Cookery and Dining in Imperial Rome

Product Details

Oldest known cookbook in existence offers readers a clear picture of what foods Romans ate, how they prepared them. Actual recipes—from fig fed pork and salt fish balls in wine sauce to pumpkin Alexander style, nut custard turnovers and rose pie. 49 illustrations.

Customer Reviews ::

With all the background needed to understand it, why bother? - Brian Connors - Cape Cod, MA
I rather wish there was a more recent, open-content translation of Apicius. Vehling's was long known to be borderline-horrible, but sadly this is probably the only readily available translation for the casual cook in English. Beyond that I've not much to say about the translation; others far more conversant with Latin than I have commented at length on it.

This book doesn't lack for other flaws though. For one thing, Vehling's ranting, somewhat sniffy tone is weirdly remniscent of German-speaking cranks such as Petr Beckmann (Czech) and Erich von Däniken (Swiss) -- it makes for rather strange and uncomfortable reading, as if a chef with a stereotypical mad scientist accent is shouting at you. Another issue -- Vehling freely confuses and substitutes New World ingredients without saying much of anything about the Old World ingredients being replaced (he mentions pumpkins quite frequently, for example, and gives "broth" for the fish sauce liquamen when Worcestershire sauce would probably be more appropriate in the early 20th century; both are nearly inexcusable errors for a supposedly scholarly work). Finally, the typography is abysmal, with the recipes translated from the Latin presented in all caps, enhancing the "shouting" effect of Vehling's prose.

The book isn't irredeemable, necessarily. With some extra background (most readily available in FAQ documents and the like on the internet) it can be quite a serviceable introduction to upper-class Roman cuisine. The question is, however... there is a very good chance that this book might be someone's first introduction to Roman cookery. How are they going to know to go looking for more background while reading?