A Handbook of Food Processing in Classical Rome: For Her Bounty No Winter (Technology & Change in History, 9)

Rome was able to support a huge urban population by providing it with the rudiments of human nutrition in the form of processed foods. This volume contains a careful analysis of those food processes. The work is organized on the basis of the presumed importance of those foods, beginning with the so-called Mediterranean Triad of cereals (particularly wheaten bread), olive oil and wine, then dealing with plant products such as legumes, vegetables and fruits, then animal products, and ending with the condiments (salts, sugars, acids, spices) which were themselves the agents for the preservation of other foods. The work combines analysis of literary and archaeological evidence from antiquity with that of traditional comparative practices and modern food science. CONTENTS 6 LIST OF FIGURES 8 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 10 INTRODUCTION 12 CHAPTER ONE CEREALS 24 Introduction 24 Roman Cereal Grains 28 Parching 31 Threshing 33 Winnowing 34 Ensilage 34 Braying of Porridge Grains 43 Milling of Bread Grains 48 Bolting 63 Breadmaking 67 Leavening 70 Kneading 75 CHAPTER TWO OLIVES 84 Background 85 Processing 88 Harvesting 89 Cleaning 91 Warehousing 94 Pulping 98 Pressing 103 Separation of Oil 114 Clarification 119 CHAPTER THREE WINE 122 Biochemistry 124 Harvest 127 The Winery 129 Treading the Grapes 132 Pressing 135 Fermentation 139 Chaptalization 143 Cellaring 147 Clarification 156 Infections 157 Modification 161 Aging 166 Other Wines 172 Tapping 174 CHAPTER FOUR LEGUMES, VEGETABLES AND FRUITS 176 Legumes 177 Vegetables 180 Fruits 184 CHAPTER FIVE ANIMAL PRODUCTS 200 Milk Products 200 Soured Milk Products 202 Cheese 204 Meat 218 Fowl 219 Mammals 220 Fish 233 CHAPTER SIX CONDIMENTS 244 Salt 245 Sugars 258 Acids 269 Spices 274 EPILOGUE 284 BIBLIOGRAPHY 288 INDEX 298