Roman Cookery; Ancient Recipes for Modern Kitchen
By Mark Grant
Reviewed by Loreena Johnson
Want to make the snacks for your average roman barfly at the local Taverna?
Or impress the neighbours with a bang up dinner on a week night but you?re
not really into the larks tongues and dormice? Well neither was the average
Roman citizen ? even if they could afford it.
From the information and recipes presented by the author, I?m happy to report
I could reliably re-create dishes and even entire meals, pretty much only
shopping at the local grocery store. So for a change, I could surprise people
with a meal that didn?t require a second mortgage; yet the flavours and
textures were still different enough to be a bit of a challenge for some.
You might remember this title with a different cover from a decade or so ago
(possibly longer ? whose counting?); same title, same author, new (second)
edition. I remembered the first edition with affection; so was pleasantly
surprised to find enough extra recipes and updated research in the second
edition to buy it as well.
Only point to consider ? If you are still learning to cook, don?t be deceived by
the apparent simplicity of some of the recipes. You need to know your
ingredients.
[tabs] [tab title=”Publishers Blurb”] More than 100 everyday recipes from Ancient Rome enjoyably recreated from the work of writers and poets of the time and adapted for the modern kitchen: healthy and delicious soups, stews, breads and salads that gave birth to the modern Mediterranean diet. [/tab] [/tabs]