Did the Romans eat out?

Ordinary Romans in big towns and cities all over the empire lived in apartments or in rooms above shops. Some of them did their cooking over a fire in a metal frame, known today as a brazier. But most of these buildings were made of wood and there were often serious fires.

Various emperors declared that cooking in apartments was illegal. People had to go out to eat, or buy take-away food. They bought from street vendors salt, sausages and peas pudding were on sale in Rome.

You are looking at a take-away bar and restaurant in the harbor city of Ostia, near Rome. It looks out over a street that once teamed with townspeople, traders and seafarers.

If you were rich enough to have a house with a kitchen and slaves to do the cooking, you could eat a great variety of foods. The Romans liked lots of flavors in their dishes.

They used herbs and spices such as coriander, oregano, fennel, mint, thyme, sage, nutmeg, cardamom, cumin, pepper and ginger. They loved sauces, especially liquamen, made from salted fish and fish insides. Here are two Roman recipes:

Cabbages with leeks: “Put the boiled cabbages into a shallow saucepan and season wth liquamen, oil, ordinary wine and cumin. Sprinkle with pepper, leeks, caraway seeds andfresh coriander. ”

Home-made sweets: “Stuffed dates: Take the stones out ofthe dates and stuff with nuts, pine kernels or ground pepper. Roll them in salt andfry in warmed honey’

Some Roman Words:

Amphora: two-handled container for wine, olive oil or fish sauce

Cena: dinner

Ientaculum: breakfast

Mortarium: mortar for grinding food or spices

Popina: take-away and restaurant

Prandium: lunch

Triclinium: dining room