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A modern English translation with introduction and commentary of this fragment from the 4th century BC, which describes the foods available at the time and how they should be cooked.
Synopsis
Presents a translation into prose of a Greek verse by poet Archestratus (nouvelle cuisine of the ancient world) that constitutes the earliest written culinary text. This book describes the foods particularly fish and how they should be cooked and where found in the best condition.
Book Details
Publisher:
PROSPECT BOOKS
Publication Date:
01-Jan-2009
ISBN:
9781903018620
Guardian review
Fragments from 'The Life of Luxury' by Archestratus review
the guardian Fri 12 August 2011
When one thinks of ancient Greece, temples and tragedies spring to mind, but not cookery. The Life of Luxury was written in about 330 BC by the Sicilian Greek poet Archestratus. The work itself has vanished, but 62 fragments remain, quoted in a Roman text by Athenaeus of Naucratis. It forms "a remarkable and almost unique work", one of the earliest pieces of food writing which offers a wonderful insight into the tastes of the ancient world. Written in verse, this guide to where and when the best produce could be bought and how it should be prepared was meant to be recited during a banquet. Archestratus favoured "the nouvelle cuisine of the ancient world", as the translators of this excellent edition point out. Parrotfish should be coated in cheese, seasoned with cumin and baked whole. But fine oily fish needs only a sprinkle of salt and oil, "for they possess in themselves the fullness of delight". The best swordfish came from Byzantium and the finest wine from Lesbos, according to this Greek gourmet who, said Athenaeus, "sailed round the inhabited world for the sake of his belly".
