4 ms·

Agree. Would be awesome for someone to open a replica nearby with close enough food served within.

tsimionescu 5y ago
Not sure about Pompeii specifically but from what I've heard of food in the Roman empire, tastes have changed dramatically since then. I'm afraid a historic restaurant would often be either disgusting or very far from historical. There might exist more common ground, but people in the empire ate things like field mouse.
- pimeys 5y ago
  I also heard the more esoteric food was something the rich ate, but the food for common people is something that is still served and delicious. https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20210719-what-did-the-ancient-romans-eat https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20210719-what-did-the-anc...
- inciampati 5y ago
  If you enjoy modern foods from all around the world, it's very unlikely that you wouldn't enjoy Roman food. Things have changed since 2kya, but not that much. Although ingredients and tastes have changed somewhat, many of the same food products are used in extremely similar forms in exactly the same region. Not everyone was chasing the complexity of the elite Roman table. And to those who claim that complex flavors like garum are now out of vogue or disgusting, I present the modern equivalent: colatura di alici (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colatura_di_alici https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colatura_di_alici), an ingredient in classic, typical dishes from south Italy. Field mouse sounds tasty. Can't be far from cui.
  - black6 5y ago
    Worcestershire sauce is another garum analogue.
  - viggity 5y ago
    I've had cui (mostly to share pictures). I thought it was good, but idk how field mouse would be. Cui (guinea pig for the uninitiated) has a decent amount of meat on it. Field mice are so tiny, a chicken wing has has to have more meat on it. I'm presuming that when they ate field mice 2000 years ago, they're eating the entire thing with all organs except for maybe the intestines.
    - floren 5y ago
      The mice were fattened in a special vessel (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glirarium https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glirarium) which tricked them into preparing for hibernation, which fattened them up significantly. Still probably not a lot in them.
- Nition 5y ago
  The list of foods in the article sounds fine for modern tastes (apart from the snails maybe). I'm sure it would have been prepared very differently, but that never stopped us calling things "Chinese food" etc in the west.
  - zeitg3ist 5y ago
    Not sure what you mean by "modern tastes" but snails are still widely eaten in regional recipes throughout Italy.
  - thaumasiotes 5y ago
    > but that never stopped us calling things "Chinese food" etc in the west. I once collected a quote from a writeup on dailywtf, an aside that went: "I should mention that I mean real Chinese food, not that non-deep-fried stuff they serve over in China." The intended joke, obviously, is on people who think the American label "Chinese food" must reflect something similar to the food they have in China. After spending years in Shanghai, eating local food, seeing the ads in bakery windows for "FRIED COOKIES", I still find the quote funny, but mostly for the idea that they might serve non-fried food in China. There is some, but it is most certainly not the norm.
  - dandellion 5y ago
    Here in Spain at least snails are still very common.
    - _0ffh 5y ago
      Yes, also France and parts of Germany.
  - wil421 5y ago
    Lots of nicer places serve snails where I am in the Southern US. You can buy cans of them at the grocery and all you need is the shells to serve them in. A little garlic and parsley butter is all you need.
  - crispyambulance 5y ago
- Ichthypresbyter 5y ago
  Dormice not fieldmice- and I think they still eat those in parts of Central Europe, particularly Slovenia and Croatia.
  - otto2 5y ago
    It might be. However, I am from these parts of the world, and never heard of it.
Gravityloss 5y ago
They have those Roman fast food joint ruins on Via Appia too. Highly recommending the aqueduct bike tour. Someone really should build a replica.

Not sure about Pompeii specifically but from what I've heard of food in the Roman empire, tastes have changed dramatically since then. I'm afraid a historic restaurant would often be either disgusting or very far from historical. There might exist more common ground, but people in the empire ate things like field mouse.

pimeys 5y ago
I also heard the more esoteric food was something the rich ate, but the food for common people is something that is still served and delicious. https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20210719-what-did-the-ancient-romans-eat https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20210719-what-did-the-anc...
inciampati 5y ago
If you enjoy modern foods from all around the world, it's very unlikely that you wouldn't enjoy Roman food. Things have changed since 2kya, but not that much. Although ingredients and tastes have changed somewhat, many of the same food products are used in extremely similar forms in exactly the same region. Not everyone was chasing the complexity of the elite Roman table. And to those who claim that complex flavors like garum are now out of vogue or disgusting, I present the modern equivalent: colatura di alici (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colatura_di_alici https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colatura_di_alici), an ingredient in classic, typical dishes from south Italy. Field mouse sounds tasty. Can't be far from cui.
- black6 5y ago
  Worcestershire sauce is another garum analogue.
- viggity 5y ago
  I've had cui (mostly to share pictures). I thought it was good, but idk how field mouse would be. Cui (guinea pig for the uninitiated) has a decent amount of meat on it. Field mice are so tiny, a chicken wing has has to have more meat on it. I'm presuming that when they ate field mice 2000 years ago, they're eating the entire thing with all organs except for maybe the intestines.
  - floren 5y ago
    The mice were fattened in a special vessel (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glirarium https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glirarium) which tricked them into preparing for hibernation, which fattened them up significantly. Still probably not a lot in them.
Nition 5y ago
The list of foods in the article sounds fine for modern tastes (apart from the snails maybe). I'm sure it would have been prepared very differently, but that never stopped us calling things "Chinese food" etc in the west.
- zeitg3ist 5y ago
  Not sure what you mean by "modern tastes" but snails are still widely eaten in regional recipes throughout Italy.
- thaumasiotes 5y ago
  > but that never stopped us calling things "Chinese food" etc in the west. I once collected a quote from a writeup on dailywtf, an aside that went: "I should mention that I mean real Chinese food, not that non-deep-fried stuff they serve over in China." The intended joke, obviously, is on people who think the American label "Chinese food" must reflect something similar to the food they have in China. After spending years in Shanghai, eating local food, seeing the ads in bakery windows for "FRIED COOKIES", I still find the quote funny, but mostly for the idea that they might serve non-fried food in China. There is some, but it is most certainly not the norm.
- dandellion 5y ago
  Here in Spain at least snails are still very common.
  - _0ffh 5y ago
    Yes, also France and parts of Germany.
- wil421 5y ago
  Lots of nicer places serve snails where I am in the Southern US. You can buy cans of them at the grocery and all you need is the shells to serve them in. A little garlic and parsley butter is all you need.
- crispyambulance 5y ago
Ichthypresbyter 5y ago
Dormice not fieldmice- and I think they still eat those in parts of Central Europe, particularly Slovenia and Croatia.
- otto2 5y ago
  It might be. However, I am from these parts of the world, and never heard of it.

Gravityloss 5y ago

They have those Roman fast food joint ruins on Via Appia too. Highly recommending the aqueduct bike tour. Someone really should build a replica.