ALITER PATINA DE ASPARAGIS (Asparagus Patina)

(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 through a food mill. Add with the spices to the puree and mix in a mixture of reduced sweet wine and liquamen, plus a bit of oil, enough to moisten the puree but not to turn it soupy. Put all of the mixture into a greased oven-proof, shallow dish; garnish with reserved asparagus. Beat eggs as for scrambling and pour over the puree when it is thoroughly heated in a 325F oven, pushing it to make uneven pools to receive the eggs; continue to bake until eggs are set, sprinkle with freshly ground pepper and serve.

 

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This is the oldest existing Basilica, dating back to the 2nd century B.C. The seat of the law courts was here and commercial and financial transactions also took place. After a portico comes the main entrance, which opened on the forum and, differently from the majority of basilicas, is located on one of the building’s short sides. The tribunal, part of the Basilica where the law-courts were, was on the short side, opposite the entrance, and consisted in a two meter high podium on top of which were six Corinthian columns. There are no stairs to the podium, this suggests that it could only be reached through wooden stairs, which could be removed in order to separate the ... continue

(Apic. 4, 2, 12) Ingredients:

• Leftovers of cooked fish
• 5 grains pepper
• 5 leaves rue
• Liquamen (or 2 tblsp soya sauce + 2 tsp anchovy paste)
• 2 tblsp oil
• 2 eggs
• Seaweed

Instructions:
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Finely chop enough baked or boiled fish to fill a casserole dish of the size you want to use. Pulverize pepper and rue, add Liquamen, oil and raw eggs, then whip. Pour the mixture over the fish and mesh. Gently place sea nettles on top, taking care to see they do not mix with the eggs. Cook by steaming so that the seaweed ... 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.