It seems my interests are a bit different than the rest of my classmates. I'm sure it is due to my advanced age. Although I am getting used to always being the oldest person in my classes, including the instructors. Oh well I digress.
I read a book review today in the St. Pete Times they lifted it from the Chicago Tribune. The author reviewed _The Oxford Companion to Italian Food_ he included a few tidbits from Roman times.
"Cicero, the Roman orator, reportedly game the family name to chickpeas, whose Latin name is Cicer arietinum (ceci in Italian), already a staple at the time and to this day."
"Mozzarella di bufala, that beloved and most Italian of cheeses, is made from the milk of water buffalo not native to the country. They were brought to Italy from Asia during the late Roman Empire - a much better legacy than that Roman essential garum, a sauce made by fermenting fish and their entrails."
Hmmmm, I can just imagine the ladies chatting - Oh Scintilla, what you do to fish entrails is magic... you must share your secret with me.
Tracy
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
3 comments:
Yeah, the Romans sure ate some bizarre things!
I wonder if that's true about chickpeas and Cicero, and what the story behind it is. Hmmm? It's very interesting... Latin 4 just finished with Cicero today. And just when I was starting to get used to him too.
~Rachael
This is really interesting, Tracy! I collect cookbooks and have several Medieval period ones, but none from Classical Rome... Off to Amazon to hunt for some for my wishlist!
Thank you for putting it up! As I said I had no idea that there was any connection whatsoever between Roman and modern Italian. In fact people have always claimed the opposite. But I will tell you, nothing in the world would make me eat garum, and I am as Roman as it gets!
If you ever get this book, please bring it to class, yes?
EM.
Post a Comment