“Don’t tell me what’s in it!” Some Thoughts on Roman Food
The Problematic Reputation of Roman Food “Don’t tell me what’s in it!” That was a common refrain in my household as my Mum went to taste something new my father had cooked. Please note, both my parents were excellent cooks, but my mother was a fussy eater. If you wanted her to try something different, she needed to be ignorant of what was in it. Why? Because just the thought of that ingredient or combination of ingredients would turn her off the idea of even tasting the food. She had similar problems in relation to how foods were made. Once she had eaten the meal and enjoyed it, you could tell her, assuming the ingredients were not “gross”. He did she define “gross”? It was a vibe thing. I can tell you, garum would never have passed my mother’s lips owing to how it was made. Might I have been able to sneak some in. Probably. Would she have been okay with it after the fact? Probably not. Why? In the words of Sally Grainger at the Colloquia Ceranea conference on Friday night: I bla...
