Roman and Byzantine Food and Dining  

No doubt in Roman as well as Byzantine cultures in fact in almost all cultures, food has played an important part and till now it does play a part in every country’s identity, though back then in the age of empires, the food culture was one way to show how powerful and cultured an empire was.  The emperors, legions, cities with advanced engineering, aqueducts, entertainment, art, music, bathhouses, education, literature, science, and multi-ethnic populations showed the imperial might of both Rome and Byzantium but one thing that shows both how sophisticated Roman/ Byzantine culture was as well as how people lived their daily lives was through food and dining as well the diverse cuisine in their history. Of course with Rome’s location in the Mediterranean it shared many cuisine elements with that of Ancient Greece, Carthage, and the Etruscans having a lot of olive oil, cheese, chickpeas, meat, and fish but with the Roman world expanding north into Europe and east into Western Asia, trade within the vast expanse of the empire built up Rome’s cuisine introducing an unlimited grain supply for Rome from Egypt, eastern herbs and spices as well as cooking methods both barbarians in Europe and civilizations in the east had used.  See illustrations at https://byzantium-blogger.blog/2020/07/05/roman-and-byzantine-food-and-dining/  “Civilized life cannot proceed without salt.” -  Pliny the Elder

Gaius Plinius Secundus (AD 23/24–AD 79), called Pliny the Elder (/ˈplɪni/), was a Roman author, naturalist, natural philosopher, naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and a friend of the emperor Vespasian.  He wrote the encyclopedic Naturalis Historia (Natural History), which became an editorial model for encyclopedias.  He spent most of his spare time studying, writing, and investigating natural and geographic phenomena in the field.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pliny_the_Elder 

 

Gaius Plinius Caecilius Secundus, born Gaius Caecilius or Gaius Caecilius Cilo (61–c. 113), better known as Pliny the Younger (/ˈplɪni/), was a lawyer, author, and magistrate of Ancient Rome.  Pliny's uncle, Pliny the Elder, helped raise and educate him.  Pliny the Younger wrote hundreds of letters, of which 247 survived, and which are of great historical value.  Some are addressed to reigning emperors or to notables such as the historian Tacitus. Pliny served as an imperial magistrate under Trajan (reigned 98–117), and his letters to Trajan provide one of the few surviving records of the relationship between the imperial office and provincial governors.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pliny_the_Younger

 

Coddled eggs are cooked inside their own little “pots”, so the egg never touches the water, unlike poached eggs which are cooked directly in water.  Ouefs en cocotte is the French name for eggs in pots which could refer to coddled or baked eggs.  yield: 2   prep time: 3 MINUTES  cook time: 8 MINUTES  Link to other recipes including fried bread and Scotch eggs at https://www.christinascucina.com/coddled-eggs-how-to-coddle-eggs-easy-directions/   

In cooking, coddled eggs are eggs that have been cracked into a ramekin or another small container, placed in a water bath or bain-marie and gently or lightly cooked just below boiling temperature.  They can be partially cooked, mostly cooked, or hardly cooked at all (as in the eggs used to make Caesar salad dressing, which is only slightly poached for a thicker end-product).  Poached eggs are similar to coddled eggs but cooked by submersion in water, rather than being placed in a water bath.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coddled_egg   

The Modern is a two Michelin-starred, contemporary American restaurant at the Museum of Modern Art, in Manhattan at 9 W, 53d Street, featuring three separate experiences:
THE BAR ROOM, THE MODERN, and THE KITCHEN TABLE  Link to menus at https://www.themodernnyc.com/  Thank you, Muse reader!   

pen picture (plural) pen pictures)(idiomatic) noun written description, often biographical.  synonyms ▲quotations ▼  (art, archaic) A picture drawn with a pen. synonym ▲  

Synonym  pen portrait  https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/pen_picture#English   

May 3 is World Press Freedom Day, which is recognized by the United Nations to raise awareness of the importance of freedom of the press and remind governments of their duty to respect and uphold the right to freedom of expression. The Windhoek Declaration, a statement of press freedom principles by African newspaper journalists, was adopted on May 3, 1991.   

http://librariansmuse.blogspot.com  Issue 2809  May 3, 2024