Game cookery, Roman style
Shooting Times & Country|December 16, 2020
Philip Womack delves into antiquity to discover how our forebears prepared, cooked and served game meat, from boar to dormice
Philip Womack
Game cookery, Roman style

The Roman orator Cicero thought that being a cook was a disgraceful occupation. Despite cooking’s connections with the sacred — at a public sacrifice, celebrants would scoff the meat, leaving the gods to enjoy the smell — the skill was very much associated with the lower classes. No ancient Nigella dispensed advice on roasting dormice with a winning smile and a wink.

We don’t have much evidence from antiquity about how the everyday ancients actually cooked. There is quite a lot of food in the literature, ranging from the heroic to the ridiculous. When, in Virgil’s epic Latin poem the Aeneid, the hero Aeneas shoots seven stags to feed his men, they polish them off immediately. No hanging is necessary. The men flay the hides and chop up the carcasses. Some eat an early form of venison kebab. Others simply boil it.

Similarly, the heroes of Homer’s Greek poem the Iliad subsist on cattle they’ve raided from local towns. They do this despite being camped right next to the sea and a river. Perhaps they thought fishing was beneath them. They also season their wine with onions. An excellent pick-me-up before a day’s hunting and besieging. I dare you to try it next time you’re in the field. There’s room for homeliness, too: when Odysseus returns, after his long voyage, back home, we find a housekeeper putting out bread and olives.

Parody

Diese Geschichte stammt aus der December 16, 2020-Ausgabe von Shooting Times & Country.

Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.

Diese Geschichte stammt aus der December 16, 2020-Ausgabe von Shooting Times & Country.

Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.

WEITERE ARTIKEL AUS SHOOTING TIMES & COUNTRYAlle anzeigen
United we stand
Shooting Times & Country

United we stand

Following United Utilities' decision to end grouse shooting on its land, Lindsay Waddell asks what will happen if we ignore our vital moors

time-read
5 Minuten  |
August 02, 2023
Serious matters
Shooting Times & Country

Serious matters

An old gamebook prompts a contemplation on punt-gunning

time-read
3 Minuten  |
August 02, 2023
They're not always as easy as they seem
Shooting Times & Country

They're not always as easy as they seem

While coneys of the furry variety don't pose a problem for Blue Zulu, he's left frustrated once again by bolting bunnies of the clay sort

time-read
5 Minuten  |
August 02, 2023
Debutant gundogs
Shooting Times & Country

Debutant gundogs

There's lots to think about when it comes to making the decision about when to introduce your dog to shooting

time-read
4 Minuten  |
August 02, 2023
When the going gets rough
Shooting Times & Country

When the going gets rough

Al Gabriel returns to the West London Shooting School to brush up on his rough shooting technique

time-read
5 Minuten  |
August 02, 2023
The Field Guide To British Deer - BDS 60th Anniversary Edition
Shooting Times & Country

The Field Guide To British Deer - BDS 60th Anniversary Edition

In this excerpt from the 60th anniversary edition of the BDS's Field Guide To British Deer, Charles Smith-Jones considers the noise they make

time-read
4 Minuten  |
August 02, 2023
A step too far?
Shooting Times & Country

A step too far?

Simon Garnham wonders whether a new dog, a new gun and two different fields in need of protection might have been asking too much for one afternoon's work

time-read
6 Minuten  |
August 02, 2023
Two bucks before breakfast
Shooting Times & Country

Two bucks before breakfast

A journey from old South London to rural Hertfordshire to stalk muntjac suggests that the two aren't as far detached as they might seem

time-read
6 Minuten  |
August 02, 2023
Stalking Diary
Shooting Times & Country

Stalking Diary

Stalkers can be a sentimental bunch, and they often carry a huge attachment to their hill

time-read
2 Minuten  |
August 02, 2023
Gamekeeper
Shooting Times & Country

Gamekeeper

Alan Edwards believes unique, private experiences can help keepers become more competent and passionate custodians of the countryside

time-read
3 Minuten  |
August 02, 2023