Everyone is invited to attend the Ukiah Garden Club on Wednesday, March 12 at noon for the program titled, “From Eggs to Apples.”
Presenter, social anthropology scholar and Ukiah Garden Club board member Dr. Ilse Hayden-Winters will be building on her very well-received September presentation, “The Gardens of Pompeii.”
Pompeii, a provincial Roman city on the Bay of Naples, was destroyed by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 C.E. Ironically, the eruption that destroyed Pompeii also preserved it –– over 450 gardens have been discovered in Pompeii.
Conserving the soil contours and root cavities saved the images of the ancient gardens. The formal, low lying plantings in the peristyles that visitors to Pompeii see today bear little resemblance to what the Pompeians experienced.
In her previous slide presentation, Winters explained how Romans loved their gardens, from the humble kitchen garden to the extravagant villa garden as seen at the Getty museum at Pacific Palisades. They even planted gardens at their tombs, hoping to entice weary passers-by, on the busy thoroughfares, to stop and rest at the monuments.
“The signature gardens for me,” Winters shared, “were the Pompeian peristyle gardens. The Romans borrowed the idea of an interior colonnaded court from the Greeks. But, the Romans went one better. The Greek version was merely paved, but the Romans transferred it into a glorious garden with the center of the house letting in air, light, sounds of birdsong, and the scent of flowers and ripening fruit.”
In her March 12 talk, Winters will be focusing on the foods from the earlier described gardens from the Herculaneum era, when cities were re-built after the destruction from the Mount Vesuvius eruption.
People are often mistaken about the foods from this time, as they think about it as Roman decadence. Hayden-Winters will break down this misconception as she notes from the Roman cookbook attributed to author Apicius about the gourmet foods prepared for the first century emperor, Tiberius. She will dispel the “bad rap” about decadent Roman food associated with the fall of Rome.
An example of a signature sauce from that time was Garum, which was as popular as ketchup is today. Garum was a condiment that the ancient Romans truly loved. They used it in everything and there were factories on coastlines all over the empire dedicated to making it.
Shipwrecks full of garum have been discovered in recent years. It’s a fish sauce made from the entrails of anchovies, left in the sun to ferment. The ancient Romans thought it was delicious, and they put it in everything including their desserts.
Hayden-Winters, a classics major in college, visited Pompeii in 2008 and became fascinated with the culture and began her intense and nonstop research. She found that the Mediterranean Diet, which has been popular in the USA for quite some time, is based on the ancient foods from Pompeii: grains for bread and porridge along with olive oil and wine. Actually there was a Mediterranean Triad: 1) meat and fish, 2) fruits and nuts, and 3) legumes.
In her collection of books on Roman food, she found that the poet Martial invited a friend for a meal, which began with tuna, slices of egg, salad with licorice and leeks. This was followed by fava beans and sausage, then porridge and bacon with wine, toasted chick peas and nuts. Apples were served as dessert.
Come to the March 12 Ukiah Garden Club at noon to learn more about this fascinating culture and the foods from this ancient time, which relate to our foods of today. Dr. Hayden-Winters will give her slide presentation along with her research findings and many stories and colorful asides. She will also bring herbs from the era and perhaps even some bread.
General Ukiah Garden Club program meetings are open to the public and are held at the Clubhouse, 1203 W. Clay St., Ukiah, on the second Wednesday of each month from September through May.
Read More Details
Finally We wish PressBee provided you with enough information of ( Ukiah Garden Club presents ‘From Eggs to Apples’ )
Also on site :