Recipes from Pompeii

Ancient Garum Recipe

Use fatty fish, for example, sardines, and a well-sealed (pitched) container with a 26-35 quart capacity. Add dried, aromatic herbs possessing a strong flavor, such as dill, coriander, fennel, celery, mint, oregano, and others, making a layer on the bottom of the container; then put down a layer of fish (if small, leave them whole, if large, use pieces) and over this, add a layer of salt two fingers high. Repeat these layers until the container is filled. Let it rest for seven days in the sun. Then mix the sauce daily for 20 days. After that, it becomes a liquid.

- Gargilius Martialis, De medicina et de virtute herbarum, reprinted from A Taste of Ancient Rome by Ilaria Gozzini Giacosa, Anna Herklotz (Translator). Publisher: University of Chicago Press; Reprint edition (May 2, 1994) ISBN: 0226290328


Food and cooking are timeless and universal. Colanders and saucepans, strainers and skillets were used in Pompeii and pastry cutters were part of cooking equipment in Gaul in 200 A.D. Read more about Roman Cooking Methods at KET and two fascinating books Around the Roman Table: Food and Feasting in Ancient Rome by Patrick Faas, published by Palgrave MacMillan (1994), and A Taste of Ancient Rome by Ilaria Gozzini Giacosa, Anna Herklotz (Translator), published by University of Chicago Press (1994).
A Roman Holiday Recipe
Get 1,000 Larks...	in Latin Aladärum M cape. Linguäs exsecxa et sepone. Alaudäs abice. Lingäs mitte in sartaginem cum paulö olei et frige cito. Eäs traice ad patellam calida. Quattuor sufficit.	*in English* Get 1,000 larks. Remove their tongues and set aside. Discard the larks Put the tongues in a pan with a little oil and saute quickly. Transfer to a hot platter. Serves four.

Cucumber Salad 1 cucumber 50g pennyroyal or fresh mint 1 tsp honey 1 tsp pepper 1 Tbl vinegar 1 small clove crushed garlic and a pinch of asafoetida Peel, slice, and salt the cucmber. Mix together the dressing ingredients, pour over the cucumber and serve.	Leeks with Olives 100 ml water 100 ml oil 1 large leek, trimmed, washed, sliced into rings 200g green olives 100 ml strong white wine garum or salt Bring the water and oil to the boil in a saucepan, put in the leek and let it stew. Stone the olives and chop roughtly into quarters then add them to the leek when the water has evaporated. Leave to stew in the oil. Remove the olives and leek from the oil and place in a heated serving dish. Stir in the wine and garum or salt and serve.	Cumin Sauce for Cabbage, Carrots or Parsnips 1/2 tsp cumin seed 1 tsp peppercorns 3 glasses old red wine 1 tsp lovage seed 1 tsp rue seed 1 tsp coriander seed 1 Tbs chopped mint Crush the spices and soak in wine for a day. Strain the liquid, and reduce it to 2/3 volume over low heat, without boiling. Add parboiled parsnips or carrot or cabbage and cook until tender. Serve.
The vegetable recipes are from Around the Roman Table by Patrick Faas, p224-228.Palgrave Macmillan, ISBN 0-312-23958-0
One of the most popular sauces in Roman cuisine was garum, a salty, aromatic, fish-based sauce. Pompeii was notable for the quality of the garum it produced. Read more about garum from one of our Pompeii Food and Drink Project leaders, Robert Curtis.
GARUM: Pompeii was famous throughout the Roman world for producing and exporting a spicy fish sauce called garum. Here are some recipes for this culinary treat.
Ancient Garum Recipe Use fatty fish, for example, sardines, and a well-sealed (pitched) container with a 26-35 quart capacity. Add dried, aromatic herbs possessing a strong flavor, such as dill, coriander, fennel, celery, mint, oregano, and others, making a layer on the bottom of the container; then put down a layer of fish (if small, leave them whole, if large, use pieces) and over this, add a layer of salt two fingers high. Repeat these layers until the container is filled. Let it rest for seven days in the sun. Then mix the sauce daily for 20 days. After that, it becomes a liquid. - Gargilius Martialis, De medicina et de virtute herbarum, reprinted from A Taste of Ancient Rome by Ilaria Gozzini Giacosa, Anna Herklotz (Translator). Publisher: University of Chicago Press; Reprint edition (May 2, 1994) ISBN: 0226290328		Modern Garum Recipe Cook a quart of grape juice, reducing it to one-tenth its original volume. Dilute two tablespoons of anchovy paste in the concentrated juice and mix in a pinch of oregano. - reprinted from A Taste of Ancient Rome
Another Recipe for Making Garum from a Greek Agricultural Manual, The Geoponica
Chop small fish into tiny pieces. Add fish eggs and the entrails of sardines and sprats. Beat together until they become an even pulp. Set mixture in sun to ferment, beating occasionally. Wait six weeks or until evaporation has reduced the liquid content of the pulp. Hang reduced liquamen in a basket with fine holes in the bottom. Place storage jars under the basket. Let liquid slowly drain into the jars. Collect the liquid in the jars. This is the garum. Note: Use garum sparingly. It is a strong sauce with a strong smell!
	Learn Vocabulary for Fieldwork Find Resources for Learning More Copyright ©2008 Pompeii-Food-and-Drink.org. All rights reserved. Pompeii-Food-And-Drink.org Logo Design by Helen Iranyi