Academic literature on the topic 'De re coquinaria (Apicius)'

Numerous stories are attached to that notorious Roman gourmand Marcus Gavius Apicius: his greed was legendary and so apparently was his skill - but skill in what exactly? This article will attempt to disentangle the evidence for Apicius the man (or men) from the text that bears his name: the recipe collection known as de re coquinaria that we often, almost for convenience sake, attribute to one or other of the Apicii. In doing so we will look at the nature of cooks and cooking in the Roman world, particularly in relation to the food texts. I will argue that the recipe collection was in fact written entirely by slave cooks rather then anyone from the elite and as such is a remarkable survival.

Two issues were raised in the article entitled „Dishes at Nasidien’s feast (Horatius, Saturae II 8) and Apicius’ De re coquinaria”. First, comparison of dishes the description of which Horace included in Saturae II 8 with heir analog­ical recipes for these from Apicius’ De re coquinaria. These comparisons lead to the conclusion that, even in Augustan times, developing the culinary art had its supporters and that the chefs were trying to surprise symposium participants with new ideas, which made them experiment in this area all the time. An example of such efforts, among the others, is the method of making a sauce which was used to put on Nasidien’s moray, or wild pigeons whose croups had been cut off. On the other hand, on the example of De re coquinaria we can observe the evolution of culinary art which attached more and more importance to various kinds of spices used in more and more sophisticated sauces which gave a proper taste to diverse dishes of fish, poultry and game. The other issue, which is still present, is proper understanding and interpretation of these fragments of Horace’s Saturae II 8 where the poet gives us a description of dishes prepared by Nasidien’s chefs. Among the others, attention was drawn to the fact that the notion of faecula Coa (Saturae II. 8. 9) shall not be understood, as assumed before, as dried powdered yeast or wine grounds but rather as a substitute for grape honey described by Isidor (Etymologiae XX 3, 13: „Faecula uva pinguis, decocta usque ad crassitu­dinem mellis, ac refrigata, utilis stomacho”). This understanding of faecula Coa lets us read differently 6-9 verses in Saturae II 8 where the wild boar served by Nasidien was poured over by cheap substitutes, i.e. so called allec sauce (instead of liquamen) and faecula Coa (instead of honey). The Horace’s description, thus, has, in this place an ironic implication. It was also suggested that the 51-53 verses in Saturae II 8, where Nasidien boasts that he was the first one with the idea of boiling eruca sativa (rucola) with inula helenium, should be linked with previous verses which give the description of the sauce used for pouring over moray as eruca sativa boiled with inula helenium did not form a new dish but it was an ingredient of the mentioned sauce. Information about liver of a white goose fed with figs in Saturae II 8, 88 deserves special attention. We cannot find this dish recipe in Apicius’ De re coquinaria. However, we learn from the Plinius’ account that it was Apicius who invented a new method of preparing goose liver (Plinius, Historia naturalis VIII 209: Adhibetur et ars iecori feminarium sicut anserum, inventum M. Apici, fico arida saginatis ac satie necatis repente mulsi potu dato). This method involved feeding those birds with figs before they were killed. This way ensured that goose liver had a right taste and later wine with honey was add­ed to it. However, according to Horace’s information, which cannot be shaken, the custom of feeding geese with figs had been known before Apicius. As, on the basis of preserved records on Apicius’ life, it is difficult to confirm that he lived in Horace’s times it seems necessary to correct the account of Pilnius and to interpret it in the way that the innovation of Apicius involved only serving liver with some wine with honey (muslum), not feeding geese with figs as this practice had been done much earlier.

This article examines the use of culinary terminology in the recipe book De re coquinaria, by tradition attributed to Apicius. From the analysis of the specialized terms, its use and its technical significance are studied, focussed on two conceptual axes: description of practical procedures (verbs) and naming of material results (nouns). Also it shows the resources for the creation of technical language (as loan translations of Greek and diminutive derivatives) as well as its coincidences with Vulgar Latin. It is concluded that the culinary language in the De re coquinaria and the Vulgar Latin have strong morphological coincidences, but with different expressive values and linguistic uses, which highlights the polysemic character of Latin culinary terminology.

Este estudo procura abordar as diversas utilizações dos legumes de vagem no tratado De re coquinaria de Apicius. Após uma breve identificação do seu autor e de uma contextualização da incontornável obra da antiguidade clássica que é este trado de culinária, parte‑se para uma abordagem específica ao Livro V, cuja temática são os legumes de vagem. Os Romanos cultivam uma multiplicidade de legumes ou leguminosas (legumina), isto é, os legumes de vagem, logo, com grãos. O comércio de legumes secos, torrados, inteiros, em pedaços, ou em farinha é praticado com muita intensidade. Identificam‑se os alimentos, as técnicas e receitas. Finaliza‑se com duas sugestões culinárias que representam um exercício de reconstituição arqueológica e de recriação.

Starting from the evidences contained in the work of Deipnosophistae by Athenaeus of Naucratis, the article provides an overview of informations about authors and works of cuisine of the Greek and Roman period and presents comments about some gastronomic papyrus (P. Heidelberg , inv. G 1701, P. Heid. inv. L 1; the ambiguous P. Mich. 7. 449), attempting to include and recognize them in their proper cultural system, coming up to the parallels that can together be found in the pseudo Apicius’ De re coquinaria (IV AD).

Este artículo examina el uso de la terminología culinaria referida por el recetario De re coquinaria, por tradición atribuido a Apicio. A partir del análisis de términos especializados, se estudia su empleo y su significación técnica, centrado en dos ejes conceptuales: descripción de procedimientos prácticos (verbos) y denominación de realizaciones materiales (sustantivos). Además se muestran recursos de creación del lenguaje técnico latino (como calcos y préstamos lingüísticos del griego y derivación en diminutivo), y se presentan semejanzas de la lengua especializada y el latín vulgar. Se concluye que el lenguaje culinario expresado en el De re coquinaria y el latín vulgar evidencian fuertes coincidencias morfológicas, pero tienen valores expresivos y usos lingüísticos distintos, lo cual pone de manifiesto el carácter polisémico de la terminología culinaria latina.

The purpose of this paper is to re-examine the production and consumption of meat from domesticated animals in Roman Italy using zooarchaeological and textual evidence. The focus is on the proportions of meat from the three main domesticates (cattle, pig, sheep/goat) and their chronological changes.The most important livestock meat eaten by Romans is traditionally considered to have been pork. Certainly there is much more literary evidence for pork than for beef or mutton/goat meat. Such apparent Roman preference for pork is typically seen in Apicius' De re coquinaria, where the preference for pork (11 references) over mutton (2), goat meat (1) and beef (2) is obvious; likewise, the number of references to meat from young animals is much larger for suckling pig meat (22 references) than for lamb (10), kid meat (7) or veal (4). K. D. White considered that “meat was not a prime article of diet … and beef was less important within this restricted range than pork …”. J. M. Frayn believed sheep were reared primarily for wool, not for meat or cheese, and that lamb was eaten only exceptionally. Beef and mutton/goat meat are thus considered to have been of much less importance than pork in the Roman diet.

The main aim of this paper is to analyse the text of the 12th book of Geoponica for the purpose of identification of vegetable plants, which were described by Cassianus Bassus. The analysis will serve as the first step for further inquiries that will include the reconstruction of recipes that require some of the vegetables presented in the text.The text of Geoponica is a basic source learn about the agriculture but also the culinary art of the Byzantine Empire, even though it is rather hard to read due to the complicated style and quite a large number of technical terms (i.e. botanical, agronomical or astrological to name just a few). As already mentioned, the first part of the analysis is to identify the plants mentioned by Bassus, which will allow me to take further steps, i.e. to reconstruct the culinary recipes, in which the plants mentioned by the Author can be found. Without this precise identification, the reconstruction of the recipes would not be possible at all.In the 12th book of his Geoponica Bassus gave descriptions of several plants that should be taken into consideration while planning the garden, mostly for their medicinal or cooking properties. Amongst them, Author mentioned garlic, artichoke, melon, leek, radish, celery, and cucumbers. Having the rather big number of plants narrowed down will allow to demonstrate in vivo how they were served according to De re coquinaria by Apicius and present the practical usage of vegetables proposed by Bassus for cultivation. As Apicius’ cookbook is the only one preserved from Antiquity, it will remain the major source of the recipes presented in this paper.

Italian humanists’ discoveries of ancient texts and printed editions of such ancient works as Lucretius’ De rerum natura, Plato’s Symposium or Apicius’ De re coquinaria strongly influenced the renewal of the Epicurean category of pleasure (voluptas) and created a new approach to eating. Many Italian humanists began emphasizing bodily needs and stressed their importance. We can find these ideas in the works of Lorenzo Valla (De voluptate, 1431), Marsilio Ficino (De voluptate, 1457) or Bartolomeo Platina (the author of the first printed cookbook De honesta voluptate et valetudine, ca. 1465-68) who recognized that food could be also consumed for pleasure. The phenomenon of the philosophical and literary banquet became common practice among Italian, and later also Polish, humanists. Such associations as the Roman Academy, Florentine Academy, or Polish Sodalitas litteraria Vistulana were the place of humanistic discussion, which was valued more than luxurious food. It is reflected in 16th-century Polish poetry (Filippo Buonaccorsi „Callimachus”, Conrad Celtis; Paweł z Krosna; Jan Dantyszek „Dantiscus” and others) and philosophical treaties such as Mikołaj Rej’s Wizerunek własny, 1558, inspired by Palingenius’ Zodiacus vitae, or Łukasz Górnicki’s Dworzanin polski, 1566, inspired by Baldassare Castiglione’s Il corteggiano. The quoted authors recommend moderation in drinking and criticize Polish and German drunkenness. Dining with friends could also serve as remedy for vanitas or all kinds of sorrow, according to the tradition of Anacreontic and Horatian poetry. We can see it clearly in Foricoenia of Jan Kochanowski (1584), where the joy of drinking wine and singing at the table interweaves with reflection on the human condition and vanishing.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 2006.
Title from electronic title page (viewed Oct. 10, 2007). "... in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Department of Romance Languages." Discipline: Romance Languages; Department/School: Romance Languages.