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  • Garum on Random Weirdest Foods From Ancient Roman Cuisin

    (#7) Garum

    Instead of ketchup, the ancient Romans used another tasty condiment: garum.

    Sold in large and small quantities alike, garum (also called liquamen) was “prepared from the intestines of fish and various parts which would otherwise be thrown away, macerated in salt; so that it is, in fact, the result of their putrefaction.” Garum was often mixed with honey, vinegar, or other additives and even came in kosher varieties.

    According to first-century naturalist Pliny the Elder, garum could be expensive. He described how "a garum of mackerel from the fisheries of Carthage is the most highly prized... hardly any other liquid commands such prices, apart from perfume." Because it could be cost-prohibitive, lower-class Romans often opted to replace garum with allec. Originally made from anchovies, allec was essentially the remnants of a good garum or was made out of smaller, cheaper fish. 

  • Dolphin, Jellyfish, And Sea Urchin on Random Weirdest Foods From Ancient Roman Cuisin

    (#8) Dolphin, Jellyfish, And Sea Urchin

    The Romans loved seafood, even dining on dolphin on occasion. Although not actually a fish, dolphin was a potential candidate for salt fish balls in wine sauce. The recipe called for a mixture of sea creature flesh with spices like mint, parsley, and pepper. After all of the ingredients were blended and formed into balls, they were poached in "wine, broth, and oil." 

    Dolphin was an excessive culinary treat prohibited by sumptuary legislation. Wealthy Romans like Rutilius Rufus found ways around these laws, however, buying "his fish from fishermen who used to be his slaves... including delicacies like dolphin and swordfish." 

    Much like dolphin, jellyfish wasn't the most common item on a Roman menu. When it did appear, however, jellyfish was part of a salad.

    Slightly more present in Roman cuisine was sea urchin. During the same Pompeii excavation in which scientists uncovered a giraffe bone, they also found the remains of a sea urchinApicius advocated using sea urchins on top of a mega-casserole that featured everything from brains to cheese, or on their own. Sea urchins were boiled or eaten raw, stuffed with egg and honey, or simply sprinkled with salt and pepper. 

  • Posca on Random Weirdest Foods From Ancient Roman Cuisin

    (#11) Posca

    While the rich drank wine and dined on delicacies, the poor had a much more pedestrian diet. Without access to the best vintages, many Romans opted for posca - water mixed with vinegar and some sort of seasoning. Posca could also include lemon juice and later came to incorporate eggs, other types of fruit juice, and some wine.

    Posca was the drink of Roman soldiers because it energized and refreshed the consumer, disinfected non-potable water, and was easy to make. Members of the lower classes drank posca and, while statesman like Cato the Elder (d. 149 BC) enjoyed the drink, elites generally stuck to wine.

    Less appealing than posca, however, was lora, a wine usually consumed by slaves. Lora was made by soaking seeds and other detritus from wine in vinegar to seep out any latent flavor.  

  • Ostrich on Random Weirdest Foods From Ancient Roman Cuisin

    (#12) Ostrich

    Another animal imported from abroad, the ostrich was a recorded rarity on Roman tables. Roman physician and philosopher Galen (d. c. 216 AD) thought they were gross; he wrote that "their flesh is full of residue" and hard to cook. Ostrich eggs were, on the other hand, highly valued. They were praised for their size and flavor

    Apicius found some value in ostrich meat, however, offering recipes for boiled ostrich and ostrich stew. Emperor Elagabalus (d. 222 AD) loved the flightless birds. According to the Historia Augusta, "Sometimes at his banquets he served ostriches, saying that the Jews had been commanded to eat them." The latter claim about Jews eating ostriches wasn't true - there was a prohibition against eating them - making this perhaps a weird practical joke on Elagabalus's part.

    On another occasion, Elagabalus "brought in the heads of six hundred ostriches in order that the brains might be eaten."

  • Parrot on Random Weirdest Foods From Ancient Roman Cuisin

    (#3) Parrot

    One of ancient Rome's most famous gourmands was the third-century emperor Elagabalus (r. 218-222 AD), who loved hosting extravagant parties more than pretty much anything else. Ancient gossip in the Historia Augusta reports that he was a true glutton who enjoyed serving even his attendants the greatest delicacies. The text reports, "He served to the palace-attendants, moreover, huge platters heaped up with... heads of parrots, pheasants, and peacocks."

    The Roman affinity for exotic birds similarly extended to flamingo. Both parrot and flamingo were cooked by boiling the meat in salt, dill, and vinegar, later adding leeks and coriander. Apicius reports the birds were then infused with pepper, cumin, and other herbs, sweetened with dates, and braised. Some recipes included additional flavors like celery seed, mint, and shallots. 

    Romans were also interested in parrots as conversationalists. According to Pliny the Elder (d. 79 AD), the parrot was interesting due to its ability to "imitate the human voice... [and] converse." He noted, parrots "will duly salute an emperor, and pronounce the words it has heard spoken; it is rendered especially frolicsome under the influence of wine."

  • Giraffe And Camel on Random Weirdest Foods From Ancient Roman Cuisin

    (#4) Giraffe And Camel

    While digging in Pompeii, archaeologists discovered the remains of a giraffe bone in the drain system of an ancient restaurant. Butchering marks were found on the leg joint, indicating that the animal was eaten; how it got there from the arena remains a bit of a mystery, especially since it's apparently the only giraffe bone ever recovered from an Italian excavation.

    Camels were another occasional delicacy that Romans enjoyed. An excavation of a midden (an ancient dump) from Rome yielded camel bones, indicative of Elagabalus's (r. 218-222 AD) predilection for eating the animals' heels. According to Elagabalus's biography, the emperor, "In imitation of Apicius... frequently ate camels-heels and also cocks-combs taken from the living birds, and the tongues of peacocks and nightingales, because he was told that one who ate them was immune from the plague."

    Writing in the fifth century AD, Roman physician Caelius Aurelianus criticizes the use of "camel's brain" as a remedy for epilepsy by his predecessors, attesting to beliefs surrounding the medicinal properties of camels. 

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With the continuous expansion, ancient Rome changed from a small city-state to a powerful Roman Empire. The territory of the ancient Roman Empire was very vast, with a rich variety of products and foods. The life of the Romans has undergone major changes, especially in terms of food, and the food of nobles and commoners was different. The ancient Roman nobles began to admire luxury and pleasure, which resulted in many strange foods and customs.

Are you interested in ancient Roman foods? There is never a shortage of different cuisines, the random tool focus on introducing 12 weird foods from ancient Roman, such as parrot, weasel, peacock, etc.

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