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Cooking the volumes - by Amelia Carolina Sparavigna

Redazione Archaeogate, 20-01-2012   - Pag. 1 di 6 »  stampa questa pagina

Sommario

  1. Introduction
  2. Cooking measures of capacity
  3. An Apicius' recipe
  4. Roman measures of capacity
  5. Capacity and society
  6. References

Introduction

Besides being a necessity, cooking is a mixture of art and science. As a science, cooking possesses specific devices and instruments and units of measurement. And in fact, when we follow a recipe, accurate and consistent measures help in having the desired final result. As in any art, a little bit of uncertainties, or creativity, fulfils the personal taste and produces new effects. The recipes often allow this creativity, because do not specify all the quantities giving their measures. We find for instance the requirement of a "walnut-size lump" of butter, a "spoon" of sugar or a "sprinkle" of pepper. Generally, the relevant ingredients are proposed mainly with metric measures but pre-metric units are used too. Here I discuss the cooking measures, in particular of capacity, and compare their features with those of the ancient Roman measures.

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Cliccare sull'immagine per l'ingrandimento

Fig.1 This image reproduces the Table VIII of Ref.5, reporting the volume liquid measures.
Fig.1 This image reproduces the Table VIII of Ref.5, reporting the volume liquid measures.

Fig.2 This image reproduces the Table X of Ref.5, reporting the volume dry measures.
Fig.2 This image reproduces the Table X of Ref.5, reporting the volume dry measures.

Fig.3 The Sextarius “exact measure” [6] and an Acetabulum (Egyptian Museum, Torino).
Fig.3 The Sextarius “exact measure” [6] and an Acetabulum (Egyptian Museum, Torino).

Fig.4 The Modius “exact measure” [8].
Fig.4 The Modius “exact measure” [8].

Fig.5 Roman Silver Cochlearia (Palazzo Madama, Torino)
Fig.5 Roman Silver Cochlearia (Palazzo Madama, Torino)

Fig.6 Roman Silver Ligulae (Palazzo Madama, Torino)
Fig.6 Roman Silver Ligulae (Palazzo Madama, Torino)

Fig.7 A beautiful table in a Pompeii fresco.
Fig.7 A beautiful table in a Pompeii fresco.

Fig.8 Cupids serving the wine from Amphorae in Cyathi, in a Pompeii fresco.
Fig.8 Cupids serving the wine from Amphorae in Cyathi, in a Pompeii fresco.