Hostaria Antica Roma~Eat like an Ancient Roman

26 Friday Sep 2025

Posted by Un po' di pepe in Mangiamo!, Roma

Tags

Ancient Roma, Apicius, Cetara, Colatura di alici, De re Coquinaria, Garum, Gastronomic history, Moretum, Paolo Magnanimi, Traditional recipes, Via Appia Antica

What do you do when a planned daytrip from Roma is cancelled because of pouring rain? Go and have a meal like the ancient Romans! My friend and I went to Via Appia Antica-the Ancient Appian Way, a road from Roma to Brindisi. Close to the Catacombs of Domitilla, and almost right below the cylindrical Tomba di Cecilia Metella is Hostaria Antica Roma. Here, at his family’s ristorante, Paolo Magnanimi, an amateur gastronomic archeologist, has researched and is reviving 2,000 year old ancient Roman recipes. We enjoyed a delicious meal, enriched by explanation and commentary from Paolo. It was an educational culinary journey into the past.

The restaurant serves traditional ‘modern’ Roman cuisine, but also a tasting menu called ‘A Tavola con Apicio’ (At the table with Apicius) closely based on the recipes in the 1^st Century AD ‘De Re Coquinaria’ /On the subject of Cooking’, the only surviving cookbook from Ancient Roma. It is thought to have been compiled by Apicio -Marcus Gavius Apicius, a wealthy epicure/food lover. He was described by Pliny the Elder as ‘the most gluttonous gorger of all spendthrifts’. Ouch! Just like Nonna’s, the ancient recipes only include ingredients, not quantities, proportions or instructions. Paolo recreates the dishes using -as much as possible-only ingredients available at the time. Ingredients inclucing sugar, chocolate, basil and tomato were not available in the 1^stCentury.

We started off with ‘Gustum’ an antipasto platter consisting of a selection of everyday ancient snacks made with local products. I believe this menu item usually needs to be ordered in advance. Fortunately for us, a table had reserved for 6 people, but only 5 were there, so we were able to take the extra one! Clockwise from the top of the photo:

Libum di Catone a bread described by Cato as a sacred symbol of devotion. It was made with wheat flour, sheep milk ricotta, eggs and honey, and baked on a layer of bay laurel leaves. Now I know what I will do with my extra bay leaves!

Moretum was described by the poet Virgil as an everyday dish of the ancient Romans. This is the ancestor of Pesto, but named after the mortar instead of the pestle. Moretum is made with pecorino-fresh sheep milk cheese, garlic, herbs such as coriander and celery seed, salt, nuts and olive oil. It can be eaten on its own or spread onto libum. Paolo grinds together his ingredients with the mortar and pestle, just as described by Virgil.

Prosciutto cotto (ham) with honey and fresh pecorino

Epityrium a spread, similar to a tapenade, of olives and herbs, including cumin, fennel, coriander and sometimes mint. It was served on bread

For our primo or first course, we had the ancestor of modern lasagne, Patina Cotidiana, which is Latin for ‘daily dish’. The pasta sheets are called laganum. If any of you believe Marco Polo brought pasta to Italy from China in the 13^th Century, that is ‘leggenda metropolitana’, an urban myth. Boiled laganum are layered with ground beef, fennel and pecorino. It is ‘in bianco’, meaning no tomato, since the tomato did not arrive in Europe until the 1500’s, and was not even an edible product at that time. Click on Il Pomodoro for the history of the modern tomato.

Our secondo or second course was Pollum Oxizomum, chicken cooked with pieces of leek, olive oil, vinegar and garum. Garum was a fermented fish sauce that was a staple condiment in the ancient Roman kitchen. 75% of the recipes in De re Coquinaria include garum! At the archeological site of Ostia Antica, one of the market stalls with fish mosaics likely sold the intensely flavoured Garum! Today, colatura di alici di Cetara is the best substitute for garum. Colatura di alici means anchovy drippings and this can be considered the ‘Italian version’ of an Asian fish sauce.

In the small Amalfi Coast fishing village of Cetara, they have been making colatura di alici the same way for centuries. Anchovy fillets and sea salt are layered in small chestnut wood barrels called terzigni with a heavy weight on top. The anchovies are left to ferment for a long time-up to 3 years! This process produces a clear amber liquid with an intense flavour that floats to the top. A hole is made in the bottom of the barrel to collect the colatura after it passes through the layers of anchovies. Online, a 50 ml bottle is about $25 (USD). Surprisingly, our pollo did not taste fishy or overly salty. It was delicious!

Finally, for dessert /dolce we had Tiropatina a predecessor of custard or crème caramel. It was made with whole milk, eggs and honey, with a drizzle of honey and a sprinkling of freshly ground black pepper on top. The ancient Romans believed pepper to be an aphrodisiac.

A few other items on the ancient menu that we did not try include: Pulsa con copadia, rustic polenta with an aromatic beef stew, Isicia Omentata, pork polpette (meatballs) in grape sauce and La Cassata di Oplontis, a dessert made with almond flour, sheep milk ricotta, honey, dried and candied fruit.

I absolutely recommend a visit to Hostaria Antica Roma, especially if you are fascinated by the history of ancient Roma and gastronomic history. The fact that everything was delicious does not hurt either! The week after our visit in July, Paolo was being interviewed by the BBC.

De Re Coquinaria 2021 edition, translated by Terra Nectare corrects previously incorrect translations

Hostaria Antica Roma, Via Appia Antica 176Open Tuesday-Saturday 12:30-1500 and 19:30-22:30, Sun 12-3, Monday closed.

Grazie to to my amica Anna for joining me. Buon appetito!

Panforte di Siena

12 Saturday Dec 2020

Posted by Un po' di pepe in Feste, Mangiamo!, Recipes

≈ 26 Comments

Tags

Cucina Toscana, Dolci, Dolci di Natale, Gastronomic history, Italian Christmas, Natale, Panforte Margherita, Panpepato, Siena, Via Francigena

Panforte is un dolce Natalizie- a seasonal treat from Siena, although it is sold all year round. A chewy, sweet cake, panforte leaves a wonderful aftertaste of candied citrus, almonds and a bold hit of spices.

Panforte dates back to the introduction of exotic spices from the East, via the port of Pisa. The earliest known record is from the 13th Century. Documents in the State Archive of Siena state that a bread rich with pepper, spices and honey was paid as a tax to the monastery of Monte Celso on the seventh of February, 1205.

Panforte was originally made with flour, water, honey and spices, mixed with chunks of fresh autumn fruits such as grapes, figs and plums. The water content of the fruit kept the bread moist and after a few days, fermentation gave it an acidy flavour. This is where the name panes fortis, or ‘strong bread’ comes from. It was also known as panpepato because of the abundance of pepper and other spices and the dusting of black pepper on top.

Panpepato/panforte was made by speziali, spice sellers who could be considered medieval pharmacists. It was valued not only as a food but also as a medicinal remedy because of the spices it contained.

Siena was on the Via Francigena, the ancient pilgrimage route running through France to Roma, then to Puglia where the ports of Bari, Brindisi and Otranto were transit points for the Holy Land. This made Panforte known outside of Tuscany. A sweet cake with energy and sustenance, Crusaders carried it on their travels…like medieval energy bars! In 1515, a nun named Suor Berta changed the fruit to canditi-honeyed or candied fruit. The canditi were usually citrus fruits (orange, lemon and cedro/citron) and dark melon or pumpkin.

Canditi, nuts and especially spices were $$$ costosissimi-making Panforte an extremely expensive item. Only the wealthy could afford the extravagance. It was also given to the clergy as a gift on special occasions such as Christmas or local feast days. Panforte confezionato

The recipe remained the same for centuries, almonds, flour, honey, canditi and spices, dusted with black pepper and held together at the bottom with foglie di ostie-a sheet of unconsecrated communion host! That was until 1879, when Regina Margherita di Savoia– of pizza Margherita fame-visited Siena. In her honour, a local speziero made a more delicate ‘white’ version of panforte, without the black candied melon and covered with a dusting of vanilla icing sugar instead of black pepper. It was called Panforte Margherita and is the version most often sold today. In 2014, Panforte di Siena received the PGI (Protected Geographical Indication) European Union designation of quality label. Panforte di Siena with holly and greenery

In Siena it is thought that Panforte should contain 17 different ingredients. This is because 17 is the number of Contrade or districts in Siena. Representatives from the Contrade take part in the Palio di Siena horserace every July 2 and August 16.

A thin wedge of panforte makes a delicious treat with caffè or liqueur after a meal. Panforte makes a beautiful edible gift-but only for very special people! I made mine small, wrapped them in parchment paper then in Florentine paper and sealed the bottom with a large gold sticker. Homemade panforte di Siena

I use white pepper, as the flavour is more delicate, while still providing heat. It is hard to find good canditi, so I made my own with organic orange and lemon peels using Domenica’s recipe. canditi

My homemade canditi ran out after 2 batches, then I substituted chopped dried Kalamata and Mission figs and sour cherries. The zest of an orange added a bit of citrus flavour. For the ostie, I used something called ‘edible wafer paper’ made with potato starch. Edible rice paper is also available at specialty food stores.

Panforte di Siena

Ingredients:

125g (1 cup) hazelnuts

200g (1½ cups) blanched almonds

175g (1½ cups) icing sugar, sifted

200g (⅔ cup) good quality honey

30ml (2 tbsp) water

300g candied fruit peel (orange, lemon, citron) and/or dried fruit

Grated orange or lemon zest

5g (1 tsp) ground cinnamon

2g (¼ tsp) ground ginger

2g (¼ tsp) ground cloves

2g (¼ tsp) ground star anise

3g (½ tsp) ground coriander

2g (¼ tsp) ground nutmeg

2g (¼ tsp) ground white pepper

175g (1½ cup) flour, sifted

Ostie-unconsecrated communion wafer /wafer paper/rice paper

Icing sugar to coat

Instructions:

Using a heavy saucepan and a low flame, set the icing sugar, honey and water to boil. Stir frequently with a wooden spoon, being careful to keep the syrup from sticking. This will take a while, so in the meantime, do steps 2 and 3.
Use tart pan(s) with removable bottoms. Line with the ostie/wafer paper. If needed, grease and dust the sides with cocoa powder.
Toast the nuts lightly for 6-10 min in a 200°C (400ºF) oven.
Coarsely chop the nuts with a knife, or leave whole. Dice the candied fruit and mix with the spices and nuts, then add in the sifted flour.
When the syrup in step 1 reaches at least 100°C (200°F ), remove pot from heat and stir into the nut mixture. If you do not have a candy thermometer, use a toothpick to pick up a bit of syrup and pass it under cold water. If it becomes solid, it is ready.
Working quickly, using wet hands and 2 tablespoons, divide the batter into the tart pan(s), smoothing the top with damp fingers or the back of a wet spoon. It can also be pressed down with the bottom of a glass.
Bake in a 150° C (300°F) oven for 35-40 minutes. Do not let the panforte brown, or it will be too hard.
Remove the panforte from the pans and let it cool completely on a rack. Dust with icing sugar on all sides. and serve cut into thin wedges.
Panforte keeps well for a month if wrapped in parchment paper or in an airtight container and stored in a cool, dark place. Do not store in the fridge.
This recipe makes one 22cm (9½ inch) panforte in a springform pan or six-seven 10cm (4 inch) panforte in tart pans. A 25cm (10 inch) round of parchment paper and fancy paper wraps the 10cm size.Doubling the dose is not a great idea since you need to work fast. If you make 2-4 doses in a row like I do, you can prepare everything in advance. I measure all the spices for each dose in a little jar so they are ready to add in, toast the nuts in advance, and have a separate bowl for each dose so I can work quickly. I also have the wafer paper cut in advance and the tart pans ready on a baking sheet.

Let me know how your panforte comes out! Buon appetito e Buone Feste, Cristina

Writing about Italian Canadian Food Culture

04 Friday Sep 2020

Posted by Un po' di pepe in Bilingual posts, Italocanadesi, Mangiamo!

≈ 12 Comments

Tags

AICW, Culinary Culture, Food writing, Gastronomic history, Grano Arso, Italian Canadian Literature, Italocanadese life

The Italian Cultural Institute of Montreal and the Association of Italian Canadian Writers (AICW), as part of a webinar series dedicated to writing, an experience animated by Italian-Canadian authors, translators, journalists, publishers and bloggers, are pleased to present “Can you smell the garlic? Writing About Italian-Canadian Food Culture”

Tuesday, September 8, 2020 – 5:00 pm EST

Nonna stirs tomato sauce bubbling in a cauldron in the garage, papà proudly pours a glass of his homemade wine, zie gather to make taralli and biscotti in the basement kitchen…

These culinary traditions are a treasure trove of material for the Italian-Canadian writer. How does nostalgia affect the relationship to food and writing about food? Push past the clichés, what complicates the rosy images? Is it more difficult to write in a critical or unsentimental mode about food and Italian-Canadian identity?

Domenico Capilongo, Monica Meneghetti, Cristina Pepe and Jim Zucchero will read mouth-watering prose and poetry and talk about the connections between food and their writing. The webinar will be moderated by former restaurant critic, Francesca M. LoDico. The series is hosted by the Secretary of the AICW Executive, Giulia Verticchio.

Event details & bios: https://iicmontreal.esteri.it/iic_montreal/en/gli_eventi/calendario/2020/09/senti-l-aglio-scrivere-sulla-cultura.html

Italiano: https://iicmontreal.esteri.it/iic_montreal/it/gli_eventi/calendario/2020/09/senti-l-aglio-scrivere-sulla-cultura.html

I will be reading about Grano Arso. The webinar will be available to view later on the Istituto Italiano di Cultura-Montreal’s website and Facebook page.

In Italiano:

L’Istituto Italiano di Cultura di Montréal e l’Associazione degli Scrittori italo-canadesi (AICW), nell’ambito della serie di webinar dedicata all’opera della scrittura, un’esperienza animata da autori italocanadesi, traduttori, registi, giornalisti, editori, bloggers…, sono lieti di presentare il webinar intitolato “Senti l’aglio? Scrivere sulla cultura culinaria italocanadese”.

Nonna mescola la salsa di pomodoro che ribolle in un calderone nel garage, papà versa orgoglioso un bicchiere del suo vino fatto in casa, le zie si riuniscono per fare taralli e biscotti nella cucina del seminterrato… Queste tradizioni culinarie sono un tesoro di materiale per lo scrittore italo-canadese. In che modo la nostalgia influenza il rapporto con il cibo e la scrittura sul cibo? Superare i cliché, cosa complica le rosee immagini? È più difficile scrivere in modo critico o non sentimentale sul cibo e sull’identità italo-canadese?

Domenico Capilongo, Monica Meneghetti, Cristina Pepe e Jim Zucchero leggeranno brani e poesie da “leccarsi i baffi” e parleranno delle connessioni tra il cibo e la loro scrittura. Il webinar sarà moderato dal già critico di ristoranti, Francesca M. LoDico. La serie è ospitata dalla Segretaria dell’Esecutivo AICW, Giulia Verticchio.

**********

Buon appetito, Cristina

Grano Arso in print!

28 Thursday Feb 2019

Posted by Un po' di pepe in Inspiration

≈ 12 Comments

Tags

AICW, Association of Italian Canadian Writers, C, Gastronomic history, Grano Arso, Italian Canadiana, Laurentian University

My presentation from the September 2017 ‘Italians in Canada: 150+ years’ 31st anniversary AICW conference at Laurentian University in Sudbury Ontario has been published! The proceeds of the Association of Italian Canadian Writers Conference is a special edition of the University of Toronto journal Italian Canadiana (Vol 32 2018). This is not my first publication, but it is the first one that is not about diabetes!

Grano Arso is about a Pugliese gastronomic tradition that honours the resilience of our contadini ancestors. The conference proceedings are not available online, but if you have not already done so, read my 2015 post Grano Arso . It is not exactly the same as the publication, but contains similar information and photos. There has been an increase in views of my post. This may be due to the publication, or because there is not much written in English on the topic. I made some taralli di grano arso for my presentation and carried them with me on the plane to Ontario. Other conference presentations included The evolution of the Italian grocery store, Representations of Italian Canadian Internment during WWII, Italianismi e pseudoitalianismi, and Documenting Italiese, which I will write more about in another post. Creative writing readings by Italocanadese authors included short stories, poetry and excerpts from books and a graphic novel. I reviewed one of the books here.

I don’t know if they have many copies left, but they can be ordered by contacting the Frank Iacobucci Center for Italian Canadian Studies c/o Dept of Italian Studies, University of Toronto 100 St. Joseph St. Toronto, Ontario M5S 1J4 or contact salvatore.bancheri@utoronto.ca.

The next AICW conference will be in Italia in 2020. Details will be available soon!

Ciao, Cristina

Insalata Purtuall’

18 Sunday Mar 2018

Posted by Un po' di pepe in Italian language, Mangiamo!, Recipes

≈ 28 Comments

Tags

Arancia, Gastronomic history, History of oranges, Insalata Purtuall', Italian language, Orange, Orange and fennel salad, Portokali, Traditional recipes

Insalata di arancia e finocchio-orange and fennel salad always brings back memories of my grade 1 lunchroom. My delicious lunches included home made crusty bread stuffed with melanzane and roasted peppers, prosciutto, capicollo or cotoletto di vitello, frittata, pizza or ‘chocolate sandwiches’ made with Nutella. Papà would often make me Insalata Purtuall’, with oranges cut crosswise in rounds, fennel and black olives, drizzled with olive oil and a bit of salt. A true flavour explosion for 6 year old me. I did not know why everyone at school thought my lunches were so weird. The ‘Anglo’ kids made fun of them, and even the teachers eyed my food suspiciously. Today all of these foods are available and trendy, so who is laughing now? Ha! I do not remember being too bothered by the teasing. I actually felt sorry for my classmates. Their lunches were gross, usually consisting of ‘plastic’ cheese on bright white squishy bread that was sliced like cake! Poveretti. I will have to write more about my early gastronomic experiences in another post….

A while back, Frank from Memorie di Angelina wrote about orange and fennel salad, and I commented that we called it ‘Portugal’ salad, but did not know why. I asked Papà why we called it ‘Insalata Purtuall’. Purtuall’ is dialetto for Portogallo which is Portugal in italiano. His answer surprised me. He said it was not a Portuguese salad, but purtuall’ is what the orange were called. Hmmm. Soon after this, I was at a writers’ conference and one of the presenters displayed a map showing the word for orange across Europe in various languages. Aha! I saw that the Greek word for orange is ‘portokali’. This was getting interesting!

Arancia amara, bitter orange, was known to the Romans. Sweet oranges were only introduced to Europe and the Mediterranean in the 14th century. Portuguese ships were the first to circumnavigate Africa and brought sweet oranges back from the Far East. In many countries, oranges were named after Portugal-the country that they seemed to be coming from! In Greek oranges are portokali, in North Africa and most Middle East countries burtuqall, in Iran purtuqol, in Turkey portakal and in Hungary and Romania portokal. In most of Western Europe, the Mediterranean and Britain, the word for orange comes from ‘narangas’, Sanskrit for orange tree. For example, in italiano arancia, in spanish naranja, portuguese laranja, and of course english orange. There are a few places in Italia where the dialetto still uses the ‘portuguese’ term. In Campania, Puglia, Basilicata and Abruzzo, purtuallo or portajalli, in Sicilian partualli (or aranciù), and in Piemonte portugaj. In modern Greek, bitter oranges are called ‘nerantzi’ while sweet oranges are called ‘portokali’. Who knew that the yummy salad I used to bring for lunch in elementary school reflects thousands of years of history, trade voyages and etymology between East and West!

A ‘recipe’ is not really needed for Insalata Purtuall’. Just peel a few oranges and remove as much of the pith as possible, then slice them crosswise and lay them on a plate. Cut half a fennel bulb and slice in either small or larger pieces. Add ‘un filo d’olio’, a drizzle of olive oil and salt, then a few black olives and garnish with fennel fronds. I sometimes like to throw in some pomegranate seeds or rucola. It is hard to mess up this healthy, refreshing winter insalata! I recently found out that Insalata Purtuall’ was served at my parents’ wedding in Orsara di Puglia in the 1960’s, so now it tastes even better!