, travel, cooking, dogs, books, bread and baths… and not necessarily in that order.
Farrell is a member of EXARC, the Society for American Archaeology, and currently sits on the SAA Media Relations Committee.
