Dormouse – furry snack for rich

The gray dormouse (Glis glis) is a rodent similar in size to a rat, found throughout almost all of Europe. The ancient Romans valued it for its meat – initially, they only hunted it, but by the 1st century BCE, it was already widely farmed. Varro describes dormouse rearing in his work De re rustica (“On the Rural Economy”), while Apicius provides a recipe for its preparation in De re coquinaria libri decem (On the Ten Books of Culinary Art).

Varro mentions that dormouses, called glires by the Romans, were kept in a special vessel – a glirarium. This vessel was usually rounded or cylindrical and had a lid on top. The glyrarium was equipped with ventilation holes and containers for food and water filled from the outside. Inside, there were shelves imitating burrows where the animals could move and hide. They were fed nuts, chestnuts, and acorns.

What happened to them once they reached the proper weight can be found in Apicius. According to him, before serving, the dormice should be stuffed with pork, ground nuts and pepper added, then baked or boiled in broth, and finally seasoned with honey and poppy seeds.

The dormice appetizer was an exclusive dish, reserved for the most prominent citizens, and their weight was an indicator of the host’s prestige. In 115 BCE, the then-consul Marcus Aemilius Scaurus established a law prohibiting, among other things, the consumption of dormice, but this law was not strictly enforced.

Today, dormice dishes can be enjoyed in Slovenia and Croatia. In Poland, it is a protected species, but for those interested in the ancient recipe, it can apparently be successfully substituted with chicken.