Posted: March 24th, 2024

Ancient Roman Foods

During the times of ancient Rome and its glory days of ruling the world, the foods were the same as the lifestyle was: “simple and austere. ” The people of the time were just simply not worried about feeling the need to eat fast and move on to better things than eating. They were significantly more concerned with enjoying the food sitting on the table in front of them and enjoying the moment. By enjoying their meals, they were able to enjoy the other components of their lives and from there, to essentially enjoy life to its fullest. “Carpe diem. Essentially, they enjoyed the most simple things in life. Nowadays, people are far more concerned with living a fast-paced lifestyle filled with luxury, money, and speed than tasting and savoring the many flavors present in their foods. Moreover, the foods during those ancient times were a lot healthier, consisting of mostly grains and vegetables. Now in our present society, while there is much more variety to the things we eat, there are also a lot more fats, greases, and various oils. Tons of present day traditions hold meat in the highest regard of any other food group.
We enjoy that most meals include some sort of meat, and more often than not, a very large amount of it if not multiple kinds of meat. People hold barbeques where the main event is the meat being cooked on the smoky grill surrounded by laughter. The meat actually brings people together and leads to a feeling of belonging and happiness. In stark contrast, dining during ancient times rarely even had any meat at all. There are records of people complaining when they had to rely on meat to eat as opposed to their normal delicacies of delicious vegetables.
They simply did not like the taste or texture. For people concerned with enjoying their food to the fullest, this is a terrible dilemma. It is not one our society can easily understand. We see it every single day on television, we hear it on the radio, and we create our own experiences of many children’s complete and utter distaste for various varieties of vegetables. Many children and people detest anything green, some children and people hate carrots for reasons of their own, and a few people and children despise all vegetables in general. In ncient Rome however, everyone simply loved vegetables. It was these very vegetables that were eaten the most often. Cato tells us that raw vegetables were often eaten with vinegar and cooked vegetables were often eaten with Olive Oil. These additions added flavor and were far more healthy than the additives with which we have made ourselves familiar in modern day. Additional contrast shows the additional fats present nowadays because of our society’s love for butter and many other additives that contain various fats, unnecessary carbohydrates, and other disgusting oils.

Odd to think about for modern American’s is that Romans were not familiar with potatoes, wheat as from the America’s, and corn. We often see thee items present in most modern meals in some form or another. Almost every fast food meal from any fast food restaurant comes with French Fries unless another “healthier” option is specifically selected by the consumer making the order. The closest alternative during Roman times was bread, which was used for most traditions including wedding ceremonies and other important events to the people.
Another American tradition includes that of consuming alcohol, sometimes so much as on the daily. Whether for a party or some sort of escape from reality in excessively depressive situations, people flock to the bars and night clubs periodically for an alcoholic therapy of sorts. In the past during those times, Romans would drink wine with every single meal, but it was not for the same reasons as are present in modern times. They enjoyed the wide range of flavors present in the wines for the same reasons that they tried to enjoy their foods to the fullest: they simply wanted to enjoy their lives.
They would drink wine as frequently as present-day society enjoys soda, water, and tea when we go out to eat and even in our homes after grocery shopping. The increase in traditional use and consumption of bread also increased that of wine. In all reality throughout the decades, in history and in present, this makes sense. When you eat more bread, you are bound to be thirstier, and wine then comes into play as a quencher for that thirst. Especially during those times, the bread was excessively coarse and made of rough grain. It was far rougher than the grain with which we have familiarized ourselves with now.
It caused a drying out of the mouth even worse than we are now familiar with. During the times of ancient Rome and its marvelous glory days of ruling the world, the foods were the same as the lifestyle was: “simple and austere. ” The people of the time were just simply not worried about feeling the need to eat fast and move on to better things than eating. They were significantly more concerned with enjoying the food sitting on the table in front of them and enjoying the moment. By enjoying their meals, they were able to enjoy the other components of their lives and from there, to essentially enjoy life to its fullest. Carpe diem. ” They enjoyed the most simple things in life. Nowadays, people are far more concerned with living a fast-paced lifestyle filled with luxury, money, and speed than tasting and savoring the many flavors present in their foods. Moreover, the foods during those ancient times were a lot healthier, consisting of mostly grains and vegetables. Now in our present society, while there is much more variety to the things we eat, there are also a lot more fats, greases, and oils. It was easier to live and let live during those times, and it can all be shown in their food and dining.

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