The Roman Kitchen

Reconstructed Roman kitchen at the Museum of London. Reconstructed Roman kitchen at the Museum of London.
Thanks to the remains of ancient Pompeii and Herculaneum we have been afforded an unprecedented window onto the ancient Roman cooking and how they prepared their food.

Of course, there were the rich peoples' houses (replete with two ovens, cooking troughs and armies of slaves), and I will come to those later... First I'm going to look at a more modest kitchen (or more commonplace), such as the reconstructed kitchen in the Museum of London (pictured). This would be from a much poorer household with a table for food preparation, a bench for serving, a shelf for earthenware, hooks to hold pots and utensils. The cooking area was a small trough for charcoal embers on which an iron grid would be placed. This grid could be moved aside so that earthenware ollae could be nestled directly in the coals. There is no oven here (though some types of ovens might be present in even fairly modest households). However, an earthenware testum would almost certainly be present as a mobile oven that could be used for baking with the charcoal embers.

In general, the troughs would not have had any flue or ventilation, hence the use of charcoal as the main heat source. Even many of the oven types would not have had a flue either and the smoke would have been emitted straight into the kitchen. The lives of Roman kitchen slaves would not have been pleasant.

Images of two basic Roman cooking vessels, a patina and a caccabus. Images of a Roman patina for cooking and a caccabus for boiling water.
Such reconstructions, obviously, give a fascinating window into the past in that we can see the exact equipment that was used in preparing food. But it’s important for understanding historical dishes too. After all a moretum is a specific type of mortar that is integral to the preparation of Roman herb-based sauce and patina is a specific type of vessel in which egg-based patina dishes were cooked; so a patina of pears would be pears prepared or finished in a patina. A patina could also come in smaller sizes, known as by the diminutive patella (interestingly the Spanish paella [for the paella dish] is ultimately derived from patina. The patina being a round or oval dish with upright sides that was suitable both for cooking in the oven and on an open fire.

Many households would also have a separate oven, a focus — a hearth that was placed in front of the lararium, the household altar which contained small sculptures of the household deity (the lares, or guardian ancestor-spirits, and the penates, who were believed to protect the floor, the larder).

A Roman focus, the beehive-shaped oven. A Roman focus, a beehive-shaped indoor oven.
Basic Roman kitchen with a simple wood fired oven in the corner. Basic Roman kitchen with a simple wood fired oven in the corner.
These ovens were shaped like a low beehive, and constructed of rubble and tiles. A flue, to provide a draught, would be made accessible at the front, this was all very similar to, and shows the the design of, the bread ovens which persisted for many centuries after. Charcoal or wood was burnt inside until sufficient heat had been generated; the ashes were then raked out and bread, meats or pastries put in, the opening of the oven then being covered to retain the heat during cooking. In homes where the lararium was built into the wall, the focus was sometimes built of raised brick into four sides, constructed against a baseboard on which a fire was lit. More common was a focus that was rectangular and portable, consisting simply of a moveable hearth with stone or bronze feet. After the development of separate kitchens, the focus began to be used only for religious offerings and for warmth, rather than for cooking.

In addition to the focus, many kitchens had an oven called a fornax or a furnus (the names are interchangeable). From what I found, this would’ve been like a modern pizza oven: made of either brick or clay, foods were inserted from the side and were cooked by wood or coals. This was probably used for baked goods like bread.

Reconstructed pompeiian kitchen with open fire trough on the right. Reconstructed kitchen in Pompeii with a long fire trough sited on
the right.
Excavation in Pompeii revealed all these oven types and showed that larger houses had long, specially-made troughs in which beds of flaming charcoal were placed. Hunks of meat, fish and vegetables were then laid on grills directly over the coals, while soups and stews simmered away in pots and pans that were stood on special tripods to elevate them above the scorching embers. Cauldron chains were used for suspending large cooking pots over a wood fire. Large animals such as boar or venison were roasted on spits. All suspended over the fire pits.

Standard olla vessels and testum portable ovens would be nestled into and used to cook directly on the coals. A water pot, the caccabus would be constantly simmering in the background. In many ways the Roman military kitchen was based on this set-up, using portable stoves (iron troughs to hold charcoal) as the main cooking medium.

The practice of cooking over hot coals was so integral to Roman cookery that portable stoves and ovens were available commercially, some being highly complex with had water pots and grills laid onto them. These could be used for cooking even for those living in tenement-style housing in Rome.

Roman portable stove with built in water pot. Roman portable stove with built in water pot.
To facilitate this mode of cooking, many Pompeiian kitchens had no roofs, so they resembled courtyards more than ordinary rooms; this allowed smoke to ventilate. Not that the comfort of the cooks was a major concern as they were invariably slaves. In a more common household, cheapness and affordability (as ever) were the main concerns. Think of it as a permanent, 2000 year old cook out!

Kitchens that did have roofs must have been extremely smoky, since the only ventilation would come from high windows or holes in the ceiling; while the Romans built chimneys for their bakeries and smithies, they were unknown in private dwellings until about the 12th century CE, well after the collapse of Roman civilization.

In terms of decor, pretty much every kitchen, no matter how lowly had walls festooned with hooks and chains for hanging cooking equipment, including various pots and pans, knives, meat forks, sieves, graters, spits, tongs, cheese-slicers, nutcrackers, jugs for measuring, and pâté moulds. These would have been the equivalents of shelving and cupboards of the day.


Roman Cookware

Roman olla earthenware cooking pot. Roman olla earthenware cooking pot.
As the foundation (and the core) of Roman cookery was cooking on an open fire, one of the main cooking pots was the olla, generally a clay pot that was soaked in water beforehand then nestled in the coals of a cooking trough, in the embers of a fire or in the embers of a portable stove. Most family would have many ollae of different sizes, allowing different sized meals to be cooked. Despite the presence of (expensive) metal cookware, the Olla and other earthenware pots remained the foundation of Roman cookery. Martial referred to it as the rubra testa, or red pot (Epigrams XIII). It was one of the earliest recorded dishes and was used by nearly all cooks, including peasants, as Juvenal attests (Satires XIV).

he olla (archaic Latin: aula or aulla; Greek: χύτρα, chytra) is a squat, rounded pot or jar. An olla would be used primarily to cook or store food, hence the word “olla" is still used in some Romance languages for either a cooking pot or a dish in the sense of cuisine. In the typology of ancient Roman pottery, the olla is a vessel distinguished by its rounded “belly,” typically with no or small handles or at times with volutes at the lip, and made within a Roman sphere of influence; the term olla may also be used for Etruscan and Gallic examples, or Greek pottery found in an Italian setting.

Unlike the aenum or cauldron, which hung over the fire from chains, the olla had a flat bottom for resting on a hot surface, though it might also be placed directly on logs or coals in rustic cookery. A typical kitchen would have ollae of different sizes presentfor preparing a range of meal types. Ollae were also associated with the Roman god Sucellus and with the Gaulish hammer god syncretized with him.

Roman grid iron for setting over fire troughs. Roman grid iron for setting over a fire trough to yield a stable platform.
The grid iron was an essential part of the Roman cook's kitchenware as it allowed pans, frying pans and other flat-bottomed cookware could be used with the fire troughs the Romans had heavy grid irons that could be set over the fire troughs to yield a stable platform for cooking. The Latin term is craticula, a diminutive form of crates. This referred to their cross-hatched design, which appeared similar to a wicker basket, or crate. This is also used as the base for the word graticule, passing through French.

Therefore most cooking would be done over charcoal, with speciality items baked in ovens. So now we've covered cooking methodologies, here's an introduction to some key cooking implements; the fundamental olla already having been covered, above. Whether meat was cooked directly on the craticula in a domestic setting isn't known for certain, but some versions found in Pompeii resemble barbecue grids with long handles so they can easily be added to or removed from the fire pit, so it seems probable.

The Clibanus or Testum

Greek-style clibanus and Roman testum (portable ovens). Greek-style clibanus (left) and Roman testum (right)
(portable ovens).
If you only had a fire pit, or a fire trough you could still bake bread or cakes using a portable oven called a clibanus or testum. Functionally they are essentially the same, it's just that the clibanus originates in Greek culture and the Testum comes from Italian peninsula culture via the Etruscans. Both are made from clay with a clay base and a lid. The base is placed on hot coals, the food is placed inside, the lid is secured then more coals are piled on the outside and on top.

This method of usage agrees with a description in Apicius where fire’s embers are described as being '…above and below [the dish]'.

Roman testum used on hot coals. Roman testum in use over hot coals.
Though most versions of a clibanus or testum were flat-based, one does find examples of the clibanus with three legs so that it can sit on the hot coals at a stable angle. Other versions are a top only, without the base so the food has to be placed directly on top of the coals with the lid placed on top.

More expensive styles of testum had a steam hole that could be plugged for baking.


Non-stick Cookware

In Apicius' De Re Coquinara, cookware known as Cumanae testae or Cumanae patellae, literally meaning 'pans from the city of Cumae' aare mentioned. The author states that this 'no fuss' cookware is perfect for chicken (pullum) stew. Although the name Cumanae testae/Cumanae patellae has long been known to historians, it was thought to be a term for Pompeian Redware, a pottery known for it’s heavy red glaze. However, a recently uncovered treasure trove of pottery was uncovered from a Roman pottery dump just outside of Naples in Italy, at the site of the ancient city of Cumae. It now appears that the name is in fact referring to a higher-quality version of non-stick cookware, manufactured in the ancient city of Cumae during the reign of Augustus and Tiberius, between 27 BCE and 37 CE.

Roman bronze grater. Roman bronze grater.
Roman frying pan. Roman bronze frying pan (sartago) with pouring spout.
Graters (often made of bronze) were ubiquitous and used for cheese, fruit and vegetables. The main problem in the Roman kitchen being how to clean them — with sand being most commonly used substance.

The frying pan or fretale, made of bronze, round or oval in shape, with a lip for pouring is a key piece of cooking equipment. These were even supplied to Roman soliders along with their mess tins and later came with collapsible handles. Almost modern-style rectangular iron trays with handles for roasting or frying were also used as were "oven-to-table ware," in the form of shallow pans and earthenware dishes was common. — these are referred to as patellae and patinae.

Roman kitchen utensils: knives, ladle, wine dipper, strainer, spoons fork. Roman kitchen utensils. From left to right 3 knives,
ladle, wine dipper, strainer, three spoons, fork.
Roman mortarium. Roman mortarium from Britannia c 100CE.
Knives of all sizes were used, made of iron, with bone, wood or bronze handles. Spoons of bronze, silver and bone have also been discovered. Ladles, dippers, strainers and choppers all found a place in the Roman kitchen.

Mortaria were stout pottery bowls used for grinding and pounding, made with a sprinkling of grit baked into the clay to form a rough surface. Stone or wooden pestles were used with them. These are typically much shallower than the mortars we are used to today, which evolved out of the apothecary's grinding instruments. Interestingly, I have a very similar Igbo mortar from Nigeria that's used for grinding cooked foods to make pastes and provides a good indication of the use of Roman mortaria.

Below is a list of some of the kitchen equipment that you might expect to find:

sartago (frying pan)
olla (earthen pot or jar for stewing)
cacabus (cooking pot)
situla (kettle, bucket, or vessel for water)
patina (broad, shallow dish or stewpan)
catinus (large bowl, dish, or plate for serving food)
patella (small, shallow dish or pan)
cratera (mixing bowl)
poculum (drinking cup)
colum (colander/strainer)
cyathus (small ladle)
harpago (meat hook)
mortarium (mortar)
pistillum (pestle)
culter (knife)
furca (fork)
cochlear (spoon)
chioise a perforated conical sieve that used to strain custards, purees, sauces and soups to produce a smooth texture

Roman serving platter, discus. Roman discus, a bronze serving platter.
When the food was ready it was served on a discus, a large circular plate. Groups of large platters of silver, bronze and pewter have been excavated, the most notable in Roman Britain being the silver collection from Mildenhall in Suffolk.