HBM154: Ancient Roman Recipes

June 22, 2022·24 min·2 clips

The only reason Apicius survived is because medieval scribes practiced illuminating this recipe book instead of Bibles.

This episode of Here Be Monsters explores ancient Roman cuisine through a surviving cookbook called Apicius. Host Jeff Emtmann speaks with Roman food historian and author Sally Granger, who specializes in recreating historical recipes. Granger first encountered Apicius through a gift from a boyfriend's mother, which sparked her journey into Roman food history. Apicius is named after Marcus Gavius Apicius, a notorious gourmet from the time of Tiberius known for extravagant spending. The actual recipe collection survived because medieval scribes used it for illumination practice instead of religious texts. Granger explains that many recipes begin with pounding pepper and lovage, a bitter herb rarely used today. A typical sauce includes cumin, mint, dried plums, pine nuts, oil, wine, vinegar, fish sauce, and honey, creating a balanced, rich flavor. Recipes read aloud include one for truffles boiled and cooked with broth, oil, wine, pepper, honey, and rue, which numbs the tongue. Another is for boiled ostrich with mint, pepper, cumin, leeks, dates, honey, and raisin wine, thickened with rue. Granger's favorite recipe is for stuffed kidneys, involving a pesto of pepper, pine nuts, coriander, and fennel seed wrapped in fat. She notes the Romans' fondness for offal, which she couldn't include in banquets at the Getty Villa in Los Angeles. Granger argues that literacy was widespread among slave cooks, who likely compiled and shared these recipes. She describes a typical day for an average Roman, involving a light breakfast, work, afternoon baths, and dining while reclining on couches wearing special slippers. Emtmann attempts two recipes from Granger's modern adaptation, *Cooking Apicius*, including a lentil and leek dish transformed by a final addition of herbs and fish sauce. The episode has a reflective and exploratory tone, blending personal narrative with educational interview. It is conversational and sensory, focusing on taste experiences and historical empathy. Listeners interested in culinary history, ancient cultures, or experimental cooking will find this episode captivating. Those seeking fast-paced drama or contemporary topics might prefer to skip it.

As heard by us

A plant tasting leads into a clear-eyed look at Roman food and the manuscript that preserved it.

Here Be Monsters starts with a bike ride to a plant nursery and a parking-lot taste test, which is a neat way to make ancient Roman cooking feel immediate. Lovage comes across as bitter and celery-like, while rue is bitter in a more memorable way, even numbing the tongue.

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Why you'd press play

Ancient Rome, but you can taste the herbs first.

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