Defritum is a Roman thick syrup made from a form of grape juice known as grape must, which is unstrained grape juice, with skins, stems and seeds still in it. This was was boiled in a lead pot until it had reduced by one-half. Some food sources today see this as a predecessor to Balsamic…
Roman Food
Dijon Mustard
Dijon Mustard © Denzil Green Dijon Mustard is a style of mustard originally made in Burgundy, France. It is named after the city of Dijon, which is the capital of Burgundy. 90% of all mustard made each year in France is Dijon or Dijon-style. 70% of that actually is made in the Dijon area. [Ed:…
Endive
There are two broad types of Endive, curly and broad-leafed. Both curly and broad-leafed versions belong to the same family as Aster flowers. The seeds for both types of Endive are very small; it takes about 350,000 to 450,000 to make up a pound (450g.) The leaves of both varieties have a mild, pleasing bitterness,…
Falerno
Falerno is a wine being made today in Italy, in the Falerna region of the province of Catanzaro in Calabria. It is sometimes referred to as “Falernum” for marketing purposes to emphasize Falerno’s “ties” with the Romans. The Falerno wines made today can be white or red. Both have a strong fruity flavour. The belief…
Fiano Grapes
The Fiano Grape, grown in Campania, Italy is said by its growers to be a very old Roman variety, the ones that the Romans called “apianus” (meaning loved by bees.) Others aren’t sure if this was the exact grape of this name. The grape was almost extinct but was brought back from the brink by…
Fleur de Sel
Fleur de Sel © Denzil Green Fleur de Sel is a hand-harvested sea salt from Brittany in France. Harvesting of the salt centres on the Guérande area in Brittany. The salt has fine, opaque, ivory-coloured crystals; no processing or refining is done. (Fleur de Sel is also produced in the Camargue region of southern France,…
Floralia
Floralia was a Roman festival to honour the goddess of flowers, Flora. It was held from the 28th of April to the 3rd of May.
Folium Indicum
Folium Indicum is a leaf from a close relative of the same tree that gives us cinnamon bark. Its taste is reminscent of cloves and mint; the fragrance is somewhat like pepper. It is used in Indian cooking, as Europeans would use bay leaves. It is used dried and ground in garam masala; it is…
Fontinalia
The 13th of October was the Roman holiday of Fontinalia, celebrating “Fontus”, who was a god of water springs. The day was observed by repairing and decorating water fountains.
Fornacalia
The Fornacalia was a Roman festival which started on or around the 5th of February. It was held in honour of Fornax, the goddess of ovens used to dry grain in.
Fulvius Lippinus
Quintus Fulvius Lippinus (aka Fulvius Hirpinus) was a Roman who went down in culinary history for his development of certain farming methods, particularly his method of farming and fattening edible water snails.
Garlic
Garlic is a member of the onion family that is grown for its bulb. Inside the bulb are individually-wrapped sections called “cloves”. Garlic is used both for its taste and its aroma.
Garum
Garum was a fermented fish sauce in classical times. It used fresh whole mackerel, sea salt, herbs, fermented in the sun for 20 days, then 40 more days after that with daily stirring.
Garum Ibericum
Garum Ibericum was a version of garum made by the Romans on the Iberian Peninsula — Portugal and Spain. It was made of fish pieces, herbs and salt allowed to ferment to a thick paste. At Quinta do Marim in Portugal, some portions of the Roman garum factories that produced garum ibericum still stand.
Honey
Honey © Denzil GreenBees make honey by collecting flower nectar and returning it to the hives to be food for the hive. The colour and taste of the honey will vary depending on what flowers the bees took the nectar from. Generally, the lighter the colour, the milder the taste. The strongest honey flavours come…
Hydromel
Hydromel is a beverage. Some people interpret the name to mean “watered down” honey, but it isn’t at all, it just means that it’s made with water and honey. And it while it is a type of mead, it drier than other meads. It does not much honey flavour or aftertaste. You start with clear…
Idus Februarias
On the 13th of February, the Ides of February, Romans would visit their relatives’ tombs, and leave gifts of flowers, wine, bread crumbs, or a sprinkle of salt.
Juternalia
The 11th of January is the Juternalia, a water festival holiday in honour of a Roman water goddess named Juturna. It was celebrated by the workers who maintained the acqueducts and fountains that supplied the city of Rome with public water.
Kale
Kale © Denzil Green Though a member of the cabbage family, kale is a “loose leaf” cabbage. Its leaves don’t curl inwards, they sprout upwards and outwards. Its close cousin, Cavolo Nero (aka Palm Cabbage), also grows like this. There are many varieties of kale; the leaf colour will vary by variety. The leaves may…
Laganum
Laganum (plural lagana) was a thin Roman unleavened flat bread. Some think it was soft like a wheat flour tortilla; others think it was crispy. But it wasn’t a dried bread. It was made from wheat flour, and baked or fried on a hot flat surface. Some recipes added lettuce juice to the dough. It’s…
Leeks
Leeks © Paula Trites Leeks look like green onions, except that they are far thicker and somewhat taller with a more pronounced onion flavour. The leaves are far more solid and robust than green onion leaves. In fact, while green onion tops can be eaten raw, mature Leek tops need to be cut up and…
Libum: Roman cheese bread
Libum was a Roman food item. Some people say a Libum was an early form of cheesecake, but basically it was unleavened bread with cheese in it, or a baked cheeseball. Larges ones were used for meals; smaller versions were often used as offerings to the household gods. They were cooked on a hearth, covered…
Liquamen
Liquamen was a Roman fish sauce. Liquamen may originally have been a fish sauce different from the other Roman fish sauce, Garum. Some speculate that unlike Garum, Liquamen was originally just made from whatever fish and fish bits. The Romans were real snobs about food, and the fact that it wasn’t recorded in the 1st…
Long Pepper
Long Pepper is a spice that has a sharp, hot and sweet taste. It is used crushed. It comes from berries that grow clumped together in a spike on a shrub. The plant is a perennial, but in January it dies back down to the ground. The spikes look a bit like tiny, narrow pine…