Cooking in Roman Britain

  When the Romans came to Britain they inherited a farming landscape and a traditional way of life of its native people. In some instances the British way of life changed dramatically – for instance, the adopting of Roman building styles and villas quickly replaced round houses. The main crops and agricultural practices seem to remain remarkably similar from the Iron Age through the Roman period, but what changed in the diet was the added ‘extras’ that the Romans brought in with them and new ways of preparing the food. The Iron Age Britons were fond of roasts, stews and pottages with very simple flavours and preparation.

 Preparation Roman style involved a whole range of herbs, spices and sauces – ground in mortaria – and cooked with a vast range of introduced foods such as apples, plums, carrot, broad bean, asparagus, pheasant, deer, fig, cherry, walnut and grapes with herbs like sage, garlic, chives and mint, amongst many others made Roman cooking quite different!

The Roman taste buds wanted to be excited by strong and contrasting flavours – to our modern taste these are too strong, too salty, too sweet, too acid and strange concoctions such as a rotting fish sauce called Liquamen would not pass health and safety standards today (although anchovy essence is a good substitute for this product).

Here is a list of herbs commonly used in Romano-British cooking from 43 to 410 AD:

Thyme                                                  Celery seed                  Mint

Parsley                                                 Oregano                       Rue

Coriander/coriander seed                Caraway seed              Lovage

Dried onion                                          Ginger                          Savoury

Cumin/cumin seed                            Spikenard                     Chives

Myrtle berries                                      Aniseed                        Rosemary

Pennyroyal                                           Fennel/fennel seed

Peppercorns                                         Bay leaves

Garlic, asafaetida essence, honey, salt and caroenum were common flavourings, with liquamen added liberally to everything!

Cooking styles – grilling, roasting, char-grilling and spit-roasting were popular methods of cooking, but baking in ovens as well as stewing in cauldrons over open fires were all commonly used during this period.

Roman Recipes

  Starter

Stuffed dormouse

(As this is a protected species use chicken thighs instead!). A simple recipe:

Bone the chicken thighs and then stuff with the following:

1. Sage stuffing: breadcrumbs, onion, pepper, salt, freshly chopped sage, egg to bind

2. Apricot wrapped in bacon

Then roast until cooked right through.

Try also: Oysters with a dressing of lovage, pepper, anchovy essence and honey

Main course

Lentils with chestnuts                       

1 tblsp vinegar

4 oz lentils                                            1 tblsp honey

4 oz shelled chestnuts                         1 tblsp olive oil

½ tsp bicarbonate of soda

Pinch of each: pepper, cumin, coriander seeds, mint, rue, pennyroyal

1 drop asafetida essence                       1 tspn anchovy essence

Cover the lentils with water and simmer gently for 30 minutes. Put the chestnuts in another pan, cover with water, add bicarbonate of soda and bring to the boil. Cook until tender. Pound all the spices and herbs and moisten with both essences, vinegar and honey. Pour over the cooked chestnuts and add olive oil. Bring to the boil, stirring all the time. Mix with lentils. Adjust seasoning, serve hot.

Try also: Lamb stew – ‘Romanise’ your stew with flavours from coriander seed, lots of black pepper, lovage and cumin, wine and, of course, anchovy essence!

Dessert

Sweet peppered cake            

1 tsp cinnamon                             To garnish: hazlenuts

8oz spelt wheat flour                 4 tblsp sweet sherry

1 tsp baking powder                 4 tblsp grape juice

½ tsp ground rosemary 1 tblsp honey

4 oz almonds, chopped milk

Mix flour and baking powder, blend with rosemary, almonds and cinnamon.

Combine the wine, grape juice and honey in a jug. Mix with the dry ingredients, adding enough milk to make a soft dropping consistency.

Bake in a 9 inch tin at gas mark 5, 190^oC for approximately 30 minutes.

Spread the cake with a little liquid honey and decorate with the nuts, prick the surface with a fork and drizzle a few tablespoons of wine into the cake.

(When this cake became stale the Romans used to slices in milk and fry in olive oil, served with yet more honey!).

Try also: Stuffed dates – stone the dates and stuff with almonds or hazelnuts with a little black pepper. Roll the dates in a little salt. Heat some honey in a frying pan and quickly fry the dates – serve hot.

A low status Roman villa kitchen might look like this: