The proliferation of unhealthy convenience foods has led many people to seek out traditional diets and regional cuisines. Nutritionists working to identify the world's healthiest diets hope to help people change their eating habits by encouraging them to adopt time-tested food cultures from regions known for good health and longevity. The Roman diet, part of the highly-recommended Mediterranean diet, is one potential antidote to the increasing popularity of diets rich in heavily-processed foods.
History
Foods common to the early Roman empire included simple vegetable soups, cooked grains, porridges, sheep's milk cheeses, pork and poultry. Prosperity and trade during the Roman epoch's more than 2,000-year history helped bread replace cooked grains as the central component of the Roman diet. Meat also became increasingly available, for those who could afford it. Cooked grains and a wide variety of well-prepared vegetables remain, however, central to Roman cuisine.
Staples
Modern Roman cuisine still reflects the habits of the regions the empire conquered, including Morocco, Egypt, Turkey, Syria, Spain and France. It has also evolved to include Asian staples, such as noodles and eggplant, and new world crops, such as tomatoes and peppers, which grow very well in the hot, sunny Mediterranean climate. Ingredients with a longer history in Roman cooking include artichokes, leafy greens, asparagus, broccoli, turnips, mushrooms, lentils, chickpeas, wheat, couscous, almonds, pears, pomegranate, plums, honey, vinegar, wine and many kinds of fish.
Flavors
Like the regional cuisines in other parts of Italy, Roman foods stand out for their delicious simplicity. The deep flavors of the aromatic dishes come from fresh herbs, anchovies, wine and a wide variety of sauces made from ingredients such as pine nuts, olives, vinegar, mustard, cheese, cumin or prunes. The most common spices available in ancient Rome and still used today include sage, mint, fennel and basil. Modern Roman cuisine also makes use of spicy chili peppers, which they adopted from the new world.
Features
Unusual ingredients in Roman cooking include oxtails, tripe, intestines, brain, pork cheeks, pigeons and nightingale tongues. You may also find some recipes a little odd, such as pickled peaches and boiled or fried cucumbers. If these do not appeal to you, try dishes such as stuffed eggplant, cheesy baked artichokes, mussels steamed with fresh herbs and wine, shrimp served with arugula, asparagus cooked with eggs, flatbread topped with prosciutto and fresh fig, rabbit roasted with fennel seeds, rigatoni mixed with sautéed radicchio or one of the many varieties of bean soup,.
Fun Facts
The ancient Romans appreciated good cheese so much that most houses had a second kitchen dedicated to cheese making as well as an area set aside where cheeses could mature. The Romans also brought their cheese-making techniques to the regions they conquered. After the empire fell, these areas developed their own methods, contributing to the great diversity of cheeses available today. To find the sheep's milk cheeses still central to Roman cooking, look in large gourmet markets, natural food stores or small specialty shops.
References
- Think Quest: Food and Drink of Rome
- New York Times: In New York Restaurants, the Rise of Rome
- Cooking the Roman Way; David Downie; 2002
- The New York Times Guide to Essential Knowledge; 2007
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