No Toga Party: What did poor people eat in ancient Rome

<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4KLcS2mfJjD1O7XRvfHuQdRcUI6sKVcwLIZWELjf4M3-6krys0venXkQclYIuP2GWP47lkLQAr27shyEBtl9Qc5535KniUdHNztaaFEXjsqmfHaT26HobDzSxrKza1pCgy5bPSrMBKrIL/s1600/villa.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5537272190279651170" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4KLcS2mfJjD1O7XRvfHuQdRcUI6sKVcwLIZWELjf4M3-6krys0venXkQclYIuP2GWP47lkLQAr27shyEBtl9Qc5535KniUdHNztaaFEXjsqmfHaT26HobDzSxrKza1pCgy5bPSrMBKrIL/s400/villa.jpg" style="float: right; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" /></a>The Roman banquet is as familiar in American popular culture as the toga party -- though the popular conception of a toga party probably is more rooted in John Belushi than in echoes of classical studies from university life of old.<br /><br />Say "Roman Banquet" and what comes to mind? Eggs to apples. Exotic delicacies like roasted hedgehogs and flamingo tongues. Honey-sweetened wine, perhaps deliciously flavored with lead from the glaze of the drinking vessels. Spices brought from all over the Roman Empire and traded from the East. Olive oil. White bread made from the best flour. Produce from the host's country estates, perhaps nearby, perhaps farther off in Sicily or other areas. Slaves to cook, serve, and entertain the guests (all men).<br /><br />Most of the people in ancient Rome were very poor. Everyone knows that they had bread and circuses. Archaeology provides a glimpse of the circus, but what about the bread? What did the really poor Romans eat?<br /><br />Indeed, the Romans, both rich and poor, ate bread. In the later centuries of the Roman Empire, distribution of grain -- wheat and barley -- to the large poverty-stricken population provided an important part of the diet, at least to the lucky poor who were eligible for free food. Wheat was higher-status than barley -- so poor people were more likely to afford barley when they had to buy their own food. They sometimes made their grain rations into bread, and sometimes into porridge.<br /><br />Porridge was lower-status than bread for many reasons, especially because it could be made from the coarser and less desired barley. Because the process of making bread with yeast results in a more nutritious product (the fermentation process makes some nutrients more accessible) those who ate bread were on the whole healthier, as well as richer.<br /><br />"Apart from cereals," we learn, "dry legumes, in particular lentils, chickpeas and broad beans, were the main source of protein as of calories in the Mediterranean basin as a whole.... Dry legumes also supplied the amino acids in which wheat and barley were low, and the missing vitamin A. The flour of legumes was commonly blended with wheat flour to make bread." *<br /><br />Artisans and other non-upper-class Romans thus ate beans. Street vendors sold a "kind of pudding" made of chickpeas -- I wonder if it was like hummus. Imports from the fertile agricultural regions of Egypt included lentils and chickpeas, as well as the high-quality wheat for which the Nile valley was widely known. Sometimes rich or official benefactors gave out free food at festivals, but this was unusual. One Roman politician spent a fortune showering the crowd at the Circus with chickpeas, beans, and lentils. (I'm thinking of Meg Whitman spending $141.5 million -- except I don't know if the Roman won or lost his election.)<br /><br />Garden produce was sometimes affordable to the lower or maybe middle classes, according to literary sources -- cabbage, leeks, beets, onions, garlic. It was a commonplace that poor people drank only water, while those who could afford it, drank wine. High-quality fish and the famous garum fish sauces were food for rich people, but poorer people could sometimes manage to buy or catch some not-so-nice fish from the even-then-polluted Tiber River. Even salt cost money -- spices were only for the rich.<br /><br />By late antiquity (3rd-4th centuries) Emperor Aurelian introduced distribution of free pork -- up to 25 kilos per person -- to as many as 120,000 people per year. Like the grain distributions, though, the recipients were often the representatives of larger families, who had to share their portions. Many poor people weren't eligible for any free food, with the result that malnutrition, especially among children, was common.<br /><br />The people of ancient Rome included the upper class rulers, slaves, freedmen (former slaves), artisans, soldiers, small farmers, and a vast number of urban poor. The banquets and refined cuisine that one most often hears about included participants from only a tiny fraction of the large Roman population.<br /><br />*<span style="font-size:85%;">Information comes from Peter Garnsey, <span style="font-style: italic;">Cities Peasants and Food in Classical Antiquity</span>, 1998, p. 242-245; Jeremy Paterson, "Trade and traders in the Roman world" in <span style="font-style: italic;">Trade, Traders and the Ancient City</span>, ed. Parkins and Smith; and Neville Morley, <span style="font-style: italic;">Trade in Classical Antiquity</span>. Photo shows Roman Emperor's villa at Piazza Armerina, Sicily.</span>

No Toga Party: What did poor people eat in ancient Rome

The Roman banquet is as familiar in American popular culture as the toga party -- though the popular conception of a toga party probably is ...

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Lunch in Torres Torres: Guest Post by Arny

<span style="font-style: italic;">Arny writes about lunch in a Spanish village:</span><br />On Thursday we went to see our friends Adolfo and Fran's place in Torres Torres, where Adolfo grew up. They have spectacularly restored his grandparents' house, which is about 100 years old.<br /><br />Our mutual friend Ramon picked us up at 12:30 and drove us the 35 miles to the village, pointing out some interesting old buildings and the high-rises of a resort community up the coast a ways from Valencia. Torres Torres is named after two old towers, now in ruins, that sit above the village. I don't know why it's not Dos Torres, but I like Torres Torres better, and it won't get confused with the Lord of the Rings. Both Adolfo and Fran were eager to show us their house, which took 3+ years to renovate.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhISJG2ABEMvcy1ufoQiIjYS3A-N23pCRtlK6SXlWkBqRKiT6EvhjhJGKZHM_X0xQFNI-JB4ggwmsc0MKtiArqXJ8LY2QiQHh4_PEnIjexUVz-WL5ebLazb83zv8J8aubrhEUKBPjtlcxKB/s1600/IMG_7396.jpeg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5536871435934531298" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhISJG2ABEMvcy1ufoQiIjYS3A-N23pCRtlK6SXlWkBqRKiT6EvhjhJGKZHM_X0xQFNI-JB4ggwmsc0MKtiArqXJ8LY2QiQHh4_PEnIjexUVz-WL5ebLazb83zv8J8aubrhEUKBPjtlcxKB/s320/IMG_7396.jpeg" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 214px;" /></a>Here is a picture of Adolfo and Tracy, and part of Ramon, in the kitchen. There is Spanish walnut paneling in front of almost all the appliances and there's an American walnut door because the Spanish walnut can't be made into such a tall (3.5 meter) door.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZAWgLeZVYCfB-fnTEo2CrKm3WTORC_B-uLqBPsVlVjiUWgL6c1QY9E0-8dx6_tL0wBA-vDNBYMvEU6lLNgZpLRjqMj31hERD07PN84Wd1Lep5HmLcXWxxzulnBwP-mDUZvsdi6dxpUfHu/s1600/IMG_7432.jpeg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5536871077305751346" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZAWgLeZVYCfB-fnTEo2CrKm3WTORC_B-uLqBPsVlVjiUWgL6c1QY9E0-8dx6_tL0wBA-vDNBYMvEU6lLNgZpLRjqMj31hERD07PN84Wd1Lep5HmLcXWxxzulnBwP-mDUZvsdi6dxpUfHu/s320/IMG_7432.jpeg" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 214px;" /></a><br />While Fran made the salad, we walked with Adolfo to pick up the main course, an authentic paella (with chicken and rabbit), from a woman who has been making it for over 40 years. She has a special room with maybe a dozen places that she can cook over a wood fire. There were only 3 going Thursday, but at peak times she does 100 a day.<br /><br />On the way back, I couldn't resist buying a huge bag of little oranges for 3 Euro. There was a representative bag hanging from the front door of a place a few doors down from Adolfo and Fran's. Ramon showed me that you needed to push the iron door open, take one of the bags on the floor of the entryway, and put the money in the mailbox. We were behind Adolfo on the walk back. He was amused when he saw the oranges, because A. they were from trees owned by the woman who made the paella and B. because he would have given me oranges from his own trees.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSzErwhDqo7-sghk-qlxQzZf-walhvuyQndG2w4fvTWetPuiGF1_RLXhpacf-qI0SAM6uIJVTMo9fTqk0keyJ_klxiUnMzp0Oaco8OVmv5IOuJzf9FG5LJ24c7tuFyJP6bLmb4zDJh_jdG/s1600/IMG_7442.jpeg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5536871083211916962" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSzErwhDqo7-sghk-qlxQzZf-walhvuyQndG2w4fvTWetPuiGF1_RLXhpacf-qI0SAM6uIJVTMo9fTqk0keyJ_klxiUnMzp0Oaco8OVmv5IOuJzf9FG5LJ24c7tuFyJP6bLmb4zDJh_jdG/s320/IMG_7442.jpeg" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 214px;" /></a><br /><br />The meal was extremely good, and as we were finishing, Adolfo's aunt came by with and for dessert. She brought a very nice apple cake, and Fran brought out a pie-like thing that was basically a whole baked pumpkin.

Lunch in Torres Torres: Guest Post by Arny

Arny writes about lunch in a Spanish village: On Thursday we went to see our friends Adolfo and Fran's place in Torres Torres, where Ado...

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Regulating a Farmers Market

The <a href="http://www.latimes.com/features/food/la-fo-marketwatch-20101105,0,3946012.story">L.A. Times</a> is reporting on the fraught issue of regulation of farmers markets:<br /><blockquote>"Shannon Reid, a market manager for Raw Inspiration, a nonprofit organization that runs 18 markets in Southern California ... told the regulators [from the California Department of Food and Agriculture] that she had caught a vendor repackaging produce from Mexico for sale at one of her markets but had been discouraged by her organization from reporting such violations to authorities. She said that her employer later retaliated against her after she did so anyway."</blockquote>I am aware of less-serious accusations and ideological quarrels about what is local and self-produced food at the Ann Arbor Farmers Market. This makes me think about how difficult it must be to police farmers who claim to be the producers of what they sell. Produce from Mexico is obviously beyond any gray area of local produce. <br /><br />Issues of what can be claimed to be organic also plague produce sellers. If cheaper produce is mislabeled, its sellers can offer it more cheaply than the real thing, as organic produce is so much more expensive to produce and bring to market.<br /><br />As a consumer, I can only hope that the regulators are vigilant and honest, and will be receptive to evidence of fraud -- in the L.A. case, the accuser had photos of the vendor repackaging tomatoes, and further, the same vendor had been caught out at similar misdeeds in the past.

Regulating a Farmers Market

The L.A. Times is reporting on the fraught issue of regulation of farmers markets: "Shannon Reid, a market manager for Raw Inspiration...

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Is there such a thing as pumpkin lasagna?

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/12003515@N05/5144435088/" title="lasagne by mesander2000, on Flickr"><img alt="lasagne" height="541" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4038/5144435088_6c305801b3_o.jpg" width="555" /></a><br /><br />Pumpkin leftovers are a challenge. I made pumpkin soup on Halloween weekend because the pumpkin just looked too good to be a jack-o-lantern. Around half the roasted pumpkin was left from that recipe.<br /><br />Today I was thinking about pumpkin ravioli, which seems generally flavored with sage and a white sauce. However, I'm too lazy to fool with all that filled dough. It seemed to me that it should be possible to use the same family of foods and flavors in pumpkin lasagna, so I googled it and found that lots of people have thought of this before. I'm not surprised.<br /><br />I proceeded, using what I had in the house and getting some ideas from this blog post from Sweden: <a href="http://themuffinmyth.com/2010/10/12/roasted-pumpkin-lasagne/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent Link to roasted pumpkin lasagna">roasted pumpkin lasagna.</a> The essential lasagna layers between the ready-made sheets of pasta were a white sauce (made from browned flour, sage, and milk), farmer's cheese (close enough to ricotta), the roast pumpkin cooked with oil/butter and browned onion, and various cheeses that I had on hand.<br /><br />The result -- which you see in the middle of the picture -- was quite delicious. We ate quite a bit and also have some in the freezer for another dinner.<br /><br />UPDATE: I made it again, with slight variations, and we served it the night before Thanksgiving. Here is a real recipe: <a href="http://regional-food.blogspot.com/2010/11/pumpkin-lasagna-recipe-by-request.html">Pumpkin Lasagna Recipe by Request</a> as I promised to several people.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:130%;" ><span style="color: rgb(153, 102, 51);"><br /></span></span>

Is there such a thing as pumpkin lasagna?

Pumpkin leftovers are a challenge. I made pumpkin soup on Halloween weekend because the pumpkin just looked too good to be a jack-o-lantern....

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Joan Nathan at the Book Festival

<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZCdDy2uvLuIwLkKXj6Nit4tiYARJpEa29_Vk5DqqwcOYJtBT2JE1vdyOBB93e99a33RF8zOBmaeFrmAiV9cYxGtA941O1_CSG8M2E5Vy1dSy-0Vl2xFAxGEXbHWjEmjxAi6lq_YP2Kuh8/s1600/bookfair4533.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5534757346356819042" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZCdDy2uvLuIwLkKXj6Nit4tiYARJpEa29_Vk5DqqwcOYJtBT2JE1vdyOBB93e99a33RF8zOBmaeFrmAiV9cYxGtA941O1_CSG8M2E5Vy1dSy-0Vl2xFAxGEXbHWjEmjxAi6lq_YP2Kuh8/s320/bookfair4533.jpg" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" /></a>Joan Nathan's presentation this evening about her book <span style="font-style: italic;">Quiches, Kugels, and Couscous</span> was in the form of an interview with Ari Weinzweig, co-owner of Zingerman's Deli. The two have known each other for many years, and are both very effective speakers, so the audience had a feeling of being in a very interesting discussion between two lovers of food. Especially French food. The discussion ranged widely, covering not only the food, but also the history and origins of the Jews of France, their general reticence, and especially their tendency for a long time to avoid discussion of their Holocaust experiences.<br /><br />The two speakers had a rather detailed discussion of the Jewish quarter of Paris, the Marais, in which Jews settled some time in the Middle Ages. I especially enjoyed their conversation about two delis owned by the the Finkelsztajns -- now ex-spouses. Florence Finkelsztajn -- whose deli both speakers prefer -- gave Joan Nathan a recipe for her <span style="font-style: italic;">pletzel</span>, a type of biali, on which her deli serves a delicious pickeled beef sandwich. I know I've eaten in the Finkelsztajn deli, but I think it was prior to their divorce when there was just one store. I definitely realize that my experience of Paris and my reading on French Jews has ranged widely, but is very out-of-date.<br /><br />Before tonight's presentation, a local caterer served an amazing buffet of desserts made from Nathan's recipes, including cheesecake and several other cakes and tortes. The book has been available only since last Tuesday, so this must be a remarkable baker. I hope to find an excuse to make some of the recipes soon.<br /><br />It was most enjoyable.

Joan Nathan at the Book Festival

Joan Nathan's presentation this evening about her book Quiches, Kugels, and Couscous was in the form of an interview with Ari Weinzweig...

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A Perfect Description of a Banana

<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipQHxLlq5sS6IsIVRi6H3UASMaY68avU7G1LlINF4BvQdv78s2Ccf9SmUTzqTPFmkpMfxKl3hTRJmgw03m6xM5TGNm71tZE-UrXSSOMtLhUr51Yh2sAVn7yoLsgfyKJmZe9WNvd7eiBYCZ/s1600/rozchast.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5534680146290431698" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipQHxLlq5sS6IsIVRi6H3UASMaY68avU7G1LlINF4BvQdv78s2Ccf9SmUTzqTPFmkpMfxKl3hTRJmgw03m6xM5TGNm71tZE-UrXSSOMtLhUr51Yh2sAVn7yoLsgfyKJmZe9WNvd7eiBYCZ/s200/rozchast.jpg" style="float: right; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 112px;" /></a>Many of you know me personally, and probably therefore know that I hate bananas. Well, in today's New Yorker, I found the most perfect description of bananas that I've ever seen, Roz Chast's article "<a href="http://www.newyorker.com/humor/2010/11/08/101108sh_shouts_chast">Bananas</a>" accompanied by the lovely illustration at right.<br /><br />For example, Chast says:<br /><blockquote>"I am disgusted by bananas’ texture. Compare the texture of a banana—mushy, baby-foodish, almost what you would feed a sick person—with the brisk athletic crispness of an apple. And, please, not one of those bulk apples you buy in a plastic bag. Those are mealy and they give all fruit a bad name. It’s no wonder so many kids don’t like fruit, if that’s the only kind of fruit they’ve ever had. I mean like a really good Macoun or Honeycrisp."</blockquote>This is the best description I've ever heard. Exactly how I feel.<br /><br />And about banana peel. She mentions a person eating a banana, slowly --<br /><blockquote>"But watch how the peel starts to drape over the hand. Now the banana is halfway eaten. The peel is now draping over the entire hand. Finally, the person finishes the banana and is left holding this disgusting peel, which is quickly turning brown and smelly! It’s not like an apple core, which you could throw out a car window and think, even though you’d be kidding yourself, Maybe an apple orchard will start here. Or an orange peel, which you wouldn’t throw out a car window, but at least it smells nice. ... The banana peel is garbage of the worst sort, the kind you must get rid of right away. You need to walk quickly to the nearest trash receptacle, throw it in, and then nonchalantly walk away, all the while giving off psychic vibes that you know nothing about it, that it’s somebody else’s peel."</blockquote><br /><br />I recommend reading this if you hate bananas. Or if you love bananas and want to know how a banana hater feels. And now don't tell me I'm the only person in the world who hates bananas except for Ladelle.

A Perfect Description of a Banana

Many of you know me personally, and probably therefore know that I hate bananas. Well, in today's New Yorker, I found the most perfect d...

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My New Cookbook

<a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/reader/0307267598/ref=sib_dp_pt#reader-link"><img alt="Quiches, Kugels, and Couscous: My Search for Jewish Cooking in France" border="0" height="300" id="prodImage" src="http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51pvuQxddoL._BO2,204,203,200_PIsitb-sticker-arrow-click,TopRight,35,-76_AA300_SH20_OU01_.jpg" width="300" /></a><br /><br />Published last week, Joan Nathan's <span style="font-style: italic;">Quiches, Kugels, and Couscous: My Search for Jewish Cooking in France</span> is now number four on amazon.com's French cookbook bestseller list -- behind 2 editions of <span style="font-style: italic;">Mastering the Art of French Cooking</span> and one other book. It's quite beautiful, with many color photos and historic illustrations.<br /><br />I spent quite a bit of time reading the narrative parts of the text and looking over the pictures this afternoon (while simultaneously watching the Jon Stewart rally on streaming video). After also looking at the ingredient lists for the recipes, I expect I'm going to have fun trying the recipes. The background on Jewish life and cooking in France is quite enjoyable, though not very detailed. Nathan's recipes represent a wide collection from Jewish cooks she interviewed. I was a little surprised because she did not seem to search out historical recipes from earlier eras: just to find those that still maintain an active place in the living repertoire.<br /><br />Nathan will be at the Jewish Book Festival in Ann Arbor Monday night to promote the book. I'm looking forward to hearing what she has to say about it, and assume she'll tell some more tales of the people she met and the homes, shops, markets, and restaurants she visited.

My New Cookbook

Published last week, Joan Nathan's Quiches, Kugels, and Couscous: My Search for Jewish Cooking in France is now number four on amazon.c...

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