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The food of Rome and its region, Lazio, is redolent of herbs, olive oil, ricotta, lamb, and pork. It is the food of ordinary, frugal people, yet it is a very modern cuisine in that it gives pride of place to the essential flavors of its ingredients. In this only English-language book to encompass the entire region, the award-winning author of Encyclopedia of Pasta, Oretta Zanini De Vita, offers a substantial and complex social history of Rome and Lazio through the story of its food. Including more than 250 authentic, easy-to-follow recipes, the author leads readers on an exhilarating journey from antiquity through the Middle Ages to the mid-twentieth century.

This paper presents the petrographic analysis of cooking vessels (ollae) from the Pontine region, Central Italy, dated between the 4th and the 1st centuries BC. Cooking vessels of three surveys in different parts of the Pontine Plain and around Norba, in the Lepine foothills, are considered. The considered time-span covers the period in which the Pontine region became integrated in the Roman state until the end of the Republic, and cooking vessels have much to tell us about the region's integration in production and distribution systems, and whether changes occurred therein. The petrographic study shows that the cooking pots were produced and distributed at regional and supra-regional scales. The production and distribution systems that are tentatively inferred show aspects of continuity and change during the time-span considered. Roman cooking vessels that circulated in the Pontine region between the 4th and the 3rd centuries BC had a supra-regional and regional provenance. During the 2nd and the 1st centuries BC, the region continued to have access to these products, as well as to other ones that were produced within and outside the region. Furthermore, the distribution of supra-regional products increased, whereas the importance of existing regional centres decreased in favour of others.

There is a dilemma at the heart of the study of the Roman fish sauce trade. The meaning of the Greek and Latin words used to name the fish sauces is still contested: currently there is much confusion and contradiction between modern scholars and ancient commentators about the use of the terms garum and liquamen. It is also not readily recognised that the ancients themselves were less than clear as to the exact meaning of the terms that they used, and this confusion has informed and exacerbated our own. In this paper some of the key texts that have been used to define fish sauce are re-evaluated in light of the need to distinguish and separate them out into the distinct types and sub-types.

Fish bone assemblages from 109 sites were analysed for evidence of Roman influence on fish consumption. Temporal divisions within the period were not informative, but sites were divided by region. Secondary evidence, including amphorae and fishing tackle, was also considered. Eel was most common overall but some species were regionally important, e.g. salmon. Towns and villas showed the greatest range of fish, from freshwater and inland marine fisheries and also imported salted fish and fish-sauce. Native sites continued to show restricted fish consumption from very local sources, while Roman sites suggested an increase in variety and some evidence for status, which may result from cultural change in culinary practices.

There is evidence of cooking aboard Roman ships with several solutions for reheating food. Preparing fish, porridge and soups, bringing bread from the mainland and eating preserved food, could ensure that sailors did not starve to death. This article is about preparing food aboard ships in Roman times during the centuries of the Roman Empire from 753 BC to 476 AD. Travel was in the blood of many Romans, so often passengers and soldiers, who were often moved and transported within the great empire, travelled with the sailors. With increasing trade and the development of shipping, the size of the ships also increased, as did the length of the voyages and the size of the crews. The tasks were also increasingly divided. Food preparation became the main daily task for some crew members. The possibilities for preparing food also developed over time. With the growth of ships and crews, more space was needed for food storage and preparation, resulting in larger cooking pots and more space for firewood. This article will address the question of how the sailors and passengers cooked their food on board and what kind of food the sailors prepared. The archaeological evidence from the Late Bronze Age and Archaic period is still circumstantial, but shows us that cooking happened on board and was a fairly widespread phenomenon.

Religion and food culture are two closely related topics in the Christian discourse and have been the subject of extensive anthropological research. This paper takes the Boston Chinese Catholics as a case study, and it adopts an ethnographic research methodology to explore the ways in which the sense of belonging develops in the Church community, based on the analysis of food culture in this context. Chinese Catholics in Boston are mainly Fujian and Hong Kong immigrants, and the class, status, and economic differences between these two communities are well apparent. The Boston Chinese Catholic Church divides food into sacred and secular. During religious rituals, all Catholics share the sacred food, the Holy Body and the Holy Blood, which symbolize the unity of the Catholic Church. In everyday life, Fujian Catholic and Hong Kong Catholic community members follow the dietary habits of their community to maintain a division between each community’s traditions. Over the years, the Boston Chinese Catholic Church has developed a flexible strategy—externally consistent and internally differentiated—to maintain the unity of the Church while embracing the cultural differences of its members. This flexible strategy has also influenced the way in which the Boston Chinese Catholic Church operates. This study indicates that we need to place more emphasis on the diversity and complexity of the members of the overseas Chinese Catholic Church and the specificities of the Catholic religion’s discourse so that we can better understand the overall practices and methods of overseas Chinese Catholicism. This study is a catalyst for the study of overseas Chinese Catholicism, as well as the study of food culture, religion, community, and identity in that context.

There is evidence of cooking aboard Roman ships with several solutions for reheating food. Preparing fish, porridge and soups, bringing bread from the mainland and eating preserved food, could ensure that sailors did not starve to death. This article is about preparing food aboard ships in Roman times during the centuries of the Roman Empire from 753 BC to 476 AD. Travel was in the blood of many Romans, so often passengers and soldiers, who were often moved and transported within the great empire, travelled with the sailors. With increasing trade and the development of shipping, the size of the ships also increased, as did the length of the voyages and the size of the crews. The tasks were also increasingly divided. Food preparation became the main daily task for some crew members. The possibilities for preparing food also developed over time. With the growth of ships and crews, more space was needed for food storage and preparation, resulting in larger cooking pots and more space for firewood. This article will address the question of how the sailors and passengers cooked their food on board and what kind of food the sailors prepared. The archaeological evidence from the Late Bronze Age and Archaic period is still circumstantial, but shows us that cooking happened on board and was a fairly widespread phenomenon.

Amanita phalloides is well-established as one of the most poisonous mushrooms; toxicity from ingestion was reported as early as the first century. Although native to Europe, this ectomycorrhizal fungus has been widely spread and is responsible for liver toxicity in many parts of the world. Toxicity is characterized by delayed gastrointestinal symptoms mimicking acute gastroenteritis followed by severe hepatotoxicity and liver failure with consequent multi-organ failure. The primary mechanism of liver toxicity is considered to be the inhibition of RNA polymerase II with consequent hepatocyte apoptosis. Treatment measures include supportive measures such as rehydration and correction of electrolytes on initial presentation, activated charcoal and lavage to decrease absorption, extracorporeal purification methods such as plasmapheresis, fractionated plasma separation and adsorption, and molecular adsorbent recirculating system, as well as drug therapies including antibiotics, N-acetylcysteine, and silibinin. Liver transplantation is required in those with acute liver failure and poor prognostic features. Here, we reviewed the basic biology, pathophysiology, and molecular mechanisms of Amanita phalloides liver toxicity, as well as available treatments.

The effects of the addition of different amounts (0%, 1%, 2%, 3% and 4%) of Oudemansiella raphanipies powder (ORP) to lower-fat pork batter on its physicochemical, textural and rheological properties, water distribution and protein conformation were evaluated. The results showed that the addition of ORP from 0% to 4% significantly decreased the pH and L* value of pork batter (p < 0.05); however, it also increased the a* value and enhanced the cooking yield of pork batter from 77% to 92%. Pork batter with 1–2% ORP added had an improved texture profile and a higher storage modulus (G’), but the addition of 3–4% ORP resulted in an inferior texture of pork batter and G’. LF-NMR showed that the addition of ORP significantly increased the peak area ratio of immobile water and reduced the peak area ratio of free water (p < 0.05). ORP significantly affected protein secondary structure of pork batter. The α-helix content of pork batter with 1–2% ORP decreased and β-sheet content increased. Overall, the addition level of 1–2% ORP effectively improved the texture and water holding capacity of lower-fat emulsified sausage and provides a new reference for developing nutritional meat products.