Good day, coqui! It’s getting a bit chilly on the old latifundium, isn’t it? Not such a bad thing, really. It simply means that it’s time to start cooking some hot, carbohydrate-rich meals that stick to the ribs… ancient Roman-style! Up here in the northern hemisphere the days are growing […]
Explore the integral role of draft-animals in Roman bread bakeries and one of the many uses for grape must in this 2,000-year-old recipe for a sweet and savoury grape-based bread biscuit.
What did the ancient Romans eat and what were their banquets like? Archaeologist Farrell Monaco will talk about what archaeological evidence tells us about Roman foodways, from the most luxurious villas in Pompeii to roadside food stands. Discover how modern food historians re-create ancient recipes, and then sample some for yourself in […]
Salvete, good readers! What a month it has been! A wonderful summer field season has come to a close, I completed a good amount of research in the bakeries at Pompeii, and this blog has been nominated for Best Special Interest Food Blog by Saveur Magazine for the 2018 Blog […]
Vote for Tavola Mediterranea in the Saveur Magazine Blog Awards 2018 and show your support for Experimental Archaeology, Food History and Food Archaeology through public education today! Scroll down to the category ” The Food Obsessive Award: Best Special Interest Blog” and then click the radio button next to Tavola Mediterranea and […]
Good day, good readers! Summer is drawing to a close, the days are slowly getting cooler, and the season of sweaters is just around the corner! While it brings tears to my eyes to say goodbye to Italy for another summer well spent… there’s something wonderful awaiting us in the […]
I don’t know about you but I spend a great deal of time thinking about food. Who doesn’t, really? Food is a central part of my life. I enjoy cooking it, reading about it, writing about it, and photographing it. I eat large meals several times a day, it is […]
Join Roman bread archaeologist, Farrell Monaco, as she delves deeper into the specifics, the ingredients, the techniques and the tools that made Panis Quadratus the most iconic bread made in the Ancient Roman Mediterranean. Archaeology is delicious!
Este artículo también se publica en español aquí: https://tavolamediterranea.com/2020/05/23/la-triada-mediterranea-uvas-granos-y-aceitunas-muerte-por-defrutum/ Good day, coqui! Get out your lead-lined pots because today we’re going to live dangerously just like the Romans!….. Okay, I’m just kidding! Put the lead-lined pot down. Right now. But seriously, folks…. Anyone who’s ever cooked commercially, experimented in their […]
Who wants to run away to Tuscany in November? Join Farrell Monaco and several chefs, farmers, historians, and archaeologists from all over the world as they run away and converge on the beautiful Castello di Potentino for a food symposium that celebrates the history, culture and agriculture of Tuscany. Farrell […]
Spring and summer truly are my favourite seasons of the year as it usually involves three of my favourite things: gardening, reading, and recreating Roman foods. Today I’m making a pear soufflé with garum…
Good day, good readers and a happy April to you! Spring has sprung! The dawn of a new summer is just around the corner and many of us are starting to crawl out of a long winter’s hibernation, wrapping up a year of income taxes (yuck!), and getting ready for […]
About the author:
Farrell Monaco is an award-winning Classical archaeologist and food-writer whose research centers on food, food preparation, and bread in the Roman Mediterranean. She writes regularly on the role of food and food preparation in Roman daily life on her site, Tavola Mediterranea, and publishes in both English and Italian. Farrell has also written exclusively for Atlas Obscura and BBC Travel. Her work has been featured prominently by National Geographic, Popular Science, The Atlantic, the BBC, The Guardian, The Economist, Esquire Magazine, SAPIENS Magazine, Verve Magazine, Saveur Magazine and Milk Street. In November of 2020, Farrell co-produced, wrote and presented a video on the history of the date palm fruit with The Getty Museum (Los Angeles, USA).
