Posted on 03/08/2020 9:53:08 PM PDT by SunkenCiv
What you may consider to be a quintessentially American invention is actually mentioned in an ancient Roman cookbook called Apicius.
The text was written by an unknown author sometime between the late 4th and 5th century AD and contains lots of recipes.
One of those recipes describes a dish called 'Isicia Omentata'.
It details how a cook should use minced meat, pepper, pine nuts and a rich fish-based sauce and form them all into a patty shape.
This Roman delicacy looks very similar to modern day burgers once cooked.
The Romans are also credited for being big users of 'fast food joints' and even brought them over to Britain.
These places were known as thermopolia and served quick food like chicken legs and lamb chops to people in large towns.
Food Historian Dr Annie Gray previously explained on an English Heritage blog: "We all know that the Romans left a huge mark on Britain, fundamentally altering the British diet forever."
She added: "Street food became available en masse, and many of our favourite foods were introduced, including Isicia Omentata, what can be seen as the Roman forefather to today's burger."
Gray also said that the Roman burgers would have been "more upmarket" and "complex" than the ones we know today.
(Excerpt) Read more at thesun.co.uk ...
Oh, hell no-not the dreaded fish sauce-is there any Roman recipe without it? I suppose you’d use that awful Asian fish sauce as a modern equivalent...
I cook bacon until crisp, then saute fresh-picked green beans, chopped onion, and a few garlic cloves in the bacon grease for 5 minutes-add 1/4 cup of water, fresh tarragon, a pinch of Mexican oregano and ground pepper-cover and simmer for 5-6 minutes-delicious. I like all veggies but green beans-I will not eat them any other way...
....Very Interesting!
I’ll have to try that out sometimes.
Maybe with a few stray cubes of Eggplant or Zuchinni.
I forgot to list crumbling the cooked bacon before adding it to the pan with the water and other ingredients-the flavor blends in best that way-and hold the fish sauce...
I’m going to try it with the zucchini, which I love...
The use of a “rich fish-based sauce” amazes me. More sophistication than what is normal today.
It was terrifically popular for centuries. Closest thing that comes to mind from the everyday grocery store is anchovy paste.
Thousands of years ago they were using natural msg.
That is awesomely cool.
There was a show on a few years back where they were doing research on the fast food places in the town they were researching. There the McDonalds used a similar recipe, pork and lamb iirc, and replaced the garum with red wine.
The Romans had it goin’ on.
:^) Supersize it! ;^)
My apologies, I ment no offense.
I had a small bout of Corona virus.
I caught some off some Mexican beer.
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