Eating in Etruria: ancient table traditions
Etruria is a historical-geographical region of central Italy, traditionally included between the Arno and the Tiber, where the Etruscan civilization lived and prospered. In Roman times it became part of the Regio VII Etruria and many centuries later, during the Kingdom of Italy established by Napoleon, it was the seat of the Kingdom of Etruria.
After the end of the Etruscan domination, part of this ancient region became known under the name of Tuscia and in contemporary times this term still describes several geographic realities linked to Etruria.
With today’s article we will deal with Italian culinary art, certainly one of the best in the world, focusing on the cuisine of the territory of Etruria, the land of the ancient Etruscans.
Many times we find ourselves eating traditional dishes and we are curious about their origin. Often after doing necessary research it turns out that their invention is much older than previously thought. Contrary to popular belief, culinary science in antiquity was quite advanced, although not at today’s levels; the experiments could be random, one particular plant was added to the soup rather than another and over time and after numerous random experiments, we come to what we taste today in our dishes.
In most cases, these are dishes that come from afar, of ancient tradition, handed down from family to family and that over time slowly adapt to the news. Apart from some differences that are usually due to family traditions, the basic recipe is often common and comes from the history of the place and sometimes shows roots even older than we tought before.
In this article we will see how in many contemporary dishes of central Italy we can find various similarities with what could have been the ancient Etruscan dishes, a sign of the survival of some recipes, handed down over the centuries, up to the present day.
What was eaten in Etruscan times
Before the Romans, Central Italy was inhabited by a people, the Etruscans, who between the ninth century BC and the first century BC he maintained hegemony over the area corresponding roughly to Tuscany, western Umbria and northern and central Lazio, with offshoots also to the north in the Po Valley, in present-day Emilia-Romagna, south-eastern Lombardy and southern Veneto, and to the south, in some areas of Campania.
In the so-called real Etruria, mostly concerning the areas of Central Italy, the Etruscans have left a well recognizable mark in many typical dishes that are still consumed today and with many elements that probably have become established in the food tradition.
The Etruscans didn’t leave us many written texts and those that have come down to us mainly concern religious or legislative issues. The main information about this people comes mainly from indirect sources or from other types of sources such as iconographic ones, such as the beautiful frescoes preserved in some tombs. And it is the latter that provide us with interesting information regarding their culinary ability. Particularly useful for analyzing this theme are those decorated with banquet scene, as in the case of the Tomb of the Leopards in Tarquinia; the Golini 1 of Orvieto, where in addition to the banquet, the preparation of the food is also represented. Further information on this theme also comes from funeral objects, many of which can be traced back to a dietary use, from the remains of kitchens brought to light during archaeological investigations in inhabited areas and finally in written sources of Greek and Latin origin.
From what can be deduced, their diet had to be very tied to the territory. Exchanges with other peoples helped to evolve the agro-food sector with techniques and methods borrowed for example from the Greeks, with whom the Etruscans were in close contact, especially for commercial reasons. This evolution is observed mainly in the winemaking and production of oil, two commodities already at that time somewhat appreciated and used as a bargaining chip in various areas of the Mediterranean.
Wine and oil
The oil was certainly a rather valuable product and was part of the diet of Etruscans. Several iconographic sources associated with them, show the collection and pressing of olives to obtain this liquid gold. The land that housed the olive groves made it possible to obtain small, but somewhat fruitful, plants, from which a very tasty oil was obtained. The Etruscans used to season food with oil, a typical feature today of the so-called Mediterranean cuisine, but which at that time was to be considered a real innovation.
As for the Etruscan winemaking, several frescoes depicting the various passages are present in the Orvieto tomb Golini 1. The Etruscans began to vinify as early as the seventh century BC using some spontaneusly grown plants. Subsequently, relations with the Greek people allowed to improve the cultivation of vines, which became more extensive and sought after through a targeted selection to improve their yield and flavor. From that moment the wine became a drink widely consumed among the ancient Etruscans, during banquets but also during religious rites; the Romans inherited these habits from them in addition to the methods of cultivation.
Both wine and oil were very valuable products and traded on all the Mediterranean coasts. The Etruscan vineyards were characterized by the production of a very strong and tasty wine, so much that it had been customary to consume it only after having previously watered it down it with plenty of hot or cold water according to the season and flavored with herbs, resins and grated cheese.
Even today, after more than two thousand years, these two products are a flagship of these territories, excellent products that arise from typical plants suitable for growing in areas with very particular soils. Both oil and wine are produced with a very high average quality, so much so that even household products are considered of a high standard.
Flour
The flour of the ancient Etruscans was mainly obtained from spelt; with this different kinds of food were produced and by cooking it in water a kind of polenta called puls was obtained.
From the 5th century BC the Etruscans began to cultivate and their advanced skills as farmers and the fertility of their lands made them become one of the main wheat suppliers in Rome.
It could be said that cultivation was a real mix of science and religion: many practices were later handed down to the Romans, such as the use of field irrigation systems through the use of canals and dams, but also the techniques for reclaiming marshes: the Maremma is still testimony to this.
The boundaries of the fields followed a sacred ritual, so much so that whoever bordered was executed, as can also be read in the founding myth of Rome. All this knowledge was part of the gromatic, one of the major legacies that the Etruscans left to the Romans. According to legend, this discipline was directly dictated by the nymph Vegoia. However, a small direct source has also come to us thanks to the discovery of the Cippo di Perugia.
From the processing of Etruscan wheat, they obtained a unsalted bread, due to the difficulty in finding salt (the salt pans were frequently a reason for contention with the Romans), and focaccias that were baked on terracotta lids or red-hot stone slabs.
Even today, the traditional Tuscan, Umbrian and Marche bread is characterized by being without salt. The theories that try to explain this feature are mainly two, one attributable to the intent to circumvent the payment of some taxes on salt during the Renaissance period, and the other would associate this particularity with a compensation for the strong flavors of local cuisine, which provides very tasty dishes with the addition not only of salt, but also pepper, garlic and chilli pepper.
The torta al testo is also very widespread in Umbria, a traditionally baked focaccia on a hot refractory stone that brings back to mind a type of cooking already known as seen in the Etruscan area.
Cippus Perusinus
The Cippus Perusinus was found on the San Marco hill in Perugia in 1822, and is now preserved in the National Archaeological Museum of Umbria.
It is a stone stele that has an Etruscan inscription on two sides dated to the III / II century BC.
The table shows on two sides 46 lines written in Etruscan. The lower part, more roughly sculpted, would seem to indicate its probable location of the base set in the ground. According to archaeologists, it is a boundary stone between the properties of two Etruscan families. The text reports an agreement between the Velthina and Afuna families, concerning the common use of a property containing a Velthina tomb.
Recipes
Fried honey
Beat 250 g of curdled milk with 3-4 tablespoons of honey and salt (to taste) in a container, adding little by little sifted flour until you get a dough to spread. After spreading it, make about 1/2 cm round discs. thick and fry them in olive oil. Arrange them on paper towels and serve hot sweetened with a little honey.
Spelled polenta
Put 1 liter of water in a large pot, bring it to a boil and salt with 5 g of coarse salt.
Add 1 tablespoon of oil.
Pour 200 g of stone-sprinkled spelled flour, incorporating it slowly and cook stirring quite often for about 45 minutes, until obtaining a polenta of the right consistency.
Soups
As with many ancient peoples, legumes and cereals were at the base of the Etruscan diet, available both in nature, in the wild, and in more or less intensive crops.
Barley and spelled were widely used by the Etruscans, two types of cereals that were mainly consumed boiled together with vegetables, meat or fish, thus obtaining tasty soups.
Other legumes that were grown in Etruria were fava beans, lentils and peas which, in addition to being the basis for different types of soups, were also consumed simply boiled in water.
Still today in the areas of central-western Italy the main cultivation is centered on cereals and legumes, in fact many typical dishes of these areas are precisely the soups. There are various examples, from Tuscan ribollita to cooked water from Viterbo; fava bean and pea dishes are found everywhere and many soups are still made with spelled today.
Recipes
Favata
Shell the small, fresh broad beans and cook them in a pan where you will have flavored a leek (only the white one) and a few diced slices of bacon. Halfway through cooking (about 4-5 minutes) add a chopped thyme and bay leaf by wetting with white wine. Bring to cooking. Before serving, season with salt and freshly ground black pepper.
Terrine of onions and eggs
Slice the onions (cut into thin rings), and fry them in olive oil. Add salt. qb. Arrange the onions prepared in this way in a pan with high edges or in a bowl, cover the sauté with a light layer of spelled flour without mixing. Break on preparing fresh eggs (trying to keep them whole). Sprinkle with grated fresh cheese and bake at 180 ° (preheated oven) until the eggs are completely cooked. Serve with lightly chopped parsley and freshly ground black pepper.
Meat and fish
Meat and fish also played a fundamental role in nutrition, but they were mainly consumed by the rich and aristocrats, while the people had to be satisfied with what they could find more easily or what was discarded by the wealthier classes.
The Etruscans were a people dedicated more to breeding than hunting. Particularly appreciated was their pig breeding, whose meat was also traded with the Greeks; goats and sheep were also widespread, from which, in addition to meat, cheese and milk were obtained. Even poultry in the 6th century BC became part of the Etruscan diet.
As for hunting, which became more a pastime for nobles than a necessity, it brought very delicious game to the tables: dormice, wild boars, birds like ducks, sometimes bears and small rodents.
The consumption of fish depended, on the other hand, on the proximity to the water: in coastal areas, sea fishing was carried out, but most of the fish came from fresh water which was very present in the hinterland, thanks to the presence of rivers and lakes.
Still speaking of meat and fish, in these areas pork meat continues to have a certain importance, used above all for the production of well-known sausages and cold cuts throughout the Italian peninsula and beyond.
The use of embers is another hallmark of the area. The consumption of beef, wild boar and game in general, and birds is still the basis of the fine culinary products of these areas.
Although sheep meat is not particularly widespread, the same cannot be said for the production of pecorino and goat cheese, highly appreciated not only in this area.
The most consumed fish are freshwater, lake and river fish, such as whitefish (present only in deep volcanic lakes, such as Bolsena), eels, largemouth bass, trout and tench.
Trained at the University of Turin, where she obtained her three-year degree in Cultural Heritage Sciences and her master's degree in History of Archaeological and Historical-Artistic Heritage, she specialized at the University of Milan, graduating in Archaeological Heritage. Freelancer, she deals with computer archeology and virtual heritage, museum displays, 2D graphics and multimedia products applied to cultural heritage. Collaborates with various public and private bodies in the field of projects related to the research, enhancement, communication and promotion of cultural heritage. She deals with the creation of cultural itineraries relating to the entire Italian Peninsula and the development of content (creation of texts and photographic production) for paper and virtual publications. Her study interests include the development of new techniques and means of communication for the enhancement of cultural heritage and the evolution of the symbolism of power between the Late Antiquity and the early Middle Ages.
4 Comments
Pingback:
Pingback:
Pingback:
Pingback: