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 […]
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 […]
A time-honoured recipe for Calabrian Ricotta Balls – Polpette di Ricotta Calabrese, just like nonna used to make.
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 […]
Cheese. By God if there is a food product that I cannot get enough of, it is cheese. I was asked a very interesting question once: If I was forced to give up one of these two foods: chocolate; or cheese… which would it be? There was no question in my mind. I’d happily […]
To see the Amalfi Coast for the first time is absolutely breathtaking; the colour of the sky and the sea seems that much bluer there than it does anywhere else in the world. The sun seems to set with such majesty over the Tyrrhenian Sea, and the sound of cathedral […]
A Week in Ravello – Ricotta Ravioli with Lemon Brown Butter Sauce
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 […]
When I think of potatoes I think of comfort food: warm, soft heaps of boiled and buttered mash meant to stick to the ribs and keep us warm through the winter. The potato has long been looked at as a dull but comforting side-dish with little flavour that is best […]
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 […]
We all need to understand one basic thing in life: there’s no need to ever buy bread from the shops when you know how to make your own. It’s very easy to make a nice loaf of bread and it should never cost you more than $1 when you add up […]
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).
