There were usually several courses at a Roman dinner party that went on for hours. ‘They would have a variety of foods including fruit, eggs, vegetables, meats, fish, and cakes.’ Exotic foods were popular to prove your wealth and culture to your guests. They sometimes ate things like flamingo’s tongues or stewed snails.
The main set up of a Roman dinner was much like that of what we do today, with a starter, main and dessert, although an actual dinner party would have usually consisted of several more course spread over a few hours.
Starter: Haddock, herring, mullet, mackerel (etc.)
Main: beef, pork or venison (etc.)
Dessert: fruits (dates and figs etc.) and pastries
An example of a Roman meal from an ancient Roman cookbook written by Apicius
- Hot kid or lamb stew: Put the pieces of meat into a pan. Finely chop an onion and coriander, pound pepper, lovage, cumin, garum, oil, and wine. Cook, turn out into a shallow pan, thicken with wheat starch. If you take lamb you should add the contents of the mortar while the meat is still raw, if kid, add it while it is cooking.