What did bread from ancient Pompeii taste like? Farrell Monaco knows. The experimental archaeologist replicates ancient technologies and specific ingredients, even growing her own starters, to bring to life the breads that ancient Pompeiians would have eaten. But recreating the bread goes beyond culinary curiosity—baking it is a way to understand how one simple food item can bring people together, a practice that resonates today, even as it did once in Pompeii.
Taste the Mediterranean Triad with this 2,500-year-old ancient Graeco-Roman recipe for a kneaded rissole of spelt-dough and boiled beans, fried crackly and gold in boiling oil and served with a homemade red wine oenogarum.
Il Savillum incontra la Kalitsounia in questa antica ricetta di 2,500 anni fa per una sontuosa torta al formaggio di capra e al miele degna di un banchetto… o di uno spuntino di mezzanotte dopo una turbolenta partita a kottabos!
No flour? No problem! Ancient Roman globi evolve into Italian zeppolle in Bartolomeo Scappi’s Renaissance-era recipe for a mouth-watering fritter made of chestnuts, chickpeas, and a kiss of cinnamon and sugar.
Hey good looking! Whatcha got cooking? How’s about cooking up ancient bread with me?… There has been a particular theme that has consistently presented itself during my research this summer, and it’s called ‘continuity’. In archaeology, continuity is a term used to connote the unbroken or consistent existence, operation, or […]
Savillum meets Kalitsounia in this 2,500-year-old recipe for a sumptuous goat-cheese and honey cake fit for a banquet…. or for a midnight snack following a raucous game of kottabos!
Hey, good looking! Whatcha got cooking? So… I took a break this week from preparing for this summer’s presentations and cooking workshops in Italy to get back into the kitchen where I could indulge in what I call ‘procrastibaking‘. This sometimes happens when I have a writing deadline or lot […]
Good day, good coqui! Are you ready to drop everything that you’re doing right now to work on something that is far more important than taxes and way more delicious than that boring old salad you’re about to make? Because I know I am. Taxes be gone! The kitchen calls […]
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…
A Culinary Retreat Exploring Ancient Etruscan and Roman Food Culture In The Heart of Tuscany Join food archaeologist, Farrell Monaco, and visual story-teller, Saghar Setareh, for a 5-day live-in edible archaeology master class at a palatial medieval castle hidden in a valley in the Tuscan countryside as they explore the […]
Ongoing. Please email: [email protected] to inquire. Explore the history of ancient Rome’s river ports and the city’s once bustling food distribution quarter with experimental archaeologist and food-writer, Farrell Monaco. Then cook an authentic Roman dinner using the three key ingredients in the ancient Roman diet: Grapes, Grains and Olives. This […]
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).
