CUCURBITAS MORE ALEXANDRINO (Alexandrine Squash)

(Apic. 3, 4, 3) Ingredients:

• 1 gourd (or courgette, small pumpkin or squash)
• peppercorns
• cumin
• coriander seeds
• 3 - 4 mint leaves, shredded
• 1 garlic
• 3 tbsp vinegar
• 50 g dates, finely chopped
• 50 g blanched almonds, finely chopped
• 2 tbsp clear honey
• 60 ml Liquamen (or, in this case, vegetable stock)
• 4 tbsp Defritum (or Wine or Grape Juice reduced by two thirds)
• 20 ml olive oil (or 25g butter)
• Sea salt to taste

Instructions:
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Cut the gourd, courgette or squash into chunks. Place these into a steamer and cook until done. Place the cooked flesh into a muslin bag or a dishcloth and squeeze out the excess water. Transfer the remaining pulp to a saucepan. Whilst the squash is cooking, put the dried spices in a pestle and mortar and grind. Next add the mint and garlic, grinding to a smooth paste. Spoon this from the mortar and add to the cooked squash. Next add the dates, almonds and all the liquid ingredients, including the honey. Finally add the oil or butter and mix with the squash. Place the resulting mixture back on the heat and simmer gently for a few minutes for the flavours to combine. Serve immediately sprinkled with salt and black pepper.

 

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Just behind the Large Theatre there’s the Temple of Isis with its entrance in the street of the same name. Originally dating from between the late 2nd and early 1st centuries B.C., it was totally rebuilt after the earthquake of 62 A.D. at the expense of an ex slave who had since made his fortune. The cult of Isis became fairly wide spread during the Hellenistic era due to the religious links the Greeks had with Egypt and the Orient, and it had a particularly large following in Pompeii as the town has strong trading ties with the East. The temple stands on a tall podium situated in the centre of a porticoed courtyard. The cella, which is greater in width than in leng ... continue

(Apic. 8, 7, 8) Ingredients:

• 1 suckling pig
• Pepper
• Lovage (or chopped celery leaves)
• Caraway seed
• Celery seed
• Rue
• 2 drops asafoetida essence
• 3 tsp Liquamen (or soya sauce)
• 3 tbsp white wine
• 1 tbsp Passum
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tbsp cornflour

Instructions:
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Clean the pig, sprinkle with salt and roast at 180°C for 55 minutes per kg plus 50 minutes. Whi ... continue

Love was a common topic of conversation in Pompeii. Feelings, passions, poetic love, sex, homosexuality, prostitution and so forth were all part of daily life and not a source of prejudice. The concept of “obscenity” seems to have been unknown. Love and sex were considered earthly practices of a man’s life that were encouraged by the benevolence of Venus. The thousands of examples of graffiti found on the town’s walls are unequivocal proof of what the people of Pompeii thought about love and sex.