CUCURBITAS MORE ALEXANDRINO (Alexandrine Squash)

(Apic. 3, 4, 3) Ingredients:

• 1 gourd (or courgette, small pumpkin or squash)
• peppercorns
• cumin
• coriander seeds
• 3 - 4 mint leaves, shredded
• 1 garlic
• 3 tbsp vinegar
• 50 g dates, finely chopped
• 50 g blanched almonds, finely chopped
• 2 tbsp clear honey
• 60 ml Liquamen (or, in this case, vegetable stock)
• 4 tbsp Defritum (or Wine or Grape Juice reduced by two thirds)
• 20 ml olive oil (or 25g butter)
• Sea salt to taste

Instructions:
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Cut the gourd, courgette or squash into chunks. Place these into a steamer and cook until done. Place the cooked flesh into a muslin bag or a dishcloth and squeeze out the excess water. Transfer the remaining pulp to a saucepan. Whilst the squash is cooking, put the dried spices in a pestle and mortar and grind. Next add the mint and garlic, grinding to a smooth paste. Spoon this from the mortar and add to the cooked squash. Next add the dates, almonds and all the liquid ingredients, including the honey. Finally add the oil or butter and mix with the squash. Place the resulting mixture back on the heat and simmer gently for a few minutes for the flavours to combine. Serve immediately sprinkled with salt and black pepper.

 

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Leaving the Forum now and heading along Via del Foro to the corner of Via della Fortuna, we find the Temple of Fortuna Augusta built at the expense of Marcus Tullius, a relative of the famous orator Cicero. This benefactor, an eminent citizen of Pompeii and twice Duumvir in the Augustan age, even went so far as to create the position of minister of the cult. The temple consequently acquired a political connotation, which was spread through the diffusion of the imperial cult. Hence whenever a new emperor succeeded to the throne, the ministers immediately had a statue build and placed in the temple along with a stone slab to commemorate the event. This fairly small bu ... continue

(Apic. 4, 2, 6) Ingredients:

• 1 lb. asparagus
• 1/4 cup wine (rose or vernaccia)
• 1 small onion
• 2 or 3 medium eggs
• Peppercorns
• Lovage
• Coriander
• Savory to taste
• Olive oil
• Liquamen

Instructions:
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Make a puree of asparagus and 1/4 cup of wine, reserving some tips foor a garnish. Bray in a clean mortar the pepper and herbs (quantity your call; half the fun of Roman cookery is the continual tasting and estimating of cumulative effect). Grate the onion or put thro ... continue

Love was a common topic of conversation in Pompeii. Feelings, passions, poetic love, sex, homosexuality, prostitution and so forth were all part of daily life and not a source of prejudice. The concept of “obscenity” seems to have been unknown. Love and sex were considered earthly practices of a man’s life that were encouraged by the benevolence of Venus. The thousands of examples of graffiti found on the town’s walls are unequivocal proof of what the people of Pompeii thought about love and sex.