The ancient Romans loved their grub, and made the most of any opportunity to eat and drink together. Celebratory feasts were an all-day event. They gave everyone a chance to seriously show off. Guests often bathed in oils before attending a feast. They also wore special loose ‘dinner’ clothes to help them accommodate as much food as possible. You mean like the elasticated joggers I wear for Sunday roast? Ed Very similar to that, yes.
Traditionally a feast might start around 3 pm and consist of SEVEN courses! Wealthy hosts liked to make sure they presented the most bizarre foods they could get hold of – check out this menu, with a selection of dishes from the time. Which would you choose?
Try this recipe for a moretum based on an ancient dish written about in the writings by Columella (written 60/65 CE).
It will go perfectly with the panis garlicatus recipe which you can find in the Pompeii issue!
– Pestle & mortar OR small food processor
– Small bowl
– Knife
– Teaspoon
INGREDIENTS:
– 3 spring onions
– small handful of rocket
– 5 fresh mint leaves
– 10 fresh coriander leaves
– 3 sprigs of fresh thyme
– 5-6 stems of flat leaf parsley
– 8 chives
– olive oil
– 250 g tub of ricotta cheese
– Salt and pepper
Trim ends off spring onions and chop into slices.
Add spring onions with rocket, fresh herbs and 1 tbsp of olive oil to a blender and pulse until it forms a paste.
Scrape into the bowl and mix in the ricotta, salt and pepper.
Serve in a small bowl drizzled with olive oil and with Panis Garlicatus, or any other bread for that matter!
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Written by Liam R. Findlay. Illustration by Isabel Otten. Recipe by https://www.foodiniclub.co.uk/
New Leaf Publishing Ltd 2024