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Sally Grainger
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Cooking Apicius Paperback – Illustrated, October 6, 2006

by Marcus Gavius Apicius (Author), Sally Grainger (Editor)
4.7 4.7 out of 5 stars 188 ratings
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Sally Grainger has gathered, in one convenient volume, her modern interpretations of 64 of the recipes in the original text. This is not ‘recipes inspired by the old Romans’ but rather a serious effort to convert the extremely gnomic instructions in the Latin into something that can be reproduced in the modern kitchen which actually gives some idea of what the Romans might have eaten. Sally Grainger, therefore, has taken great pains to suggest means of replicating the particular Roman taste for fermented fish sauce. It may sound unpleasant, but actually is not too far removed from the fish sauces of the Far East and any reproduction of Roman cookery must depend on getting this particular aspect right.
Previous page
  1. Print length
    128 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Prospect Books
  4. Publication date
    October 6, 2006
  5. Dimensions
    5.5 x 0.5 x 8.5 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    1903018447
  7. ISBN-13
    978-1903018446
  8. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Apicius was a Roman scholar.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Prospect Books; Illustrated edition (October 6, 2006)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 128 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1903018447
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1903018446
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 2.31 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.5 x 0.5 x 8.5 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.7 4.7 out of 5 stars 188 ratings

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Sally Grainger

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Customer reviews

4.7 out of 5 stars
4.7 out of 5
188 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

K. Ann Seeton
5.0 out of 5 stars Cooking Apicius is a must have book!
Reviewed in the United States on July 4, 2014
Verified Purchase
I wanted the huge academic work by this author and her husband but as it was too expensive, I took a chance on this smaller, less expensive book. I am THRILLED.

First, the history section at the beginning is interesting, detailed and marvelously informative. I enjoyed reading about what the items of food likely were, how they were likely prepared, and who likely did the cooking. The academic work may get into more footnoted details but this was wonderful. Pleasant to read and chock full of details I can USE.

Then there are the recipes. She cooks. The recipes are clear. Understandable. She gives information on period techniques and suggestions for modern methods that give a similar result. USEFUL! I am delighted that I could put a dish in front of my family from the 1st Century AD and know that it is not too different from what people would have eaten.

I love living history. My Byzantine persona for the Society for Creative Anachronism would have likely eaten like this. What bits and pieces I have read from 10th Century, they were eating very similarly to the foods in Apicius and unlike many extant writings, Apicius was written for the cook, likely by a cook, or cooks, and so is practical and not merely philosophic meanderings about food.

For the cook who loves history, or the history buff who wants to cook period appropriate foods, I highly recommend this book.
43 people found this helpful
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Alan
5.0 out of 5 stars A nicely curated collection from the original Roman texts
Reviewed in the United States on May 7, 2019
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I've read parts of the original unedited version of Apicius and it is vague and nearly indecipherable for modern folk. This book is nicely put together and edited, with helpful and interesting commentary as well. Take note though, it is written specifically for British audiences
11 people found this helpful
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FRANCISCO A.
5.0 out of 5 stars When in Rome
Reviewed in the United States on May 22, 2013
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It is a Time capsule, Mrs Grainger reaches out her hand and stirs the pots as a sous chef in Apicius Kitchen,then retreats bringing the finished product to my table...delicious,aromatic,spicy,not at all bland and distant,filling the blanks with modern imagination.
Some dishes need attention and time, the mark of a great Master Chef....If one fells adventurous and bold and discover that Ancient times are no different than today,including fast food joints in Pompeii...before 79AD!!!
2 people found this helpful
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S. Linkletter
4.0 out of 5 stars Interesting
Reviewed in the United States on November 17, 2013
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I bought this book because I mistook it for the volume that she co-authored with her husband. Okay, with the price difference I should not have made that mistake, but the source I got her name from just described an authoritative book on Apicius by Sally Grainger and did not give a title. When I found this book I looked no further. If I had looked at the inside views of the book I would have seen that the recipes in this book are her interpretations of her favorites from the original work, and not the complete ancient work. Mia culpa.

The one major failing of the book is that it lacks an index. I am talking about the ink-and-paper, hardcopy, book. Not Kindle. Printed books should have an index, in my opinion.

A minor annoyance is her use of a variety of spoon sizes with no real information. She specifies four sizes of spoons in somewhat vague terms, and only gives the metric volume of the largest. It should have been easy enough to measure and specify the other three spoons that she uses. This would not have been so annoying had she not said that you needed to stick closely to her amounts of ingredients the first time you cooked any recipe of hers, and only vary amounts after you are sure how the dish tastes when cooked her way. That's a little difficult to do if you don't know what amounts she is actually using.

I don't feel it is wise to advise people to wander the streets picking berries from people's hedges, especially when you admit that the ones you are instructing them to pick closely resemble some that are very toxic. On that topic, it might have been useful to suggest alternatives for some of the more difficult-to-obtain ingredients, on the off chance that your reader has bought the book heading into winter and doesn't happen to have some dried abortificant plant leaves in her kitchen cabinet (I am referring to rue in this case).

Those complaints aside, I was inspired by this book to try cooking some ancient Roman dishes. It happens that the first one that I tried was one that I found on another author's blog, but that is the way of things. That dish turned out wonderful, by the way. I used colatura for the garum, which I bought on Amazon.

I have to wonder why someone who so obviously dislikes the flavor of garlic chose to specialize in reproducing recipes from a part of the world where either garlic or another spice, asafetida, which tastes much like garlic, is used in so many recipes. I get the idea that she likes fish sauce because she can use it to drown out everything else. I will attest to the truth of her statement that you can use the umami quality of fish sauce to cover up the other spices in a dish. I had made a highly spiced turkey dish, in a Chinese mode, that I accidentally over-sweetened. I decided to follow some published advice that one can balance sweetness with salt. I added miso paste, which is a salty vegetable-based source of umami. By the time the sweetness was balanced, the dish tasted like beef pot roast. It was like tasty beef pot roast, cooked with onions and carrots until the vegetables dissolve into nothing but flavor, but it was nevertheless not turkey with Chinese spices.

So because she obviously knows what she is doing in the kitchen, I gave her four stars even though I don't necessarily agree with her goals or some of her instructions. I also bought the book co-authored by her husband, which has all of the Apicius recipes translated. It's what I really wanted in the first place.
33 people found this helpful
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derrick kenyon
5.0 out of 5 stars Love it
Reviewed in the United States on February 25, 2021
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Love it
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Kindle Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars Greatvfor history of rome lovers.
Reviewed in the United States on June 29, 2016
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Was a gift . She loved it
One person found this helpful
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mark packard
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
Reviewed in the United States on April 25, 2016
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NICE BOOK.
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Heidi K.
4.0 out of 5 stars Would Not Recommend
Reviewed in the United States on August 19, 2020
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Interesting to read. Recipes not what i expected, too much involved in prep time.
One person found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

ljv1
5.0 out of 5 stars Modern interpretations of ancient recipes - they taste good too!
Reviewed in Germany on October 11, 2019
Verified Purchase
These Roman recipes actually work! Some Roman writers were very vague about proportions and cooking methods, so using original recipes can be very hit-and-miss. The writers of this book can obviously cook and have used original Apicus recipes as inspiration for workable modern approximations of ancient dishes. The kids liked some of the desserts and I particularly enjoyed the savoury cheesecake, which was great with chutney.
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Franca
5.0 out of 5 stars I loved it!
Reviewed in Canada on December 17, 2013
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wonderful book! easy to read and the recipes are easy to follow. wonderfully written. Great insight into roman culinary. highly recommend!
One person found this helpful
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Neill
5.0 out of 5 stars Inspirational
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 16, 2013
Verified Purchase
Cooking Apicius is not a translation of the Roman recipe book, Grainger does this elsewhere. Rather, Grainger has assembled some of the best and most readily accessible recipes from that volume, omitting the overly lavish and the downright complicated. Roman recipes are often very vague and include neither measurements nor timings; here the author has, through experimentation, arrived at what she considers to be the quantities and methods most likely to work. Some of these recipes require rather unusual ingredients, but Grainger provides excellent information on procuring or making these ingredients for yourself. Beyond the recipes, Grainger's introduction is fascinating for historians and cooks alike, providing some great context.

For anybody with even the slightest interest in the Romans, food, or indeed Roman food, this is the book I would go to first.

All that is left to say now is Pass the Garum!
9 people found this helpful
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Adam M
5.0 out of 5 stars Complete insight
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 8, 2021
Verified Purchase
Love this book, the recipes are completely eye opening with some I’m interested in subjecting to my unfortunate partner.

The sellers were fantastic, nice quick delivery by them and the book arrived a lot earlier that predicted.

Looking forward to ordering through them again.
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Jack Nahrgang
4.0 out of 5 stars Not an appetizer, but a full meal.
Reviewed in Canada on August 27, 2015
Verified Purchase
DENSE . . . but a great historical read.
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