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Ancient Pompeii Diet Consisted of Giraffe and Other "Exotic'" Delicacies

Posted by samzenpus on from the crunchy-frog dept.

Philip Ross writes "New research into Pompeiians' daily lives is broadening our understanding of this ancient Roman culture, particularly their eating habits, before Mt. Vesuvius brought it all crumbling down nearly 2,000 years ago. Over the past decade, archaeologists excavating a row of building plots discovered remnants of food that would have been widely available and inexpensive in ancient Italy, like grains, fruits, olives, lentils, local fish, nuts and chicken eggs. They also uncovered evidence that Pompeiians enjoyed a variety of exotic foods, some of which would have been imported from outside Italy, including sea urchins, flamingos and even the butchered leg joint of a giraffe."

12 of 172 comments (clear)

  1. Typical Roman cuisine by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    It didn't matter if it tasted good, the point was you were showing off your ability to buy meat from an animal that lived thousands of miles away.

    1. Re:Typical Roman cuisine by Nidi62 · · Score: 4, Informative

      It didn't matter if it tasted good, the point was you were showing off your ability to buy meat from an animal that lived thousands of miles away.

      No refrigeration.

      So if there was a butchered leg joint, chances are that is all there really was. Just a souvenir joint, perhaps for bone carving. Seems unlikely you would butcher and salt a Giraffe, AND take the bones with you. Too heavy. No food value.

      Well, you could just, you know, bring captured live animals back with you to sell as a delicacy or for use as a pet/in the arena. Simply google "giraffes in the coliseum" and the very first hit has a list of exotic animals shown in the Coliseum, as well as documents in a particular festival where 19 giraffes were killed. So if a giraffe bone made it to Pompeii, it was very likely alive when it got there.

      --
      The only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for it to be pitted against a slightly greater evil
    2. Re:Typical Roman cuisine by immaterial · · Score: 5, Informative

      It is important to note that in ancient Roman times, many species that are now confined to sub-Saharan Africa were living in North Africa (and some all the way into Greece) because of the wetter climate. This includes elephants, lions, and giraffes. These "exotic" animals weren't as far away as it seems.

    3. Re:Typical Roman cuisine by lxs · · Score: 5, Funny

      That's pretty much the extent of mentions of giraffes in Roman Italy.

      It is said that "Hamburgers" were a staple of 20th century life. However surviving records of that time offer scant evidence. Tarantino the Younger mentions "one tasty [ham]burger" in only one surviving scene in his Magnum Opus a Tale of Pulp In fact a different document the Quest for the White Castle shows to what lengths the heroes Harold and Kumar have to go to get their hands on one of these so called "hamburgers"

      Let's face it, hamburgers were a rare delicacy reserved for the rich and powerful of the time as this fresco clearly shows.

  2. Re:MMMM !! GIRAFE !! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Nah, donkey tastes like ass.

  3. maybe its good... by Connie_Lingus · · Score: 5, Insightful

    i don't know why people here are assuming it doesn't taste good...we really have no idea. ...and let's not forget, different cultures have radically different preferences in taste.

    it only takes one example, the Asian fondness for the to-our-western-palettes-horrific fruit Durian, to make this point.

    --
    never bring a twinkie to a food fight.
    1. Re:maybe its good... by Nikker · · Score: 5, Funny

      Yes, but it comes in a much taller jar.

      --
      A loop, by its nature, continues. If that didn't make sense, start reading this sentence again.
  4. The Asterix comics were right! by dbIII · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Romans eating Giraffe (with honey?) was mentioned in at least one of them.

  5. Re:MMMM !! GIRAFE !! by flyneye · · Score: 4, Interesting

    This was Pompeii, if they couldn't eat it , they fucked it.
    Ever seen the "hidden" archaeological findings?
    These people didn't have T.V., radio, or internet, but they put on some damn elaborate sex shows.
    It was considered normal to put on a show for your house guests.

    --
    *Repent!Quit Your Job!Slack Off!The World Ends Tomorrow and You May Die!
  6. exotic by belmolis · · Score: 4, Informative

    Sea urchins aren't exotic for Italy. They may be considered an exotic food in North America, but they're indigenous to the Mediterranean and eaten in the region.

  7. About that giraffe by gargleblast · · Score: 4, Funny

    About that giraffe leg:

    "I'll have the large horse leg meal please."

    "Would you like to go supersize for an extra denarius?"

    "Err - yeah. Supersize me."

  8. Meat from the Roman Games by jonze · · Score: 5, Informative

    Any Roman city with self esteem had an arena for gladiator games. Part of these was the mass slaughter of 'exotic' animals. Not just predators such as Lions and Tigers but Flamingo's, Giraf's, Anteloupes and the like. In fact, the capture and import of these animals was big business and Rome emptied entire regions of its wildlife. Lions, for instance, are still extinct in Syria as a result of the capture and transport of Lions to the arena's of Rome. Quite a bit of the meat from these games found it's way to the market and was even given to the poor to show the generosity of the games organizers.