Food of ancient Roman

The daily food of the early Romans consisted of cereals, pulses and vegetables and plunder became the exception rather than the rule.

Public life began at dawn so that Romans had little time to prepare breakfast. They nibbled a bit of bread, dipped in milk or undiluted wine. A heavy breakfast was considered unhealthy and vulgar.

The diet of most people was frugal, based on corn (grain), oil and wine, but exotic foods and recipes were available for the dinner parties of the wealthy.

Cereals, mainly wheat, provided the staple food. The main wheat of the Romans was emmer. Later emmer was supplanted by durum wheat and bread wheat which had the advantage that these produced finer flour. 

Emmer grains were ground to provide meal for pottage and for alica (emmer groat) which was use to make a wide variety of bread and cakes. Bread, cakes and pastries were produced commercially and at home. 

Cooking was done in the kitchen, and smoke from fires escaped though the roof or a vent in the wall.

Food was often cooked with fruit, honey and vinegar, to give a sweet and sour flavor.

Beans and peas were a major vegetable and a basis for pottage. Vegetables and salad produce were widely eaten. Other vegetables included onion, lettuce, cabbage celery and cucumbers.

A large variety of fruit was available. Figs, grapes, apple, and pears were staples. Pliny noted more than 100 new varieties of fruit trees and Columella gave about 50.

Meat was generally too expensive for most household budgets to afford on a regular basis; pork and veal were the two most readily available meat products.
Food of ancient Roman