Tasting the Culinary History of the Mediterranean, One Dish at a Time.
Happy Fornacalia, everyone! Forna…what?! Okay, calm down. First things first: get your mind out of the gutter. I’m not writing about some Roman hanky-panky party… this post is about the most important Roman festival of the year, in my humble opinion: Fornacalia — the Roman festival of bread and ovens! […]
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 […]
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 […]
Salvete Pistores! Good day from Rome! I hope you like rabbit holes because we’re about to go down a deep one. It’s time to revisit the Panis Quadratus, the Pompeian bread that has been represented so beautifully and frequently in the archaeological records at Pompeii and Herculaneum. Most of us […]
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 home kitchens, or conjured up their own home-made recipes […]
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 […]
Good day, coqui! It’s time to roll up our toga sleeves and thresh some barley… we have some Roman porridge to make! In the weeks to come, we are going to continue to look at some key areas of Roman food resources and this recipe is a part of a […]
Salvete Omnes! It’s time to tie the donkey to the quern-stone and roll up our toga sleeves once again… we have some ancient cooking to do! In the weeks to come, we’re going to be looking at some key areas of Roman food resources and this recipe is just the […]
Hello good readers and Happy New Year to you! Now that we’ve all spent two weeks trying to eat healthy again after the holidays, I trust that everyone is now ready to abandon all New Year’s dietary resolutions and join me for some high-calorie Roman comfort food?…. Good! Because it’s […]
Hello good readers and Happy New Year to you! Now that we’ve all spent two weeks trying to eat healthy again after the holidays, I trust that everyone is now ready to abandon all New Year’s dietary resolutions and join me for some high-calorie Roman comfort food?…. Good! Because it’s […]
About the author: Farrell Monaco is a lover of archaeology, 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.