From Eggs to Apples: The Cuisine of the Ancient Romans - ONLINE CLASS
Taught by Andrew Coletti
Andrew Coletti is an educator, food writer and history nerd who has been known to throw historical dinner parties just for fun. He makes videos about food history on TikTok and Instagram @passtheflamingo, and writes about food for Tasting Table and other publications.
* This class will meet via Zoom! Download the web client at zoom.us/download in advance; link will be sent before the talk.*
What delicacies could you expect to sample as the dinner guest of a Roman Emperor? What about a Roman tradesman, soldier, or shepherd: what was his idea of a decent meal? Did the Romans really relieve themselves at the “vomitorium” after overindulging, and did they really eat stuffed dormice? (Short answers to those last two questions: no and yes). Fortunately for the adventurous modern palate, the Romans wrote copiously about their own dining habits. Their literature--including cookbooks--reveals a veritable love affair with food, no less vibrant and passionate than ours is today.
In this lecture-based class, we’ll go over the ins and outs of Ancient Roman cuisine--principal ingredients and dishes, methods of preparation and serving, and how the food adapted and evolved over time. We will also we work our way through the Roman meal from start to finish (or as the Romans would say, ab ovo usque ad mala: from eggs to apples).
No prior knowledge of cooking or history (Roman or otherwise) required!
