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The achievements of the Romans in the matter of cooking in the early Roman statehood, and even in an advanced republic, was extremely modest. There are hardly any references to the occurrence of culinary records in the now-defunct works of Cato of the Elder, and these were rather devoted to the relationship between nutrition and agriculture, than feasting and enjoying.
It was not until the first century BCE and the Greek culinary knowledge that took over, that resulted in increased interest in food and nutrition in Roman culture, while the expansion and innovation typical of the Roman Empire enriched the existing content with recommendations on bakery and food preservation. It is worth mentioning at this point that, for example, the term garum comes from the Greek language, because in Latin the “product” was called liquamen. However, the Greek term was commonly used.
Undoubtedly, the most important Roman writer engaged in culinary literature was a certain Marcus Gavius, commonly known as Apicius. He is the author of the cookbook ‘On the cook’s art of books 10’ (De re coquinaria libri X). The book contains a number of Greek-language terms, and its provisions include both demanding and less demanding gourmets, which may indicate a compilation of the work. Thanks to this priceless work, we learn the richness of ancient dishes and diet, whose influence we find in the late Middle Ages. It is worth quoting the mention of his death by Seneca:
After he had squandered a hundred million sesterces upon his kitchen, after he had drunk up at every one of his revels the equivalent of the many largesses of the emperors and the huge revenue of the Capitol, then for the first time, when overwhelmed with debt and actually forced, he began to examine his accounts. He calculated that he would have ten million sesterces left, and considering that he would be living in extreme starvation if he lived on ten million sesterces, he ended his life by poison.
– Seneca, On Consolation to Helvia, X
Apicius and garum
Apicius was an excellent cook and party organizer (at least that’s how he was remembered). His concern for the quality of his services meant that he personally supervised what, how and when the farm animals intended for the knife in his kitchen were fed. It was second to none in sauces, which was phenomenal, given the poor quality of the meat. From his name throughout the Empire, small rolls, cakes and other baked goods were called apikia or apikania. Culinary fantasy gave him ideas for dishes from rooster combs, camel heels, and languages of various birds. Among other things, Apicius invented a new way of preparing goose liver: the birds were first fed with dried figs, and wine with honey was added to the dish.
Sauces were extremely important in Roman cuisine, especially one called Greek garum. Garum was a necessary addition in exquisite Roman cuisine. It appears in most recipes preserved in the work De Re Culinaria by Apicius. It was prepared this way: small fish or fish guts (e.g. mackerel, anchovies, sardines, sprat, dye, anchovies or tuna blood) were thrown into the dish. All this was salted and mixed in a large dish with herbs (like dill, fennel, coriander, celery, savoury, sage, rue, mint, lovage, thyme, marjoram) and exposed to the sun for up to a month. During this time, the fermentation process took place in the vessel, during which juice was released from the fish. The contents of the vessel were drained and the resulting liquamen liquid was used as a spice. But why was garum used if the smell was disgusting? This substance is responsible for the umami taste. This is the fifth taste, along with salty, sweet, sour and bitter (spicy taste is not a taste, it is irritation of nerves by irritants). The umami flavour, whose receptors are mainly found on the inside of the cheeks, is responsible for detecting protein-containing foods such as broad beans, meat, cheese and more. Very large amounts of glutamate are found in seaweed, Parmesan cheese, anchovies, soy sauce, mushrooms or tomatoes. It is artificially added to broth cubes, “dishes from the bag” or “maggi” type spices. These products significantly enrich the taste of dishes because a man instinctively looks for three flavours: sweet which means energy, sour which means vitamins and umami which means protein. A small addition of garum enriched the bland taste of barley porridge or lentil soup. Garum was not produced in homes but in specialized factories located near ports. Probably each used its own recipe, hence the ingredients for the sauce may have been different.