GRUEM VEL ANATEM (Crane or Duck in Spiced Gravy)

(Apic. 6, 2, 1) Ingredients:

• 1 large duck
• 1 l water
• bunch of dill
• Olive oil (or 50 g butter)
• Liquamen (or, in this case, duck stock)
• 2 sprigs of oregano finely chopped
• bunch of coriander
• 100 ml defritum (or red wine boiled)
• large pinch of black peppercorns
• large pinch of lovage (or celery seed)
• large pinch of cumin
• large pinch of coriander seeds
• 1 laser root (or garlic)
• Sprig of rue (or rosemary)
• Caroenum (wine reduced of 1/3 plus honey)
• Honey
• Red wine vinegar
• Flour
• Salt

Instructions:
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Place the duck in a stock pot and cover with water. Add the dill and salt and bring to the boil. Simmer for 30 minutes and remove the bird from the pot, reserving the stock. Place the duck in a roasting tin and season with a mixture of oil and about 150 ml of the original stock and the chopped coriander and oregano. (At this point an 'Apician' stuffing composed of chopped sausages, damsons or dates, chopped almonds and spices may be placed in the bird). Roast the duck at 180°C for 1˝ hours, basting from time to time. For the final 30 minutes of cooking add the boiled red wine to the roasting pan.
To make the sauce grind the peppercorns, celery seeds, cumin, coriander seeds and laser root with a pestle and mortar. Add the chopped rue and grind these in as well. Add the Caroenum, honey and vinegar to this. Pour the mixture into a saucepan. Remove the duck from the oven and set aside to rest. Pour 150ml of the duck gravy into the sauce, add a tablespoon of flour to thicken and bring to a gentle simmer. Carve the duck and place on a platter. Pour the sauce over the top and serve.

 

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This house is situated in a side street on the Via di Nola, which has only been partly excavated and which is named after the house. The house itself is well known for the refined third style decorations, considered to be superior to those found in Rome. The juxtaposition of shiny black walls with interposed yellow bands depicting arabesques and hunting scenes, and the black floor with inlaid pieces of marble is particularly unusual. The decorations in the tablinum are worth close examination and depict landscapes with villas and gardens as well as two mythological paintings. The wall to the left illustrates the marriage of Venus ands Mars while to the right we can ... continue

(Apic. 8, 1, 1) Ingredients:

• Boar meat
• Cumin
• Salt
• Groun pepper
• 2 tbsp honey
• Liquamen (or salt to taste)
• 200 ml caroenum (reduce 500 ml wine to 200 ml)
• 100 ml passum (or dessert wine)

Instructions:
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Remove the bristles and skin of the boar, then scatter over it plenty of sea salt, crushed pepper and coarsely ground roasted cumin. Leave it in the refrigerator for 2-3 days, turning it occasionally. Wild boar can be dry, so wrap it in slices of bacon before you roast it. Then put it into th ... 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.