Together at table with the ancient Romans

Laid tables, large kitchens and expert cooks serving sumptuous dinners

Thanks to Apicio’sDe re coquinaria, today we are able to have an idea of the culinary reality of ancient Rome. Dinner was considered the most abundant meal and began in the early hours of the afternoon. It was a real banquet for the upper classes, to which selected guests participated. They would lie on the triclinium, a three-seater sofa, placed around the table.
Dinner began with the appetizer, followed by a minimum of three courses and a dessert. To begin the food was spicy to stimulate thirst so that the guests would then drink their wine down all in one go. A typical feature of ancient Roman cuisine was the combination of contrasting flavours.
PIn terms of the way the food was prepared, the Roman cooksliked to camouflageit to create continual surprise and deceiption among the diners. Trying to guess the ingredients of a particular dish was a way to liven up the dinners: “at the table no one will recognize what they are eating” (source: De re coquinaria).
Among their favourite dishes, the ancient Romans loved sauces such as garu, derived from the maceration of small fish. They were also great lovers of wine that was consumed diluted with honey and spices. Wine was also consumed in the form of cooked must used in different preparations and as a sweetener.