Roman Rural Foodways and Flavours: a Study of the Textual Evidence
While the number of studies on Roman food in its widest sense is vast, and although the majority of the Roman Empire’s inhabitants were rural, the number of scholarly studies on food in rural Rome is limited. Moreover, a comprehensive overview based on the written sources is lacking. My study centres on the core areas of the Empire, and takes its point of departure in two theoretical concepts:
Foodways: i.e., the production, processing, preserving, preparing, consumption, as well as conceptualization of food, shared by a group in society. This concept constitutes an adequate analytical tool for the areas where most food was produced and processed. Preliminary results demonstrate a strong emphasis on preserved foods in rural Rome, to ensure an even access to food year-round. These were dried, salted, smoked, fermented or preserved in grape syrup. The food displays a strong resemblance to the traditional Mediterranean diet, including sheep milk cheese, salami-like sausages and air-dried hams.
Tastescapes: can be seen as an extension of the concept foodways but focuses on the flavours of the food. There are references to taste of several specific foodstuffs in the written sources, in other cases we have to rely on what we know to be typical traits of the rural fare: salt, sweet, sour, smoky or savoury (umami).
In answering these specific queries, the written sources are particularly informative, shedding light on aspects which otherwise would remain obscure.
Foodways: i.e., the production, processing, preserving, preparing, consumption, as well as conceptualization of food, shared by a group in society. This concept constitutes an adequate analytical tool for the areas where most food was produced and processed. Preliminary results demonstrate a strong emphasis on preserved foods in rural Rome, to ensure an even access to food year-round. These were dried, salted, smoked, fermented or preserved in grape syrup. The food displays a strong resemblance to the traditional Mediterranean diet, including sheep milk cheese, salami-like sausages and air-dried hams.
Tastescapes: can be seen as an extension of the concept foodways but focuses on the flavours of the food. There are references to taste of several specific foodstuffs in the written sources, in other cases we have to rely on what we know to be typical traits of the rural fare: salt, sweet, sour, smoky or savoury (umami).
In answering these specific queries, the written sources are particularly informative, shedding light on aspects which otherwise would remain obscure.