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112-580: Apicius , also known as De re culinaria or De re coquinaria ( On the Subject of Cooking ), is a collection of Roman cookery recipes, which may have been compiled in the fifth century CE, or earlier. Its language is in many ways closer to Vulgar than to Classical Latin , with later recipes using Vulgar Latin (such as ficatum , bullire ) added to earlier recipes using Classical Latin (such as iecur , fervere ). The book has been attributed to an otherwise unknown Caelius Apicius, an invention based on

224-459: A flatbread prepared on a griddle and topped with cheese and a pesto -like preparation, somewhat similar to pizza or focaccia . Maintaining a bread oven is labor-intensive and requires space, so apartment dwellers probably prepared their dough at home, then had it baked in a communal oven. Mills and commercial ovens, usually combined in a bakery complex, were considered so vital to the wellbeing of Rome that several religious festivals honored

336-476: A soufflé . Recipes include regional specialties such as Ofellas Ostiensis , an hors d'oeuvre made from "choice squares of marinated pork cooked in a spicy sauce of typically Roman flavors: lovage, fennel, cumin, and anise." The signature dish Patina Apiciana required a complex forcemeat layered with egg and crepes , to be presented on a silver platter. Roman " foodies " indulged in wild game , fowl such as peacock and flamingo , large fish ( mullet

448-399: A chicken. Crush pepper, lovage , and a dash of caraway ; blend in fish sauce to create a slurry, then thin with wine. Pour over chicken in a casserole with a lid. Dissolve asafoetida in warm water and baste chicken as it cooks. Season with pepper to serve. Apicius, De Re Coquinaria 6.9.2 Roman books on agriculture include a few recipes. A book-length collection of Roman recipes

560-438: A combination of artificial and natural selection . This complexity and diversity of status has led to much confusion in the naming of wheats. Hexaploid species (6N) Tetraploid species (4N) Diploid species (2N) The wild species of wheat, along with the domesticated varieties einkorn , emmer and spelt , have hulls. This more primitive morphology (in evolutionary terms) consists of toughened glumes that tightly enclose

672-496: A completely different manuscript, there is also a very abbreviated epitome entitled Apici excerpta a Vinidario , a "pocket Apicius" by "an illustrious man" named Vinidarius , made as late as the Carolingian era . The Vinidarius of this book may have been a Goth, in which case his Gothic name may have been Vinithaharjis (𐍅𐌹𐌽𐌹𐌸𐌰𐌷𐌰𐍂𐌾𐌹𐍃), but this is only conjecture. Despite being called "illustrious", nothing about him

784-535: A decline in climate resilience of wheat has been observed. Hunter-gatherers in West Asia harvested wild wheats for thousands of years before they were domesticated , perhaps as early as 21,000 BC, but they formed a minor component of their diets. In this phase of pre-domestication cultivation, early cultivars were spread around the region and slowly developed the traits that came to characterise their domesticated forms. Repeated harvesting and sowing of

896-409: A good crop of grain. The farmer may intervene while the crop is growing to add fertilizer , water by irrigation , or pesticides such as herbicides to kill broad-leaved weeds or insecticides to kill insect pests. The farmer may assess soil minerals, soil water, weed growth, or the arrival of pests to decide timely and cost-effective corrective actions, and crop ripeness and water content to select

1008-434: A head of grain is called an ear. Leaves emerge from the shoot apical meristem in a telescoping fashion until the transition to reproduction i.e. flowering. The last leaf produced by a wheat plant is known as the flag leaf. It is denser and has a higher photosynthetic rate than other leaves, to supply carbohydrate to the developing ear. In temperate countries the flag leaf, along with the second and third highest leaf on

1120-457: A kitchen, a kitchen garden , and a trained staff with a chef (archimagirus) , a sous chef (vicarius supra cocos) , and kitchen assistants (coci , singular cocus or coquus , from which the English "cook" derives). In upperclass households, the evening meal ( cena ) had important social functions. Guests were entertained in a finely decorated dining room ( triclinium ) , often with

1232-470: A less reliable method based on grain size. Einkorn and emmer are considered two of the founder crops cultivated by the first farming societies in Neolithic West Asia. These communities also cultivated naked wheats ( T. aestivum and T. durum ) and a now-extinct domesticated form of Zanduri wheat ( T. timopheevii ), as well as a wide variety of other cereal and non-cereal crops. Wheat

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1344-519: A limited budget. Truffles and wild mushrooms , while not everyday fare, were perhaps more commonly foraged than today. Provinces exported regional dried fruits such as Carian figs and Theban dates, and fruit trees from the East were propagated throughout the Western empire: the cherry from Pontus (present-day Turkey); peach (persica) from Persia (Iran), along with the lemon and other citrus;

1456-681: A low quality for human nutrition, according to the DIAAS protein quality evaluation method. Though they contain adequate amounts of the other essential amino acids, at least for adults, wheat proteins are deficient in the essential amino acid lysine . Because the proteins present in the wheat endosperm (gluten proteins) are particularly poor in lysine, white flours are more deficient in lysine compared with whole grains. Significant efforts in plant breeding are made to develop lysine-rich wheat varieties, without success, as of 2017 . Supplementation with proteins from other food sources (mainly legumes )

1568-450: A major contribution to the nutritional welfare of the poor. Some wheat species are diploid , with two sets of chromosomes , but many are stable polyploids , with four sets of chromosomes ( tetraploid ) or six ( hexaploid ). Einkorn wheat ( Triticum monococcum ) is diploid (AA, two complements of seven chromosomes, 2n=14). Most tetraploid wheats (e.g. emmer and durum wheat) are derived from wild emmer , T. dicoccoides . Wild emmer

1680-475: A major contributor to increased grain output. More widely over the last 40 years, a massive increase in fertilizer use together with the increased availability of semi-dwarf varieties in developing countries, has greatly increased yields per hectare. In developing countries, use of (mainly nitrogenous) fertilizer increased 25-fold in this period. However, farming systems rely on much more than fertilizer and breeding to improve productivity. A good illustration of this

1792-517: A number of different Roman cooks from the first century CE. Many of the recipes contain the ingredient silphium , which is speculated to have become extinct in the first century CE, so this supports the earlier date. However, based on textual analysis, the food scholar Bruno Laurioux believes that the surviving version only dates from the fifth century (that is, the end of the Roman Empire): "The history of De Re Coquinaria indeed belongs then to

1904-405: A pot ( olla ) , but ventilation was poor and braziers were fire hazards. Prepared food was sold at pubs and bars, inns, and food stalls ( tabernae , cauponae, popinae ) . Some establishments had countertops fitted with openings for pots that may have kept food warm over a heat source ( thermopolium ) or simply served as storage vessels ( dolia ) . Carryout and restaurant dining were for

2016-501: A practice that evokes the tradition of communal banquets following animal sacrifice. A meal concluded with fruits and nuts, or with deliberately superfluous desserts (secundae mensae) . Roman literature focuses on the dining habits of the upper classes, and the most famous description of a Roman meal is probably Trimalchio's dinner party in the Satyricon , a fictional extravaganza that bears little resemblance to reality even among

2128-481: A protein content of about 13%, which is relatively high compared to other major cereals but relatively low in protein quality (supplying essential amino acids ). When eaten as the whole grain , wheat is a source of multiple nutrients and dietary fiber . In a small part of the general population, gluten – which comprises most of the protein in wheat – can trigger coeliac disease , noncoeliac gluten sensitivity , gluten ataxia , and dermatitis herpetiformis . Wheat

2240-451: A ration of about 830 grams (1.8 lb) of wheat per day in the form of unmilled grain, which is less perishable than flour. Handmills were used to grind it. The supply of all these foodstuffs depended on availability, and was hard to guarantee during times of war or other adverse conditions. The military attracted sutlers who sold various items, including foodstuffs with which the soldier might supplement his diet. Wheat Wheat

2352-470: A source of straw , which could be used for fuel, wicker-making , or wattle and daub construction. Domestic wheat was quickly spread to regions where its wild ancestors did not grow naturally. Emmer was introduced to Cyprus as early as 8600 BC and einkorn c.  7500 BC ; emmer reached Greece by 6500 BC, Egypt shortly after 6000 BC, and Germany and Spain by 5000 BC. "The early Egyptians were developers of bread and

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2464-516: A sweetener. A variety of dried fruits (figs, dates and plums) and fresh berries were also eaten. Salt , which in its pure form was an expensive commodity in Rome, was the fundamental seasoning and the most common salty condiment was a fermented fish sauce known as garum . Locally available seasonings included garden herbs, cumin , coriander , and juniper berries . Imported spices included pepper , saffron , cinnamon , and fennel . While wine

2576-449: A variety of meat products were prepared, including blood puddings , sausages, cured ham and bacon. The milk of goats or sheep was thought superior to that of cows; milk was used to make many types of cheese, as this was a way of storing and trading milk products. While olive oil was fundamental to Roman cooking, butter was viewed as an undesirable Gallic foodstuff. Sweet foods such as pastries typically used honey and wine-must syrup as

2688-426: A viable crop. When the use of seed drills replaced broadcasting sowing of seed in the 18th century, another great increase in productivity occurred. Yields of pure wheat per unit area increased as methods of crop rotation were applied to land that had long been in cultivation, and the use of fertilizers became widespread. Improved agricultural husbandry has more recently included pervasive automation , starting with

2800-410: A view of the peristyle garden. Diners lounged on couches, leaning on the left elbow. The ideal number of guests for a dinner party ( convivium , "life-sharing" or "a living together") was nine. By the late Republic, if not earlier, women dined, reclined, and drank wine along with men. On at least some occasions, children attended, so they could acquire social skills. Multicourse meals were served by

2912-841: A year on spices and perfumes from India, China, and the Arabian peninsula. Sweeteners were limited mostly to honey and wine-must syrup ( defrutum ) . Cane sugar was an exotic ingredient used as a garnish or flavoring agent, or in medicines. The central government took an active interest in supporting agriculture . Producing food was the top priority of land use. Larger farms ( latifundia ) achieved an economy of scale that sustained urban life and its more specialized division of labor. The Empire's transportation network of roads and shipping lines benefitted small farmers by opening up access to local and regional markets in towns and trade centers. Agricultural techniques such as crop rotation and selective breeding were disseminated throughout

3024-506: A year's supply. Wheat grain was stored after threshing , with the chaff removed. It was then processed into flour using ground stone mortars . Bread made from ground einkorn and the tubers of a form of club rush ( Bolboschoenus glaucus ) was made as early as 12,400 BC. At Çatalhöyük ( c.  7100–6000 BC ), both wholegrain wheat and flour was used to prepare bread, porridge and gruel . Apart from food, wheat may also have been important to Neolithic societies as

3136-452: Is Australian wheat growing in the southern winter cropping zone, where, despite low rainfall (300 mm), wheat cropping is successful even with relatively little use of nitrogenous fertilizer. This is achieved by crop rotation with leguminous pastures. The inclusion of a canola crop in the rotations has boosted wheat yields by a further 25%. In these low rainfall areas, better use of available soil-water (and better control of soil erosion)

3248-477: Is a grass widely cultivated for its seed , a cereal grain that is a staple food around the world. The many species of wheat together make up the genus Triticum ( / ˈ t r ɪ t ɪ k ə m / ); the most widely grown is common wheat ( T. aestivum ). The archaeological record suggests that wheat was first cultivated in the regions of the Fertile Crescent around 9600 BC. Botanically,

3360-574: Is a rich source (20% or more of the Daily Value , DV) of multiple dietary minerals , such as manganese , phosphorus , magnesium , zinc , and iron (table). The B vitamins , niacin (36% DV), thiamine (33% DV), and vitamin B6 (23% DV), are present in significant amounts (table). Wheat is a significant source of vegetable proteins in human food, having a relatively high protein content compared to other major cereals. However, wheat proteins have

3472-447: Is a stout grass of medium to tall height. Its stem is jointed and usually hollow, forming a straw. There can be many stems on one plant. It has long narrow leaves, their bases sheathing the stem, one above each joint. At the top of the stem is the flower head, containing some 20 to 100 flowers. Each flower contains both male and female parts. The flowers are wind-pollinated , with over 99% of pollination events being self-pollinations and

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3584-400: Is achieved by retaining the stubble after harvesting and by minimizing tillage. Pests and diseases consume 21.47% of the world's wheat crop annually. There are many wheat diseases, mainly caused by fungi, bacteria, and viruses . Plant breeding to develop new disease-resistant varieties, and sound crop management practices are important for preventing disease. Fungicides, used to prevent

3696-459: Is also important to identify periods of higher risk from the climate. Farmers benefit from knowing when the 'flag leaf' (last leaf) appears, as this leaf represents about 75% of photosynthesis reactions during the grain filling period, and so should be preserved from disease or insect attacks to ensure a good yield. Several systems exist to identify crop stages, with the Feekes and Zadoks scales being

3808-420: Is attributed to Apicius , a name for several figures in antiquity that became synonymous with " gourmet ": "the recipes are written haphazardly, as if someone familiar with the workings of a kitchen was jotting down notes for a colleague." Although often imprecise, particularly with measurements, Apicius uses eight different verbs for techniques for incorporating eggs into a dish, including one that might produce

3920-402: Is commonly used to compensate for this deficiency, since the limitation of a single essential amino acid causes the others to break down and become excreted, which is especially important during growth. Consumed worldwide by billions of people, wheat is a significant food for human nutrition, particularly in the least developed countries where wheat products are primary foods. When eaten as

4032-418: Is greater than for all other crops combined. Global demand for wheat is increasing due to the unique viscoelastic and adhesive properties of gluten proteins, which facilitate the production of processed foods, whose consumption is increasing as a result of the worldwide industrialization process and westernization of diets . Wheat became a central agriculture endeavor in the worldwide British Empire in

4144-473: Is itself the result of a hybridization between two diploid wild grasses, T. urartu and a wild goatgrass such as Ae. speltoides . The hybridization that formed wild emmer (AABB, four complements of seven chromosomes in two groups, 4n=28) occurred in the wild, long before domestication, and was driven by natural selection . Hexaploid wheats evolved in farmers' fields as wild emmer hybridized with another goatgrass, Ae. squarrosa or Ae. tauschii , to make

4256-629: Is likely to be prioritised in drought-adapted crops, while stem non-structural carbohydrate is prioritised in varieties developed for countries where disease is a bigger issue. Depending on variety, wheat may be awned or not awned. Producing awns incurs a cost in grain number, but wheat awns photosynthesise more efficiently than their leaves with regards to water usage, so awns are much more frequent in varieties of wheat grown in hot drought-prone countries than those generally seen in temperate countries. For this reason, awned varieties could become more widely grown due to climate change . In Europe, however,

4368-458: Is more diverse, with domesticated varieties falling into two major groups: hulled or non-shattering, in which threshing separates the whole spikelet ; and free-threshing, where the individual grains are separated. Both varieties probably existed in prehistory, but over time free-threshing cultivars became more common. Wild emmer was first cultivated in the southern Levant , as early as 9600 BC. Genetic studies have found that, like einkorn, it

4480-399: Is normally planted after tilling the soil by ploughing and then harrowing to kill weeds and create an even surface. The seeds are then scattered on the surface, or drilled into the soil in rows. Winter wheat lies dormant during a winter freeze. It needs to develop to a height of 10 to 15 cm before the cold intervenes, so as to be able to survive the winter; it requires a period with

4592-511: Is not the same as a wheat allergy . Other diseases triggered by eating wheat are non-coeliac gluten sensitivity (estimated to affect 0.5% to 13% of the general population ), gluten ataxia , and dermatitis herpetiformis . Certain short-chain carbohydrates present in wheat, known as FODMAPs (mainly fructose polymers ), may be the cause of non-coeliac gluten sensitivity. As of 2019 , reviews have concluded that FODMAPs only explain certain gastrointestinal symptoms, such as bloating , but not

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4704-429: Is often called corn in countries including Britain). Since 1960, world production of wheat and other grain crops has tripled and is expected to grow further through the middle of the 21st century. Global demand for wheat is increasing because of the usefulness of gluten to the food industry. Wheat is an important source of carbohydrates . Globally, it is the leading source of vegetable proteins in human food, having

4816-486: Is truly known. Apici excerpta a Vinidario survives in a single 8th-century uncial manuscript. Despite the title, this booklet is not an excerpt purely from the Apicius text we have today, as it contains material not included in the longer Apicius manuscripts. Either some text was lost between the time the excerpt was made and the time the manuscripts were written, or there never was a "standard Apicius " text because

4928-493: Is valuable to impart viscoelastic functional qualities in dough , enabling the preparation of diverse processed foods such as breads, noodles, and pasta that facilitate wheat consumption. Raw red winter wheat is 13% water, 71% carbohydrates including 12% dietary fiber , 13% protein , and 2% fat (table). Some 75–80% of the protein content is as gluten . In a reference amount of 100 grams (3.5 oz), wheat provides 1,368 kilojoules (327 kilocalories) of food energy and

5040-460: The deities who furthered these processes—and even the donkeys who toiled in the mills. Vesta , the goddess of the hearth, was seen as complementary to Ceres , the goddess of grain, and donkeys were garlanded and given a rest on the Festival of Vesta . The Fornacalia was the "Festival of Ovens". Lateranus was a deity of brick ovens. Because of the importance of landowning in the formation of

5152-436: The extra-digestive symptoms that people with non-coeliac gluten sensitivity may develop. Other wheat proteins, amylase-trypsin inhibitors, have been identified as the possible activator of the innate immune system in coeliac disease and non-coeliac gluten sensitivity. These proteins are part of the plant's natural defense against insects and may cause intestinal inflammation in humans. In 2022, world wheat production

5264-853: The hexaploid wheats including bread wheat . A 2007 molecular phylogeny of the wheats gives the following not fully-resolved cladogram of major cultivated species; the large amount of hybridisation makes resolution difficult. Markings like "6N" indicate the degree of polyploidy of each species: Barley 2N, rye 2N/4N, and other cereals Triticum monococcum ( einkorn ) 2N × Aegilotriticum hybrids ( Aegilops x Triticum ) 6N Triticum timopheevii (zanduri wheat) and others 4N Triticum aestivum ( common or bread wheat ) 6N Triticum durum/turgidum ( durum wheat) 4N Triticum spelta ( spelt ) 6N Triticum turanicum ( khorasan wheat ) 4N Triticum dicoccum ( emmer ) 4N many other species During 10,000 years of cultivation, numerous forms of wheat, many of them hybrids , have developed under

5376-659: The household slaves , who appear prominently in the art of late antiquity as images of hospitality and luxury. One of the chief logistical concerns of the Roman military was feeding the men, cavalry horses, and pack animals, usually mules. Wheat and barley were the primary food sources. Meat, olive oil, wine, and vinegar were also provided. An army of 40,000, including soldiers and other personnel such as slaves, would have about 4,000 horses and 3,500 pack animals. An army of this size would consume about 60 tonnes of grain and 240 amphorae of wine and olive oil each day. Each man received

5488-427: The whole grain , wheat supplies multiple nutrients and dietary fiber recommended for children and adults. In genetically susceptible people, wheat gluten can trigger coeliac disease . Coeliac disease affects about 1% of the general population in developed countries . The only known effective treatment is a strict lifelong gluten-free diet . While coeliac disease is caused by a reaction to wheat proteins, it

5600-617: The 19th century, and remains of great importance in Australia, Canada and India. In Australia, with vast lands and a limited work force, expanded production depended on technological advances, especially regarding irrigation and machinery. By the 1840s there were 900 growers in South Australia . They used "Ridley's Stripper", a reaper-harvester perfected by John Ridley in 1843, to remove the heads of grain. In Canada, modern farm implements made large scale wheat farming possible from

5712-513: The 20th century, global wheat output expanded by about 5-fold, but until about 1955 most of this reflected increases in wheat crop area, with lesser (about 20%) increases in crop yields per unit area. After 1955 however, there was a ten-fold increase in the rate of wheat yield improvement per year, and this became the major factor allowing global wheat production to increase. Thus technological innovation and scientific crop management with synthetic nitrogen fertilizer , irrigation and wheat breeding were

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5824-627: The Augustan poet Horace coined the expression "truth in wine" ( in vino veritas ), drunkenness was disparaged. It was a Roman stereotype that Gauls had an excessive love of wine, and drinking wine "straight" ( purum or merum , unmixed) was a mark of the "barbarian". The Gauls also brewed various forms of beer. Since restaurants catered to the lower classes, fine dining could be sought only at private dinner parties in well-to-do houses, or at banquets hosted by social clubs ( collegia ) . The private home ( domus ) of an elite family would have had

5936-536: The Emperors Didius Julianus and Septimius Severus disdained meat –Roman butchers sold a variety of fresh meats, including pork, beef, and mutton or lamb . Due to the lack of refrigeration, techniques of preservation for meat, fish, and dairy were developed. No portion of the animal was allowed to go to waste, resulting in blood puddings , meatballs (isicia) , sausages, and stews. Rural people cured ham and bacon, and regional specialties such as

6048-690: The Empire, and new crops were introduced from one province to another, such as peas and cabbage to Britain. Food vendors are depicted in art throughout the Empire. In the city of Rome, the Forum Holitorium was an ancient farmers' market , and the Vicus Tuscus was famous for its fresh produce . Throughout the city, meats, fish, cheeses, produce, olive oil , spices, and the ubiquitous condiment garum ( fish sauce ) were sold at macella , Roman indoor markets, and at marketplaces throughout

6160-409: The Empire. The basic grain pottage could be elaborated with chopped vegetables, bits of meat, cheese, or herbs to produce dishes similar to polenta or risotto . "Julian stew" (Pultes Iulianae) was made from spelt to which was added two kinds of ground meat , pepper , lovage , fennel , hard bread , and a wine reduction ; according to tradition, it was eaten by the soldiers of Julius Caesar and

6272-593: The Middle Ages". The Latin text is organized in ten books with Greek titles, in an arrangement similar to that of a modern cookbook: The foods described in the book are useful for reconstructing the dietary habits of the ancient world around the Mediterranean Basin . But the recipes are geared for the wealthiest classes, and a few contain what were exotic ingredients at that time (e.g., flamingo ). A sample recipe from Apicius (8.6.2–3) follows: In

6384-437: The Roman cultural elite, Romans idealized farming and took a great deal of pride in serving produce . Leafy greens and herbs were eaten as salads with vinegar dressings . Cooked vegetables such as beets , leeks , and gourds were prepared with sauces as first courses or served with bread as a simple meal. The Romans had over 20 kind of vegetables and greens. Cured olives were available in wide variety even to those on

6496-594: The Vinidarius manuscript. Between 1498 (the date of the first printed edition) and 1936 (the date of Joseph Dommers Vehling 's translation into English and bibliography of Apicius), there were 14 editions of the Latin text (plus one possibly apocryphal edition). The work was not widely translated, however; the first translation was into Italian , in 1852, followed in the 20th century by two translations into German and French . The French translation by Bertrand Guégan

6608-635: The apricot from Armenia ; the " Damascan " or damson plum from Syria ; and what the Romans called the "Punic apple", the pomegranate from North Africa. The Romans ate cherries, blackberries, currants, elderberries, dates, pomegranates, peaches, apricots, quinces, melons, plums, figs, grapes, apples and pears. Berries were cultivated or gathered wild. Familiar nuts included almonds, hazelnuts, walnuts, pistachios, pine nuts, and chestnuts. Fruit and nut trees could be grafted with multiple varieties. While there were prominent Romans who discouraged meat eating–

6720-425: The body was thought to be a process analogous to cooking. The Latin expression for a full-course dinner was ab ovo usque ad mala , "from the egg to the apples," equivalent to the English "from soup to nuts." A multicourse dinner began with the gustatio ("tasting" or "appetizer"), often a salad or other minimally cooked composed dish, with ingredients to promote good digestion. The cena proper centered on meat,

6832-456: The contents changed over time as it was adapted by readers. Once manuscripts surfaced, there were two early printed editions of Apicius , in Milan (1498, under the title In re quoquinaria ) and Venice (1500). Four more editions in the next four decades reflect the appeal of Apicius . In the long-standard edition of C. T. Schuch (Heidelberg, 1867), the editor added some recipes from

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6944-414: The deepest of arable crops, extending as far down as 2 metres (6 ft 7 in). While the roots of a wheat plant are growing, the plant also accumulates an energy store in its stem, in the form of fructans , which helps the plant to yield under drought and disease pressure, but it has been observed that there is a trade-off between root growth and stem non-structural carbohydrate reserves. Root growth

7056-508: The dole took it to a mill to have it ground into flour. By the reign of Aurelian , the state had begun to distribute the annona as a daily ration of bread baked in state factories, and added olive oil , wine, and pork to the dole. Most people in the city of Rome lived in apartment buildings ( insulae ) that lacked kitchens, though shared cooking facilities might be available in ground-level commons areas. A charcoal brazier could be used for rudimentary cookery such as grilling and stewing in

7168-485: The domestic form comes after c.   8800 BC in southern Turkey, at Çayönü , Cafer Höyük , and possibly Nevalı Çori . Genetic evidence indicates that it was domesticated in multiple places independently. Wild emmer wheat ( T. turgidum subsp. dicoccoides ) is less widespread than einkorn, favouring the rocky basaltic and limestone soils found in the hilly flanks of the Fertile Crescent. It

7280-766: The earliest known wheat with sufficient gluten for yeasted breads was found in a granary at Assiros in Macedonia dated to 1350 BC. From the Middle East , wheat continued to spread across Europe and to the Americas in the Columbian exchange . In the British Isles, wheat straw ( thatch ) was used for roofing in the Bronze Age , and remained in common use until the late 19th century. White wheat bread

7392-399: The fact that one of the two manuscripts is headed with the words "API CAE" or rather because a few recipes are attributed to Apicius in the text: Patinam Apicianam sic facies (IV, 14) Ofellas Apicianas (VII, 2). It has also been attributed to Marcus Gavius Apicius , a Roman gourmet who lived sometime in the 1st century CE during the reign of Tiberius . The book also may have been authored by

7504-567: The farm and because of poor roads, inadequate storage technologies, inefficient supply chains and farmers' inability to bring the produce into retail markets dominated by small shopkeepers. Some 10% of total wheat production is lost at farm level, another 10% is lost because of poor storage and road networks, and additional amounts are lost at the retail level. In the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent, as well as North China, irrigation has been

7616-456: The farmer have a detailed understanding of each stage of development in the growing plants. In particular, spring fertilizers , herbicides , fungicides , and growth regulators are typically applied only at specific stages of plant development. For example, it is currently recommended that the second application of nitrogen is best done when the ear (not visible at this stage) is about 1 cm in size (Z31 on Zadoks scale ). Knowledge of stages

7728-536: The fine salted hams of Gaul were items of trade. The sausages of Lucania were made from a mixture of ground meats, herbs, and nuts, with eggs as a binding ingredient, and then aged in a smoker . Fresh milk was used in medicinal and cosmetic preparations, or for cooking. The milk of goats or sheep was thought superior to that of cows. Cheese was easier to store and transport to market; literary sources describe cheesemaking in detail, including fresh and hard cheeses, regional specialties, and smoked cheeses. Olive oil

7840-584: The fleet from the far reaches of empire, from the Parthian frontier to the Straits of Gibraltar . The Augustan historian Livy explicitly links the development of gourmet cuisine to Roman territorial expansion, dating the introduction of the first chefs to 187 BC, following the Galatian War . Although food shortages were a constant concern, Italian viticulture produced an abundance of cheap wine that

7952-557: The form of cereals and legumes . Grains included several varieties of wheat — emmer , rivet wheat , einkorn , spelt , and common wheat ( Triticum aestivum ) —as well as the less desirable barley , millet , and oats . Legumes included the lentil , chickpea , bitter vetch , broad bean , garden pea , and grass pea ; Pliny names varieties such as the Venus pea , and poets praise Egyptian lentils imported from Pelusium . Legumes were planted in rotation with cereals to enrich

8064-601: The glumes are fragile and the rachis tough. On threshing, the chaff breaks up, releasing the grains. Wheat grain classes are named by colour, season, and hardness. The classes used in the United States are: Wheat is a staple cereal worldwide. Raw wheat berries can be ground into flour or, using hard durum wheat only, can be ground into semolina ; germinated and dried creating malt ; crushed or cut into cracked wheat; parboiled (or steamed), dried, crushed and de-branned into bulgur also known as groats . If

8176-562: The grains of wild grasses led to the creation of domestic strains, as mutant forms ('sports') of wheat were more amenable to cultivation. In domesticated wheat, grains are larger, and the seeds (inside the spikelets ) remain attached to the ear by a toughened rachis during harvesting. In wild strains, a more fragile rachis allows the ear to shatter easily, dispersing the spikelets. Selection for larger grains and non-shattering heads by farmers might not have been deliberately intended, but simply have occurred because these traits made gathering

8288-479: The grains, and (in domesticated wheats) a semi-brittle rachis that breaks easily on threshing. The result is that when threshed, the wheat ear breaks up into spikelets. To obtain the grain, further processing, such as milling or pounding, is needed to remove the hulls or husks. Hulled wheats are often stored as spikelets because the toughened glumes give good protection against pests of stored grain. In free-threshing (or naked) forms, such as durum wheat and common wheat,

8400-410: The household gods. When Romans made their regular visits to burial sites to care for the dead , they poured a libation, facilitated at some tombs with a feeding tube into the grave. Romans drank their wine mixed with water, or in "mixed drinks" with flavorings. Mulsum was a mulled sweet wine, and apsinthium was a wormwood-flavored forerunner of absinthe . Although wine was enjoyed regularly, and

8512-519: The late 1840s. By 1879, Saskatchewan was the center, followed by Alberta , Manitoba and Ontario , as the spread of railway lines allowed easy exports to Britain. By 1910, wheat made up 22% of Canada's exports, rising to 25% in 1930 despite the sharp decline in prices during the worldwide Great Depression . Efforts to expand wheat production in South Africa, Kenya and India were stymied by low yields and disease. However, by 2000 India had become

8624-421: The lower classes, and subsidized the rich by allowing workers to spend more of their earnings on the wine and olive oil produced on the estates of the landowning class. The grain dole also had symbolic value: it affirmed both the emperor's position as universal benefactor, and the right of all citizens to share in "the fruits of conquest". The annona , public facilities, and spectacular entertainments mitigated

8736-511: The lower classes. Frequenting taverns, where prostitutes sometimes worked, was among the moral failings that louche emperors and other public figures might be accused of. Mills and commercial ovens were usually combined in a bakery complex. The importance of a good diet to health was recognized by medical writers such as Galen (2nd century AD), whose treatises included one On Barley Soup . Views on nutrition were influenced by schools of thought such as humoral theory . Digestion of food within

8848-483: The main drivers of wheat output growth in the second half of the century. There were some significant decreases in wheat crop area, for instance in North America. Better seed storage and germination ability (and hence a smaller requirement to retain harvested crop for next year's seed) is another 20th-century technological innovation. In Medieval England, farmers saved one-quarter of their wheat harvest as seed for

8960-470: The most wealthy. The poet Martial describes serving a more plausible dinner, beginning with the gustatio , which was a composed salad of mallow leaves , lettuce, chopped leeks, mint , arugula , mackerel garnished with rue , sliced eggs, and marinated sow udder. The main course was succulent cuts of kid , beans, greens, a chicken, and leftover ham, followed by a dessert of fresh fruit and vintage wine. A Roman recipe: Parthian Chicken Spatchcock

9072-568: The most widely used. Each scale is a standard system which describes successive stages reached by the crop during the agricultural season. For example, the stage of pollen formation from the mother cell, and the stages between anthesis and maturity, are susceptible to high temperatures, and this adverse effect is made worse by water stress. Technological advances in soil preparation and seed placement at planting time, use of crop rotation and fertilizers to improve plant growth, and advances in harvesting methods have all combined to promote wheat as

9184-488: The need to systematically remove vegetation or till the soil. They may also have exploited natural wetlands and floodplains to practice décrue farming , sowing seeds in the soil left behind by receding floodwater. It was harvested with stone-bladed sickles . The ease of storing wheat and other cereals led farming households to become gradually more reliant on it over time, especially after they developed individual storage facilities that were large enough to hold more than

9296-473: The next crop, leaving only three-quarters for food and feed consumption. By 1999, the global average seed use of wheat was about 6% of output. In the 21st century, rising temperatures associated with global warming are reducing wheat yield in several locations. Wheat is an annual crop. It can be planted in autumn and harvested in early summer as winter wheat in climates that are not too severe, or planted in spring and harvested in autumn as spring wheat. It

9408-461: The otherwise dreary living conditions of lower-class Romans, and kept social unrest in check. The satirist Juvenal , however, saw " bread and circuses " (panem et circenses) as emblematic of the loss of republican political liberty: The public has long since cast off its cares: the people that once bestowed commands, consulships, legions and all else, now meddles no more and longs eagerly for just two things: bread and circuses. Romans who received

9520-580: The plant, supply the majority of carbohydrate in the grain and their condition is paramount to yield formation. Wheat is unusual among plants in having more stomata on the upper ( adaxial ) side of the leaf, than on the under ( abaxial ) side. It has been theorised that this might be an effect of it having been domesticated and cultivated longer than any other plant. Winter wheat generally produces up to 15 leaves per shoot and spring wheat up to 9 and winter crops may have up to 35 tillers (shoots) per plant (depending on cultivar). Wheat roots are among

9632-546: The provinces. Maintaining an affordable food supply to the city of Rome had become a major political issue in the late Republic, when the state began to provide a grain dole ( annona ) to citizens who registered for it. About 200,000–250,000 adult males in Rome received the dole, amounting to about 33 kg per month, for a per annum total of about 100,000 tonnes of wheat primarily from Sicily , Northern Africa, and Egypt. The dole cost at least 34 percent of state revenues, but improved living conditions and family life among

9744-461: The raw wheat is broken into parts at the mill, as is usually done, the outer husk or bran can be used in several ways. Wheat is a major ingredient in such foods as bread , porridge , crackers , biscuits , muesli , pancakes , pasta , pies , pastries , pizza , semolina , cakes , cookies , muffins , rolls , doughnuts , gravy , beer , vodka , boza (a fermented beverage ), and breakfast cereals . In manufacturing wheat products, gluten

9856-399: The rest cross-pollinations . The flower is housed in a pair of small leaflike glumes . The two (male) stamens and (female) stigmas protrude outside the glumes. The flowers are grouped into spikelets , each with between two and six flowers. Each fertilised carpel develops into a wheat grain or berry; botanically a fruit , it is often called a seed. The grains ripen to a golden yellow;

9968-452: The right moment to harvest. Harvesting involves reaping , cutting the stems to gather the crop; and threshing , breaking the ears to release the grain; both steps are carried out by a combine harvester . The grain is then dried so that it can be stored safe from mould fungi. Wheat normally needs between 110 and 130 days between sowing and harvest, depending upon climate, seed type, and soil conditions. Optimal crop management requires that

10080-517: The second largest producer of wheat in the world. In the 19th century the American wheat frontier moved rapidly westward. By the 1880s 70% of American exports went to British ports. The first successful grain elevator was built in Buffalo in 1842. The cost of transport fell rapidly. In 1869 it cost 37 cents to transport a bushel of wheat from Chicago to Liverpool . In 1905 it was 10 cents. In

10192-510: The second-largest city in the Empire, imported wine from Laodicea in Syria and the Aegean. At the retail level, taverns or specialty wine shops (vinaria) sold wine by the jug for carryout and by the drink on premises, with price ranges reflecting quality. In addition to regular consumption with meals, wine was a part of everyday religious observances. Before a meal, a libation was offered to

10304-513: The seeds easier; nevertheless such 'incidental' selection was an important part of crop domestication . As the traits that improve wheat as a food source involve the loss of the plant's natural seed dispersal mechanisms, highly domesticated strains of wheat cannot survive in the wild. Wild einkorn wheat ( T. monococcum subsp. boeoticum ) grows across Southwest Asia in open parkland and steppe environments. It comprises three distinct races , only one of which, native to Southeast Anatolia ,

10416-431: The soil , and were stockpiled in case of famine. The agricultural writer Columella gives detailed instructions on curing lentils, and Pliny says they had health benefits. Although usually thought of as modest fare, legumes also appear among the dishes at banquets. Puls ( pottage ) was considered the aboriginal food of the Romans, and played a role in some archaic religious rituals that continued to be observed during

10528-405: The temperature at or near freezing, its dormancy then being broken by the thaw or rise in temperature. Spring wheat does not undergo dormancy. Wheat requires a deep soil , preferably a loam with organic matter, and available minerals including soil nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium. An acid and peaty soil is not suitable. Wheat needs some 30 to 38 cm of rain in the growing season to form

10640-614: The use of threshing machines , and progressing to large and costly machines like the combine harvester which greatly increased productivity. At the same time, better varieties such as Norin 10 wheat , developed in Japan in the 1930s, or the dwarf wheat developed by Norman Borlaug in the Green Revolution , greatly increased yields. In addition to gaps in farming system technology and knowledge, some large wheat grain-producing countries have significant losses after harvest at

10752-542: The use of the oven and developed baking into one of the first large-scale food production industries." By 4000 BC, wheat had reached the British Isles and Scandinavia . Wheat likely appeared in China 's lower Yellow River around 2600 BC. The oldest evidence for hexaploid wheat has been confirmed through DNA analysis of wheat seeds, dating to around 6400–6200 BC, recovered from Çatalhöyük . As of 2023,

10864-455: The wheat kernel is a caryopsis , a type of fruit . Wheat is grown on a larger area of land than any other food crop (220.7 million hectares or 545 million acres in 2021). World trade in wheat is greater than for all other crops combined. In 2021, world wheat production was 771 million tonnes (850 million short tons), making it the second most-produced cereal after maize (known as corn in North America and Australia; wheat

10976-404: Was garum , the fermented fish sauce that added the flavor dimension now called " umami ". Major exporters of garum were located in the provinces of Spain. Locally available seasonings included garden herbs, cumin , coriander , and juniper berries . Pepper was so vital to the cuisine that ornamental pots ( piperatoria ) were created to hold it. Piper longum was imported from India, as

11088-408: Was spikenard , used to season game birds and sea urchins . Other imported spices were saffron , cinnamon , and the silphium of Cyrene , a type of pungent fennel that was over-harvested into extinction during the reign of Nero , after which time it was replaced with laserpicium , asafoetida exported from present-day Afghanistan. Pliny estimated that Romans spent 100 million sesterces

11200-486: Was 808.4 million tonnes, led by China, India, and Russia which collectively provided 43.22% of the world total. As of 2019 , the largest exporters were Russia (32 million tonnes), United States (27), Canada (23) and France (20), while the largest importers were Indonesia (11 million tonnes), Egypt (10.4) and Turkey (10.0). In 2021, wheat was grown on 220.7 million hectares or 545 million acres worldwide, more than any other food crop. World trade in wheat

11312-431: Was a "quintessential Roman dish." Urban populations and the military preferred to consume their grain in the form of bread. The lower classes ate coarse brown bread made from emmer or barley. Fine white loaves were leavened by wild yeasts and sourdough cultures . The beer-drinking Celts of Spain and Gaul were known for the quality of their breads risen with barm or brewers' yeast . The poem Moretum describes

11424-537: Was also a major exporter of olive oil, but the Romans regarded oil from central Italy as the finest. Specialty blends were created from Spanish olive oil; Liburnian Oil (Oleum Liburnicum) was flavored with elecampane , cyperus root , bay laurel and salt. Butter , which quickly spoiled in Mediterranean climate, was mostly disdained by the Romans, but was a distinguishing feature of the Gallic diet. Lard

11536-433: Was an important beverage, Romans looked down on drinking to excess and drank their wine mixed with water; drinking wine "straight" was viewed as a barbarian custom. The main Roman ingredients in dishes were wheat, wine, meat and fish, bread, and sauces and spices. The richer Romans had luxurious lives, and sometimes hosted banquets or feasts. Most people would have consumed at least 70 percent of their daily calories in

11648-600: Was awarded the 1934 Prix Langlois by the Académie française . Food and dining in the Roman Empire Bread was an important part of the Roman diet, with more well-to-do people eating wheat bread and poorer people eating that made from barley . Fresh produce such as vegetables and legumes were important to Romans, as farming was a valued activity. A variety of olives and nuts were eaten. While there were prominent Romans who discouraged meat eating,

11760-410: Was domesticated in southeastern Anatolia, but only once. The earliest secure archaeological evidence for domestic emmer comes from Çayönü, c.  8300–7600 BC , where distinctive scars on the spikelets indicated that they came from a hulled domestic variety. Slightly earlier finds have been reported from Tell Aswad in Syria, c.  8500–8200 BC , but these were identified using

11872-429: Was domesticated. The main feature that distinguishes domestic einkorn from wild is that its ears do not shatter without pressure, making it dependent on humans for dispersal and reproduction. It also tends to have wider grains. Wild einkorn was collected at sites such as Tell Abu Hureyra ( c.  10,700–9000 BC ) and Mureybet ( c.  9800–9300 BC ), but the earliest archaeological evidence for

11984-570: Was especially prized), and shellfish . Oysters were farmed at Baiae , a resort town on the Campanian coast known for a regional shellfish stew made from oysters, mussels , sea urchins , celery and coriander. The most spectacular dish of the emperor Vitellius was supposed to be the "Shield of Minerva ", composed of pike liver, brains of pheasant and peacock, flamingo tongue, and lamprey milt . The description given by Suetonius emphasizes that these luxury ingredients were brought by

12096-419: Was fundamental not only to cooking, but to the Roman way of life, as it was used also in lamps and preparations for bathing and grooming. The Romans invented the trapetum for extracting olive oil. The olive orchards of Roman Africa attracted major investment and were highly productive, with trees larger than those of Mediterranean Europe; massive lever presses were developed for efficient extraction. Spain

12208-601: Was historically a high status food, but during the nineteenth century it became in Britain an item of mass consumption, displacing oats , barley and rye from diets in the North of the country. It became "a sign of a high degree of culture". After 1860, the enormous expansion of wheat production in the United States flooded the world market, lowering prices by 40%, and (along with the expansion of potato growing) made

12320-456: Was relatively uncommon for the first thousand years of the Neolithic (when barley predominated), but became a staple after around 8500 BC. Early wheat cultivation did not demand much labour. Initially, farmers took advantage of wheat's ability to establish itself in annual grasslands by enclosing fields against grazing animals and re-sowing stands after they had been harvested, without

12432-521: Was shipped to Rome. Most provinces were capable of producing wine, but regional varietals were desirable, and wine was a central item of trade. Shortages of vin ordinaire were rare. Regional varieties such as Alban , Caecuban , and Falernian were prized. Opimian was the most prestigious vintage. The major suppliers for the city of Rome were the west coast of Italy, southern Gaul, the Tarraconensis region of Spain, and Crete . Alexandria,

12544-487: Was used for baking pastries and seasoning some dishes. Salt was the fundamental seasoning: Pliny the Elder remarked that "Civilized life cannot proceed without salt: it is so necessary an ingredient that it has become a metaphor for intense mental pleasure." In Latin literature, salt (sal) was a synonym for "wit". It was an important item of trade, but pure salt was relatively expensive. The most common salty condiment

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