Olive oil was also a big hit. It made up at least 12% of calories consumed at Herculaneum, and perhaps much more. The find supports historical sources indicating the average Roman consumed 20 liters of oil each year, and that the oil was one of the most significant fat sources in the Roman diet.
The Romans helped make Olive Oil what it is today, improving the techniques for cultivation and transportation. They consumed olives and Olive Oil from the Baetica region of Hispania (modern-day Andalusia) on a large scale. In fact, the oil from Hispania was the Empire's most valued for its high quality.
For Greeks and Romans olive oil was the star in their meals, as they included olives in most entrees and salads, always well dressed with oil of the highest quality. This also was essential for the development of all sauces that enriched dishes with vegetables and even different kinds of dough or pasta.
The Ientaculum is the equivalent of what we call breakfast today. This was usually a light meal which consisted primarily of bread. Sometimes the bread would be dipped in wine or olive oil or even honey. Cheese and olives may have been eaten along with the bread as well.
The Romans had no aubergines, peppers, courgettes, green beans, or tomatoes, staples of modern Italian cooking. Fruit was also grown or harvested from wild trees and often preserved for out-of-season eating.
Caesar likely enjoyed dishes like roasted boar, venison, or bird. These are accompanied by various vegetable dishes, often including lentils, beans, or cabbage. Cabbage and onions were a dish that upper class Romans might have enjoyed! The final course, or “mensae secundae,” is a dessert course.
"I couldn't put tomato in it," Magnanimi said, "because tomatoes didn't come to Italy until the 1500s, when Cortes brought them back from the Americas." The patina cotidiana, which means "daily dish" in Latin, is now a restaurant signature.
Ancient Rome
In richer patrician households, olive oil was often scented like a perfume, which would leave behind a sweet smell after it was gone. Like now, they would even pour some olive oil into their private baths to relax in them, to soften their skin and relax with some good aromatherapy.
Greeks and Romans, before the advent of soap, would bathe using olive oil lather, scraping it off with a strigil (a small handheld curved blade). Wealthier households would scent the olive oils with perfumes before bathing. Olive oil was used by Olympians (especially wrestlers) to slicken up the skin.
While olive oil was fundamental to Roman cooking, butter was viewed as an undesirable Gallic foodstuff. Sweet foods such as pastries typically used honey and wine-must syrup as a sweetener. A variety of dried fruits (figs, dates and plums) and fresh berries were also eaten.
“Greeks realized from very early on just how essential olive oil was to both their daily lives and their economy,” bringing them both wealth and good health. In fact, olive oil has played an integral part in the Greek diet and Greek healthcare for millennia.
Throughout ancient Greek history, olive and other types of oil performed a variety of functions. It was perfumed and worn on special occasions, including while attending a symposium. It was used in cooking or consumed as a part of a meal. A Roman-period author and traveler named Pausanias (8.42.
While olives and olive oil may not originate in Greece, it still has a rich history there. The ancient Greeks used olive oil not only in their cooking, but in many other facets of their lives -their sports, health, in rituals, and as a status symbol. The olive tree and its fruit were considered sacred.
Global consumption
Greece has by far the largest per capita consumption of olive oil worldwide, around 24 liters per year. Consumption in Spain is 15 liters; Italy 13 liters; and Israel, around 3 kg. Canada consumes 1.5 liters and the US 1 liter.
The Egyptians used olive oil extensively including it in their diet, lighting, medicine and for rituals. The Cretans produced olive oil in the 3rd millennium BC and was a source of great wealth coming from trade. Vast underground storerooms have been excavated and jars and vessels for olive oil have been discovered.
First used in cooking at least as long ago as 5th-4th century BCE. Three grades of olive oil are manufactured: extra virgin olive oil (EVOO), ordinary virgin olive oil, and pomace-olive oil (OPO).
Every day, Romans would finish work around the middle of the afternoon and make their way to the baths. Men of all social classes mixed freely together. Old, young, rich and poor would share the daily ritual of the baths.
Not even the Greeks and Romans, who pioneered running water and public baths, used soap to clean their bodies. Instead, men and women immersed themselves in water baths and then smeared their bodies with scented olive oils. They used a metal or reed scraper called a strigil to remove any remaining oil or grime.
The Romans brought aqueducts, heated public baths, flushing toilets, sewers and piped water. They even had multiseat public bathrooms decked out with contour toilet seats, a sea sponge version of toilet paper and hand-washing stations.
Greeks and Romans used olive oil to condition their hair, prevent split ends, and promote hair growth. Olive oil was applied to the hair and scalp, then massaged gently to promote blood flow and stimulate hair follicles. The Greeks and Romans also believed that olive oil prevented premature graying of the hair.
Soap was used for laundry and medicinal purposes in the ancient world, but it was not normally used for bathing until the late 200s A.D. Until then the Romans, like the Greeks before them, cleaned themselves by rubbing the body with oil and an abrasive, like fine sand or ground pumice.
Residents scarfed a lot of seafood and olive oil, confirming historians' estimates that average Romans consumed 20 liters (more than 5 gallons) of the oil each year.
In the same chapter of "De Re Coquinaria," Apicius mentioned that fried eggs should be served in a wine sauce. The Roman chef also proposed serving poached eggs reminiscent to Southern deviled eggs with a complex sauce, involving pepper, soaked nuts, honey, and vinegar, among other ingredients.
Talking about fruit, ancient Romans used to mainly eat apples, pears, plums, chestnuts, figs and grapes. Instead the citrus fruits only arrived in the 4th century AD. Among apples, the most popular one was the quince, especially for the jam that even at that time was made out of it.
The Romans ate three meals during a typical day. The first meal (breakfast) was called the "ientaculum." It was usually eaten around sunrise and consisted of bread and maybe some fruit. The next meal (lunch) was called the "prandium". The prandium was a very small meal eaten around 11 AM.