"Around the ROMAN TABLE" Chapter 1

      I started to read the food related book, "Around the ROMAN TABLE".  

  

  The author of this book is Patrick Faas. He is famous as a historian, and often appears on

European television. 

    The book is organized from not only roman history, but also from recipes.  In the first

 chapter, the history of Rome is covered from the royal era up to the imperial era, touching

upon meals and their various flavor profiles. The second chapter is narrated from the

perspective of where food originates in nature.

  There are some reviews about this book. Some of readers said these are the good points

 that the recipes are arranged for us ( if the ingredients are difficult to get, the author

 arranges it with ingredients we often use), and we can learn about ancient roman foods 

and dishes with history. Others say that as the evidence for the event is insufficient or

 unclear, its reliability as a sorce of information is not high.

    Through reading this book, I would like to gain the knowledge about the manner of

 ancient roman people. In this semester, I'm learning about the roman history, especially

 

about Greece. I have an image of them loving to fight, especially since they had things like

 the Colosseum. Because of that, I'm curious about what kind of diet they ate. When I

 looked at the illustrations in a book, I saw a lot of cooking tools that we don't see

 nowadays, so I'd also like to know how they were used. In Addition, since they were in a

 primitive cooking environment without electricity, I would love to learn how they

 managed to preserve and cook food.

    In chapter 1, through the history of Roman food, we can learn three major things about

 how their society and culture changed over time.

    First, Roman cuisine started as simple and practical. Early Romans relied on basic

 farming and ate mostly grains, vegetables, and pork. 

    Second, their dining habits were shaped by foreign influences. Around 616 BC, Romans

 learned new cultural styles from their neighbors, the Etruscans and Greeks. This contact

 introduced the famous Roman tradition of reclining on large couches while enjoying a

 meal.

    Third, empire expansion led to luxury and greed. As Rome won wars and opened trade

 routes to Asia, rare spices and exotic foods were conveied  to the city. Wealthy Romans

 grew with status that they began eating flamingo, camel, and dolphin, eventually forcing

 the government to pass strict laws to limit dinner spending.

      I would like to read chapter 2, and after reading, I introduce the content!