Guides

Puls was one of the most enduring staples of Roman cookery: a thick porridge made from grains, water or stock, and whatever flavourings a household could…

The Roman cult of Bacchus is often reduced to images of wild banquets, drunkenness, and ecstatic crowds. The historical picture is more complex. Bacchus,…

At Deir el-Medina, on the western bank of the Nile at ancient Thebes, skilled artisans lived with their families while building and decorating royal tombs.…

Roman cooks had a remarkably direct way of making vegetables taste complete: they combined the savoury depth of fermented fish sauce with the fragrance and…

At an ancient Greek symposion, food supported conversation, ritual, hospitality, and pleasure. Wine was diluted in a mixing bowl, guests reclined around the…

Few ancient spices carry such a strong visual identity as saffron. The fine red stigmas of the crocus flower, gathered by hand and used in tiny quantities,…

Roman baking was closely tied to the seasons, the wine harvest and the household hearth. Among the most evocative recipes preserved from this world is…

Across Iron Age Europe, the cauldron was more than a practical cooking vessel. It was a centre of communal life, a marker of hospitality, and a powerful object…

For the ancient Greeks, octopus was a familiar food of the Aegean coast, gathered from rocky shallows and sold in busy ports. It could be grilled over embers,…

Roman garum was far more than a pungent seasoning. It was a traded food, an industrial product, a marker of taste and status, and a reliable source of revenue…