Have you ever had an experience when you were out for dinner and a dish was served that, when it hit your palate, sent you reeling on a sensory roller-coaster back to a time and place in your life that was associated with someone that you loved dearly? I have, but I never expected it to happen to me within the sphere of my research. After all, ancient Roman food has nothing to do with my Swedish grandmother and her Ukrainian friends, right?… Wrong.
As featured in this month’s issue of National Geographic! Join award-winning culinary archaeologist, Farrell Monaco, for a two-part sensory journey into the world of Roman leavened breads and bread starters. Let’s cook it old school!
As featured in this month’s issue of National Geographic! Join award-winning culinary archaeologist, Farrell Monaco, for a two-part sensory journey into the world of Roman leavened breads and bread starters. Let’s cook it old school!
In A.D. 79 the eruption of Mount Vesuvius buried the Roman cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum in ash and pumice, and carbonized many of their organic contents—including the bread in Pompeii’s bakeries. Farrell Monaco, a culinary archaeologist, researched one popular bread’s history and has re-created the recipe.
Una pestilenza sta prendendo la nostra terra. Gli dei sono incazzati. È tempo di prendere in mano questa situazione con un antico sacrificio greco. Vattene, pestilenza, vattene!
Eat like a first-century Roman, using recent archaeological discoveries as your guide.
Perché a volte un biscotto richiede la scrittura antica assira!
Yup. You read that right. It’s a recipe for an ancient Roman sourdough bread starter made from legumes!
A pestilence is sweeping our land. The gods are pissed. It’s time to take this situation into our own hands with an ancient Greek sacrifice. Be gone, pestilence, be gone!
Join archaeologist and University of Leicester alumna, Farrell Monaco, to find out about bread and bakeries in ancient Rome, and then learn how to make a 2,000-year old Roman bread recipe as described by Cato the Elder.
Are you ready for the summer? Are you ready for the good times? Chin up, good readers! Just because COVID-19 has limited our travel and stolen our summer holidays out from under us doesn’t mean that we can’t embark on some culinary adventures together and learn about Classical Mediterranean food archaeology in the process! Dry those tears, pistores, because Summer Camp is in session at The Old School Kitchen and YOU are invited!
Un’antica ricetta romana per un pasto fatto in casa di un contadino come ben descritto in una poesia dell’Appendice Vergiliana.
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).
