Every food lover knows Italy is a must visit if you want to have your culinary dreams come true. Honestly, who can resist all the pasta and pizza that are the staples of Italian cuisine? I sure can’t! But this little chat we’re having isn’t about the food you can eat in Italy today. I know, I know, what do I mean we’re not going to talk about current Italian food? Well, we are going to talk about food, it’s just not going to be current. Instead, let’s see what typical ancient Roman food was.

Let’s ask the most basic question.What is ancient Roman food? Well, I can assure you it definitely wasn’t pizza. Sadly, the ancient Romans did not have the blessing of pizza in their lives, so they made do with a diet consisting of cereals, fruits and vegetables, meat, seafood, and of course wine. To get a better grasp of what ancient Romans really ate, let’s delve a little further into each of the categories of food already mentioned.

Ancient Roman CerealsWhat did ancient italians eat? Wheat

Here you have the majority of what made up an ancient Roman’s diet. Wheat, barley, oats, rye, and millets were all strong staples in a Roman diet, especially wheat and barley. As it is commonly known, wheat and barley are the ingredients needed to make bread and porridge, which was the most common food found in a Roman home. It is best, however, to remember, bread during the time of the ancient Romans was much coarser and dark in color. The richer you were the finer in texture and lighter in color the bread would be, but compared to today’s standards, it would still be quite coarse and dark.

Ancient Roman Fruits and Vegetables

what did Ancient Romans eat? Fruit and Veg

If there was something ancient Romans did not lack in their diets it was fruits and vegetables. Of course, the most popular fruits include grapes and olives (yup, an olive is a fruit) for a Roman diet would not be complete without the inclusion of wine and olive oil. Roman life would arguably not have been the same without those essentials. Now, what may be surprising is a number of fruits and vegetables Romans did eat; apples, figs, pears, plums, cherries, peaches, beans, lentils, and peas just to name a few. And Romans being their typical genius selves were able to preserve fruits and vegetables for significant amounts of time by pickling them in either brine or vinegar or preserved them in wine, grape juice, or honey.

Rome Food Tour | Small Group Tour

Tues, Fri & Sun at 6.30pm | Mon, Thurs & Sun at 12.30pm 3 hours

Ancient Roman MeatWhat did ancient romans eat? meat

 

To say ancient Romans were not picky about their meat, would be an understatement. For most Romans, meat was pretty darn pricey, so meat (either poultry, wild game, pork, veal, mutton, or goat) was often prepared in small cuts or sausages. But for the wealthier Romans, meat was a decadent way to show off their riches. They did eat the same type of meat as other Romans, but they also ate a much larger variety. For example, the variety of birds eaten is astonishing. They ate anything from partridges to pheasants, doves to quails, flamingos to peacocks, ostriches to parrots. Like I said, it is an understatement to call a Roman not picky.

Ancient Roman Seafood

What did ancient romans eat? fish

If you live near the water, it’s a guarantee that seafood is probably a common part of your diet. That’s definitely the case with ancient Romans. Fish and shellfish were a common and useful source of protein in the Roman diet, however, supply was rather irregular and not dependable. But clever Romans being clever Romans found ways to work around this by preserving fish and farming them in artificial salt and fresh-water ponds. This allowed fish to be eaten either fresh, dried, salted, smoked, or pickled on regular occasions. Let’s not forget, we’re talking about Italians’ ancestors here, so they, of course, added some extra flavoring (fish sauce made from matured whole fish or the insides of a larger fish) to make the fish extra tasty!

Ancient Roman Style of Cooking

ancient roman cooking

While all Roman’s would eat similar diets with ranges in quality depending on wealth and status, they did not eat in similar styles. Basically, Romans of lower status lived in small homes that did not have a kitchen so they would often take food to a baker and have it cooked there or use an ancient form of take-out while the Romans of higher status would eat at home with food cooked by their slaves. Cheaper to eat out than eat in? Who ever heard of that being true?!

Pretty surprising how much they ate isn’t it? But is it really that surprising? After all, they are the ancestors of some of the most delicious food creators our world currently has. It only makes sense that Italians’ ancestors also ate a variety of amazing food too. And I don’t know about you, but I am ready to eat like a Roman!

Leave a Reply