Pompeii and Herculanum

[skye]

Here this Italian Chef explains how Roman ancient bread was prepared. He follows the recipes religiously ..it's so interesting...

The same bread was found in Pompeii.

Unfortunately it does not have English subtitles.

I have made bread at home and it is not hard to do.

You start with bakers' yeast, which is like brown sand, and you mix a tablespoon of it with a pint of warm water and some sugar. It will start bubbling and foaming after half an hour or so, and that's when you can mix it with flour and more water. The ancients did not have sugar so they must have used diluted honey instead.

I like to add green olives to my bread mix to make olive bread.

100 Percent Whole Wheat Bread Recipe

When I watch the video I posted, it does have English subtitles for me, yiostheoy!

 

[skye]

This thread is close to my heart, after the 1920s this is the most important time age for me.

The Roman Empire still rules....in a manner of speaking, it still does

 

[skye]

I do hope this video ^^^

means something beautiful for some of you who love the past....particularly the roman Empire.

 

[Damaged Eagle]

View attachment 113083

Have you been to Pompeii?

If not it is well worth seeing. I also recommend ***Florence***, Rome, Argrigento, Pisa, and many other places.

*****SMILE*****

I have been to Rome but never to Pompeii, I'd love to go someday.

Roman history is one of my favorites. Love everything about it......daily life, food decoration. clothes .....everything!

I spent a few years in Italy on and off a couple of decades ago.

*****SMILE*****

Sounds great! were you in Rome?

A few times... Though I preferred Florence.

Went to Rome one weekend with several other couples and one couple needed ashtrays at their apartment and offered a prize to the couple that could steal the most unique ashtray from a bar. Wife and I didn't win... There's just no competing with someone who has the gonads to steal a ten pound contraption made out sea shells.

*****SMILE*****

 

[Damaged Eagle]

I have been to many archeological sites over the years but none have impressed me as much as Pompeii. The sheer size of it is truly astonishing. You could spend a week there and not see everything.

Greece and Israel have some pretty interesting digs. Always wanted to go to the Valley Of The Pharaoh's in Egypt but it was a three day trip and my job wouldn't allow that type of time even if I were to have put in for leave. I've been to the Museum Of Cairo and the Great Pyramids a few times though.

*****SMILE*****

 

[Dalia]

Bonsoir, Garum was a popular fish sauce condiment in Pompeii
Garum: Fish Sauce Made in Pompeii

Garum was a popular fish sauce condiment. It was made by the crushing and fermentation in brine of the intestines of fish such as tuna, eel, anchovies, and mackerel. Because the production of garum created such an unpleasant smell, its fermentation was relegated to the outskirts of cities. The finished product was quite mild and subtle, and was mixed with wine, vinegar, pepper, oil, or water to enhance the flavor of many dishes. Garum is similar to fish sauce used today in Thai and Vietnamese cooking.

Robert Curtis, one of our project's Principal Researchers, has published the book Garum and Salsamenta: Production, Commerce in Materia Medica, providing a province- by-province survey of the areas which produced and exported fermented fish products. This study explores an important facet of the Roman economy having continuity with the modern world.

Benedict Lowe, another of our Principal Researchers, has also published scholarly treatises on the trade in preserved fish sauce and ancient economies.
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

Another Recipe for Making Garum from a Greek Agricultural Manual, The Geoponica

2,000 year old garum

1. Chop small fish into tiny pieces.
2. Add fish eggs and the entrails of sardines and sprats.
3. Beat together until they become an even pulp.
4. Set mixture in sun to ferment, beating occasionally.
5. Wait six weeks or until evaporation has reduced the liquid content of the pulp.
6. Hang reduced liquamen in a basket with fine holes in the bottom.
7. Place storage jars under the basket.
8. Let liquid slowly drain into the jars.
9. Collect the liquid in the jars. This is the garum.

Note: Use garum sparingly. It is a strong sauce with a strong smell!

amphora in garum shop
Make Your Own Garum
JOSEP MERCADER’S “GARUM”



560 g black olives, stoned
16 anchovy fillets, soaked in water for 1 hour and patted dry
1 hard-boiled egg yolk
90 g capers
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
1 teaspoon grainy mustard
1 tablespoon fresh parsley, finely chopped
1 tablespoon fresh marjoram, finely chopped
1 tablespoon fresh rosemary, finely chopped
1 tablespoon fresh thyme, finely chopped
1 teaspoon white pepper
60 ml olive oil


Mix all ingredients together in blender or food processor until light and fluffy. Puree the mixture in a food mill or push it through a sieve with a wooden spoon. Return to the blender or food processor and process briefly to obtain a smooth paste.

Note: Do not substitute fresh herbs with dry as they will not puree properly, either omit, experiment with other fresh herbs, or increase the amounts of parsley.




Another 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

Principal Researchers with amphora
Garum, Pompeii Fish Sauce

 

[Dalia]

Dated from the 2nd century BC, the House of Fauna, as it can be seen today, is a perfect example of construction that the families of the Samnite period were built. However, its construction would have started in the Vth Century BC, various elements having been laid out or built during the following centuries. The architecture is reminiscent of the Hellenistic taste.

Below and opposite copy of the bronze statuette giving the name to the house

One can see frescoes painted on the walls, of the first Pompeian style, lined with stucco, particularly sober and detailed. The floor of the halls was made up of mosaics of great beauty, the most famous of which (exhibited at the Naples Museum) depicts the battle of Alexander the Great against Darius, king of the Persians. Although these works do not respect the Hellenic style, Imitate them perfectly