Oysters and wine. Cooking with the Ancient Romans

The table of the wealthy ancient Romans can be discovered at the Spazio Archeologico Sotterraneo del S.A.S.S. from Tuesday to Sunday until December 2024. It is known that the tables laid out were sumptuous and rich in delicacies, less known is the fact that even in Tridentum, the Trento founded in the first century BC. C., in the X Regio, far from Rome and in the heart of the Alps, refined and particular foods for the time were tasted. This is attested by the finds found by archaeologists in the subsoil of the city and in other sites in the Trentino area. Largely unpublished objects, exhibited to the public for the first time in the exhibition "Oysters and wine. In the kitchen with the ancient Romans" set up at the Sas Underground Archaeological Space in the centre of Trento, under Piazza Cesare Battisti. The exhibition takes a look at eating habits and cuisine in Roman times on the banks of the Adige.

Archaeological research carried out in Trentino in recent years, particularly in the capital and in the Gardesana plain, are yielding information of fundamental importance to reconstruct the process of Romanisation of our territory. The findings provided the inspiration for the "Oysters and Wine" exhibition: tableware and utensils in fine and raw ceramics, glass and stone, bronze pottery for cooking foods dated between the first and fourth centuries AD, as well as plant remains, such as cereals, legumes and grape seeds.

The excavations in Trentino have returned particular materials such as the remains of iron grids to keep the cooking vessels separate from direct contact with heat. From Via Prepositura in Trento come the large non-stick baking trays, suitable for baking bread or omelettes, prototypes of those still used in our kitchens today. Equipped with a base covered with a thick layer of red paint with a waterproofing function, they were found in a production complex active between the first and third centuries AD. They were used for cooking meals on a large scale in a "canteen service" for the company's staff. Also in Trento, the site of Piazza Verzeri, in addition to oysters, has returned a fragment of a container intended to contain honey as suggested by the inscription graffita mellis. Of considerable value (status symbol of a local aristocrat) is the white glass glass with faceted walls, found in Arco, produced in Rhenish workshops, inspired by artifacts imported from the Near East. As for the diet, it goes without saying, the Mediterranean diet based mainly on cereals, fruits and vegetables also prevailed in the Trentino area, but very rich in flavours, spices and aromatic plants, as Marco Gavio Apicio reports in "De Re Coquinaria". The usual meal was based on flours and legumes, also attested in large quantities during the excavation of a farm in Navicello near Rovereto (especially millet and lentils and a local variety of wheat).