Food and Culture: Roman Introductions and Interpretations in NW Europe

This essay examines the foods introduced to Northwestern Europe during the Roman period, exploring the origins of Roman cuisine, dietary habits, and the impact of these introductions on the region. It details the vegetables, cereals, and other foods brought by the Romans, such as garlic, onions, wheat, and wine, as well as the methods of food preparation and consumption. The essay also analyzes the evidence from archaeological and archaeobotanical investigations to understand the extent of these introductions and their significance. The essay highlights the Roman influence on British food culture, discussing the introduction of new crops and livestock. Furthermore, it addresses how interpretations of the evidence, including trade patterns and socioeconomic factors, contribute to our understanding of Roman food habits. The essay concludes by emphasizing the long-term effects of the Roman presence on the region's culinary landscape and agricultural practices.

What foods were introduced to NW Europe in the Roman
period, and how should we interpret the evidence
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author note

What foods were introduced to NW Europe
in the Roman period
Where did ancient Romans get their food?
What foods did the Romans introduced to Britain?
What vegetables did the ancient Romans eat?
Foods on which the Roman diet are mostly dependent
How did ancient Romans cooks their food?
What type of drinks introduced by the Roman?
Meals of the Roman diet
Main Roman food
Rich Roman Diet

Where did ancient Romans get their food?
The Romans usually ate
food that they could grow
like vegetables and they
used cereals for making
bread (Bakels & Jacomet,
2003). They also ate
animal’s and bird’s meat.
The Romans bring food
from other countries also
in their place.

What foods did the Romans
introduced to Britain?
The Romans introduced various foods to
Britain and has contributed to the long-term
improvements of British by introducing the
vegetable list that is garlic, onions, shallots,
cabbages, peas, celery, turnips, radishes
and asparagus (Orengo & Livarda, 2016).
They introduced various herbs like
rosemary, thyme, bay, basil and the savory
and mint.
They have also introduced the new breeds of
the dram animals like the prized white
cattle.

What vegetables did the ancient
Romans eat?
In addition to soup, they were used
to eat eggs and shellfish. Romans
ate a lot of different fruits and
vegetables. Some of the fruits and
veg they would have eaten
include apples, almonds, beans,
carrots, cabbages, celery,
dates, figs, grapes, mushrooms
pears, plums, pomegranates,
radishes, turnips and many
more(Bakels & Jacomet, 2003).

Foods on which the Roman diet are
mostly dependent
The cereals introduced by Britain made up most of
the people’s diet with the wheat, barley that are
mostly used for making bread and porridge.
Romans also ate wild plants when available. They
also depend upon the fishes and they farmed fish
and shellfish in the artificial salt and the fresh water
ponds (Orengo & Livarda 2016).
Crayfish and crabs were also eaten and shellfish
available included mussels, clams, scallops, and
oysters

How did ancient Romans cooks
their food?
The Romans are mostly found out to prepare
their foods based in their own style that is by
using the simple ovens, roasted various meats
and fishes, the pot-boiled vegetables and the
grain foods. Most of the foods they consumed are
eaten raw only (Van der Veen , 2008).

What type of drinks introduced by
the Roman?
Mostly Romans drink the wine that is mixed
with the other ingredients also. They
usually drink Calda that was considered as
the winter drinks made from wine, exotic
spices and water. They also introduced
Mulsum that is considered as the very
popular wine and the honey mixture
(Livarda, 2011). The Romans mostly did not
favor beer and they rarely drank milk.

Meals of the Roman diet
The ancient Romans did not eat large
meals. However, the rich Romans did enjoy
expensive, varied meals with foods from all
over the Roman Empire. This was because
expensive and lavish meals were a good way to
show off your wealth to others (Van der Veen,
2008).
Romans typically ate three meals per
day. Breakfast was called ientaculum, lunch was
known as prandium and the main meal was
dinner, which was called cena.

Main Roman food
This was a thick stew made mostly from wheat,
millet and corn. Some Romans would add cooked
meat, offals or a wine sauce depending on how rich
they were (Livarda, 2011).

Rich Roman diets
Rich Romans held
elaborate dinner parties in
the triclinium (dining room).
These parties often lasted up to
eight hours. The Romans did
not sit on chairs around the
table like we do today. Instead
the adults lay on sloping
couches situated around a
square table. Only small
children or slaves were
permitted to eat sitting (Livarda,
2011).

How should we interpret the evidence
Interpretation
As stated by the , the Archaebotanical
investigations interprets that during the
Roman Occupation, large number of foods
were introduced in the Central Europe though
these did not replace any traditional foods.
This study interprets that through the
archaeological interpretitions it is found out
that they comprises rices, black pepper,
almond, pine, olive and others to some extent.