Tag: apicius

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Cooking Apicius: Roman Recipes for Today – Review

Cooking Apicius: Roman Recipes for Today

By Sally Grainger

Reviewed by Loreena Johnson

 

This handy little book is a stroke of genius on the publishers part. A collection

of recipes from Apicius as researched and trialled by the author ? who just

happens to be the same as co-authored Apicius ? A Critical Review. No

wading through pages of discourse, reviews and examinations of potential

influences ? just straight to the recipes.

 

To me, it?s not a stand-a- lone because the recipes are not accompanied by

the original text or even a translation of the original. I personally enjoy

knowing about the context a dish was created and enjoyed in. I was also a

little disappointed in the recipes selected (a solid 64 in total). They are either

totally unreproducible (due to extinction of main ingredient, ethical or safety

reasons) or what I would term ?safe? ? they will work and be very tasty (and

very accurate) but actually not very different from the flavour combinations we

are used to today.

 

This is a totally personal perspective ? and as a primer for someone starting

out presenting Roman style food, it is hard to go past.

[tabs] [tab title=”Publishers Content”] Sally Grainger has gathered, in one convenient volume, her modern interpretations of 64 of the recipes in the original text. This is not recipes inspired by the old Romans but rather a serious effort to convert the extremely gnomic instructions in the Latin into something that can be reproduced in the modern kitchen which actually gives some idea of what the Romans might have eaten. Sally Grainger, therefore, has taken great pains to suggest means of replicating the particular Roman taste for fermented fish sauce. It may sound unpleasant, but actually is not too far removed from the fish sauces of the Far East and any reproduction of Roman cookery must depend on getting this particular aspect right.” [/tab] [/tabs]

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Apicius: A critical edition with an introduction and English translation – Review

Apicius: A critical edition with an introduction and English translation

Sally Grainger and Christopher Grocock

Reviewed By Loreena Johnson

 

Of all the many translations of Apicius, this is the one I?d save if a fire broke

out. The kernel of this book was Sally?s PhD thesis with judicial editing and

input from Christopher Grogock to make it more readable. It is a beautiful ? if

hardcore academic ? consolidated translation of the various fragments of

Apicius de re Coquinaria around the world.

 

Scared? There is a ton of other cool stuff within the covers regarding the

social and environmental influences, glossaries, facsimilles of original bits and

a fabulous cross referencing index and bibliography. There are even

appendices reviewing the current arguments in academia about Garum

recipes and production.

 

As to recipes; along with the original and the translation, a select number of

the dishes also have Sally Grainger?s notes and further instructions on how a

modern cook can reproduce a Roman flavour profile. Finally, these recipes

have been trialled by a great cook as well as scholar (Sally is also the author

of ?The Classical Cookbook? with Andrew Dalby) ? they work, they are tasty,

and they won?t kill you or your guests.

 

[tabs] [tab title=”Publishers Blurb”] Apicius is the sole remaining cookery book from the days of the Roman Empire. Though there were many ancient Greek and Latin works concerning food, this collection of recipes is unique. The editors suggest that it is a survival from many such collections maintained by working cooks and that the attribution to Apicius the man (a real-life Roman noble of the 2nd century AD), is a mere literary convention. There have been many English translations of this work (and, abroad, some important academic editions) but none reliable since 1958 (Flower and Rosenbaum). In any case, this edition and translation has revisited all surviving manuscripts in Europe and the USA and proposes many new readings and interpretations. The great quality of this editorial team is while the Latin scholarship is supplied by Chris Grocock, Sally Grainger contributes a lifetime’s experience in the practical cookery of adaptations of the recipes in this text. This supplies a wholly new angle from which to verify the textual and editorial suggestions. [/tab] [/tabs]