All of the ephemera that is far too trivial to be bothered with elsewhere on this site or, depending on your point of view, a meta-commentary on it. This ephemera includes, but is not limited to art, music and literature. Most of the content here will be discussed in terms that are as abstract as possible, reality being a singularly overrated concept.
Saturday, July 10, 2004
Roy Strong has published a history of banqueting and eating. It's full of fascinating details, from the Roman banquets with dormice dipped in honey and poppy seed to the advent of sugar and forks. But this part particularly stood out:
"It is clear that Roman palates were tuned to a different set of tastes than our own. As Strong observes, "in spite of their theoretical taste for simplicity, the Romans disliked any ingredient in its pure form. There is hardly a recipe without a sauce, one that radically changes the taste of the principal ingredient." Sweet sauces abounded on meat (as with those honey-dipped dormice). Fish were served sweet-and-sour. From Britannia to Berytus (today's Beirut) a salty fish sauce called garum traveled the Mediterranean trade routes to serve as the Roman version of Worcestershire sauce (present-day Thai and Vietnamese fish sauce is made with similar ingredients and has a similar taste). Some ancient Roman snacks still persist today as Italian street food: the salted beans called lupini and roasted chestnuts."
I've heard comments of this kind before; for instance, regarding the contrast between garish Roman tastes in interior decoration and our more minimal preferences. In each case, I usually find myself siding with the Romans...
