Saturnalia

In the 1st century CE, the Roman poet Martial wrote an invitation to a Saturnalia banquet: "You will dine nicely at my house, Julius Cerealis. If you have no better engagement, come! Come at the eighth hour; we will bathe together--you know how near to me Stephanus' baths are.As a first course you will be...

In the beginning was the egg …

Which came first, the chicken or the egg? In the cosmogonies, the creation stories, of many cultures, the answer is surprisingly clear: the cosmic egg (also: world egg) is the origin of all things. Or is it not? For who created the cosmic egg? The myth of a primordial world egg was known in many...

NEW: Vegetus – Vegetarian Recipes from the Past

VEGETUS (Latin for lively or vivacious) presents a number of historical vegetarian recipes from the Ancient Near East, Classical Antiquity, the Middle Ages, and the Renaissance that can be easily recreated at home, in a standard household kitchen. The broad time frame of this book allows an overview of traditions, developments and innovations in the...

Culinary History video channel

I did it: I started a Youtube channel for historic cuisine. In the following weeks I will upload more videos featuring a selection of ancient recipes ranging from Mesopotamia to the Middle Ages. My idea is to present historic recipes in a way that they can be reproduced at home, in normal household kitchens with...

Ancient Winter Solstice Feasts

We've observed the summer and winter solstices for as long as humans have been around. In fact, one of the most popular western celebrations today, Christmas, is reminiscent of the winter solstice celebrations. Known as the darkest time of the year, when days are short and little work is to be done outdoors, there's plenty...

Vacation With An Artist: historic cooking classes

I just joined the @vawaa_ family! VAWAA (Vacation With An Artist) offers mini apprenticeships with master artists and craftspeople all over the world. You can now book a VAWAA workshop with me and learn about historic cooking for four days. Find out more at https://vawaa.com/artists/ursula-historic-cooking-italy/. Look out for the winter solstice special!  

Ancient Roman dinner

I've been preparing a historic dinner from Ancient Rome, based on recipes from Apicius' cookbook De re coquinaria, with lots of good and organic ingredients from our own soil. Starting with conditum paradoxum, a sweet, wine-based aperitif, some Roman bread baked with bay leaves, moretum - a herb and garlic cream cheese, eggs in ovis...

Mundus Patet – Ancient Roman Halloween

Already in ancient Rome a kind of Halloween - Mundus Patet - was celebrated. Three times a year, end of August, beginning of October and beginning of November, the festival of the dead took place. The name Mundus Patet can be translated as "the earth is open", meaning that the the boundaries between the world of...

About the Origin of Wine

Who actually made the first wine? And where? Several Middle Eastern and Caucasus countries have been competing for the oldest traces of winemaking, even China is among the top five. But let's start from the beginning: Answering the question of the cradle of winemaking depends on how you define wine. A 9,000 year old residue...