Dear MEL Topic Readers,
Lying down and vomiting between courses: This is how Ancient Romans would feast
The ancient Roman upper classes often indulged in hours-long extravagant feasts to show off their wealth and status. In order to enjoy lavish dishes after dishes for a long time until midnight, they developed a unique culinary culture. For example, they didn’t sit at tables but just lied down on a comfortable cushion to eat. That was because the horizontal position was thought to help digest excess food better. Also, they didn’t excuse themselves to leave the dining room to go to the toilet. Instead, they had servants bring a piss pot to urinate on the site. When there are leftovers, meat bones, or fish heads, the diners simply threw them on the floor. The most surprising practice to eat more food was to vomit the food they’d just eaten. Indeed, they could put more food into their empty stomachs. Furthermore, they didn’t even bother to leave their cushion to break wind while eating because discharging gas was considered essential for good health and diet. Indeed, eating seems to have been the supreme act of civilization and celebration of life for the Roman elites.
Enjoy reading the article and learn about what an extreme extravaganza was like in ancient Rome.
https://edition.cnn.com/style/article/ancient-roman-feasting-history/index.html
No comments:
Post a Comment