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Roman Luxury Cuisine
The cuisine of ancient Rome changed greatly over the duration of the civilization's existence. Dietary habits were affected by the political changes from kingdom to republic to empire, and the empire's enormous expansion, which exposed Romans to many new provincial culinary habits and cooking methods. In the beginning, dietary differences between Roman social classes were not great, but disparities developed with the empire's growth. Archaeology Most organic foods decay under ordinary conditions, but ashes and animal bones offer some archaeological details about the Ancient Roman diet. Phytoliths have been found at a cemetery in Tarragona, Spain. Imported figs were among the charred foods preserved when Boudica and her army burned down a Roman shop in Colchester. Chickpeas and bowls of fruit are known from Herculaneum, preserved since Vesuvius destroyed the town in 79 AD. Remains of small fish bones, sea urchin spines and mineralized plants have survived in the city's sewers; ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Still Life With Eggs, Birds And Bronze Dishes, Pompeii
A still is an apparatus used to distill liquid mixtures by heating to selectively boil and then cooling to condense the vapor. A still uses the same concepts as a basic distillation apparatus, but on a much larger scale. Stills have been used to produce perfume and medicine, water for injection (WFI) for pharmaceutical use, generally to separate and purify different chemicals, and to produce distilled beverages containing ethanol. Application Since ethanol boils at a much lower temperature than water, simple distillation can separate ethanol from water by applying heat to the mixture. Historically, a copper vessel was used for this purpose, since copper removes undesirable sulfur-based compounds from the alcohol. However, many modern stills are made of stainless steel pipes with copper linings to prevent erosion of the entire vessel and lower copper levels in the waste product (which in large distilleries is processed to become animal feed). Copper is the preferred materi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sanitation In Ancient Rome
Sanitation in ancient Rome, acquired from the Etruscans, was well advanced compared to other ancient cities and provided water supply and sanitation services to residents of Rome. Although there were many sewers, public latrines, baths and other sanitation infrastructure, disease was still rampant. The baths are known to symbolise the "great hygiene of Rome". Infrastructure Sewer systems History It is estimated that the first sewers of ancient Rome were built around 500 BC by the Etruscans, in imitation of the Etruscans. These early drainage systems were underground channels made to drain rainwater as it might wash away topsoil. Also, ditches were used to drain swamps such as the Pontine Marshes and subterranean channels were used to drain marshy channels. Drainage systems evolved slowly and began primarily as a means to drain marshes and storm runoff. The sewers were mainly for the removal of surface drainage and underground water. The sewage system as a whole did not dram ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lares
Lares ( , ; archaic , singular ''Lar'') were guardian deities in ancient Roman religion. Their origin is uncertain; they may have been hero-ancestors, guardians of the hearth, fields, boundaries, or fruitfulness, or an amalgam of these. Lares were believed to observe, protect, and influence all that happened within the boundaries of their location or function. The statues of domestic Lares were placed at the table during family meals; their presence, cult, and blessing seem to have been required at all important family events. Roman writers sometimes identify or conflate them with ancestor-deities, domestic Penates, and the hearth. Because of these associations, Lares are sometimes categorised as household gods, but some had much broader domains. Roadways, seaways, agriculture, livestock, towns, cities, the state, and its military were all under the protection of their particular Lar or Lares. Those who protected local neighbourhoods ('' vici'') were housed in the crossroad ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Peristyle
In ancient Greek and Roman architecture, a peristyle (; from Greek ) is a continuous porch formed by a row of columns surrounding the perimeter of a building or a courtyard. Tetrastoön ( grc, τετράστῳον or τετράστοον, lit=four arcades, label=none) is a rarely used archaic term for this feature. The peristyle in a Greek temple is a peristasis (). In the Christian ecclesiastical architecture that developed from the Roman basilica, a courtyard peristyle and its garden came to be known as a cloister. Etymology The Greek word περίστυλον ''perístylon'' is composed of περί ''peri'', "around" or "surrounded", and στῦλος ''stylos'', "column" or "pillar", together meaning "surrounded by columns/pillars". It was Latinised into synonyms ''peristylum'' and ''peristylium''. In Roman architecture In rural settings, a wealthy Roman could surround a villa with terraced gardens; within the city, Romans created their gardens inside the '' domus''. The ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pastry
Pastry is baked food made with a dough of flour, water and shortening (solid fats, including butter or lard) that may be savoury or sweetened. Sweetened pastries are often described as '' bakers' confectionery''. The word "pastries" suggests many kinds of baked products made from ingredients such as flour, sugar, milk, butter, shortening, baking powder, and eggs. Small tarts and other sweet baked products are called pastries as a synecdoche. Common pastry dishes include pies, tarts, quiches, croissants, and pasties. The French word pâtisserie is also used in English (with or without the accent) for the same foods. Originally, the French word referred to anything, such as a meat pie, made in dough (''paste'', later ''pâte'') and not typically a luxurious or sweet product. This meaning still persisted in the nineteenth century, though by then the term more often referred to the sweet and often ornate confections implied today. Pastry can also refer to the pastry dough, from w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pompeii
Pompeii (, ) was an ancient city located in what is now the ''comune'' of Pompei near Naples in the Campania region of Italy. Pompeii, along with Herculaneum and many villas in the surrounding area (e.g. at Boscoreale, Stabiae), was buried under of volcanic ash and pumice in the Eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD. Largely preserved under the ash, the excavated city offered a unique snapshot of Roman life, frozen at the moment it was buried, although much of the detailed evidence of the everyday life of its inhabitants was lost in the excavations. It was a wealthy town, with a population of ca. 11,000 in AD 79, enjoying many fine public buildings and luxurious private houses with lavish decorations, furnishings and works of art which were the main attractions for the early excavators. Organic remains, including wooden objects and human bodies, were interred in the ash. Over time, they decayed, leaving voids that archaeologists found could be used as moulds to make plaste ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Legume
A legume () is a plant in the family Fabaceae (or Leguminosae), or the fruit or seed of such a plant. When used as a dry grain, the seed is also called a pulse. Legumes are grown agriculturally, primarily for human consumption, for livestock forage and silage, and as soil-enhancing green manure. Well-known legumes include beans, soybeans, chickpeas, peanuts, lentils, lupins, mesquite, carob, tamarind, alfalfa, and clover. Legumes produce a botanically unique type of fruit – a simple dry fruit that develops from a simple carpel and usually dehisces (opens along a seam) on two sides. Legumes are notable in that most of them have symbiotic nitrogen-fixing bacteria in structures called root nodules. For that reason, they play a key role in crop rotation. Terminology The term ''pulse'', as used by the United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), is reserved for legume crops harvested solely for the dry seed. This excludes green beans and green peas, which a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nut (food)
A nut is a fruit consisting of a hard or tough nutshell protecting a kernel which is usually edible. In general usage and in a culinary sense, a wide variety of dry seeds are called nuts, but in a botanical context "nut" implies that the shell does not open to release the seed (indehiscent). Most seeds come from fruits that naturally free themselves from the shell, but this is not the case in nuts such as hazelnuts, chestnuts, and acorns, which have hard shell walls and originate from a compound ovary. The general and original usage of the term is less restrictive, and many nuts (in the culinary sense), such as almonds, pecans, pistachios, walnuts, and Brazil nuts, are not nuts in a botanical sense. Common usage of the term often refers to any hard-walled, edible kernel as a nut. Nuts are an energy-dense and nutrient-rich food source. Botanical definition A seed is the mature fertilised ovule of a plant; it consists of three parts, the embryo which will develop into a new ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Opium Poppy
''Papaver somniferum'', commonly known as the opium poppy or breadseed poppy, is a species of flowering plant in the family Papaveraceae. It is the species of plant from which both opium and poppy seeds are derived and is also a valuable ornamental plant, grown in gardens. Its native range is probably the eastern Mediterranean, but is now obscured by ancient introductions and cultivation, being naturalized across much of Europe and Asia. This poppy is grown as an agricultural crop on a large scale, for one of three primary purposes. The first is to produce seeds that are eaten by humans, commonly known as poppy seed. The second is to produce opium for use mainly by the pharmaceutical industry. The third is to produce other alkaloids, mainly thebaine and oripavine, that are processed by the pharmaceutical industry into drugs such as hydrocodone and oxycodone. Each of these goals has special breeds that are targeted at one of these businesses, and breeding efforts (including biotec ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cabbage
Cabbage, comprising several cultivars of ''Brassica oleracea'', is a leafy green, red (purple), or white (pale green) biennial plant grown as an annual vegetable crop for its dense-leaved heads. It is descended from the wild cabbage ( ''B. oleracea'' var. ''oleracea''), and belongs to the "cole crops" or brassicas, meaning it is closely related to broccoli and cauliflower (var. ''botrytis''); Brussels sprouts (var. ''gemmifera''); and Savoy cabbage (var. ''sabauda''). A cabbage generally weighs between . Smooth-leafed, firm-headed green cabbages are the most common, with smooth-leafed purple cabbages and crinkle-leafed savoy cabbages of both colours being rarer. Under conditions of long sunny days, such as those found at high northern latitudes in summer, cabbages can grow quite large. , the heaviest cabbage was . Cabbage heads are generally picked during the first year of the plant's life cycle, but plants intended for seed are allowed to grow a second year and must be ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lentil
The lentil (''Lens culinaris'' or ''Lens esculenta'') is an edible legume. It is an annual plant known for its lens-shaped seeds. It is about tall, and the seeds grow in pods, usually with two seeds in each. As a food crop, the largest producer is Canada, producing 45% of the world’s total lentils. In cuisines of the Indian subcontinent, where lentils are a staple, split lentils (often with their hulls removed) known as dal are often cooked into a thick curry/gravy that is usually eaten with rice or '' rotis''. Botanical description Name Many different names in different parts of the world are used for the crop lentil. The first use of the word ''lens'' to designate a specific genus was in the 16th century by the botanist Tournefort. The word "lens" for the lentil is of classical Roman/Latin origin: McGee points out that a prominent Roman family took the name " Lentulus", just as the family name "Cicero" was derived from the chickpea, '' Cicer arietinum'', or ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Flax
Flax, also known as common flax or linseed, is a flowering plant, ''Linum usitatissimum'', in the family Linaceae. It is cultivated as a food and fiber crop in regions of the world with temperate climates. Textiles made from flax are known in Western countries as linen and are traditionally used for bed sheets, underclothes, and table linen. Its oil is known as linseed oil. In addition to referring to the plant, the word "flax" may refer to the unspun fibers of the flax plant. The plant species is known only as a cultivated plant and appears to have been domesticated just once from the wild species ''Linum bienne'', called pale flax. The plants called "flax" in New Zealand are, by contrast, members of the genus ''Phormium''. Description Several other species in the genus ''Linum'' are similar in appearance to ''L. usitatissimum'', cultivated flax, including some that have similar blue flowers, and others with white, yellow, or red flowers. Some of these are perennial pla ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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