The Philosopher's Kitchen: Recipes from Ancient Greece and Rome for the Modern Cook

by Francine Segan and Tiffany Clarke Harrison

Book Overview

"It is the culinary legacy of the ancients that inspired this cookbook. . . Re-creating the cuisine of the ancient Greeks and Romans helps us connect in some small but wonderful way to their time,... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1400060990
• ISBN13: 9781400060993
• Release Date: August 2004
• Publisher: Random House (NY)
• Length: 250 Pages
• Weight: 2.45 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 8.0" x 10.3"

Customer Reviews

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The book was in the condition advertised, if not better, and arrived well before the estimated arrival date.

Foods the ancients would appreciate

Because of my interest in ancient Greece, I received this book not once, but twice, as a Christmas present. I enjoyed flipping through the pages and glancing at the combinations of different ingredients. Finally I went to the trouble of trying some of the recipes. Of course there are differences between the ancient recipes and those from which they are derived. The author updates the recipe for ingredients that are available today (although some of them are still not easy to find, or are very expensive when you do find them) - measurable quantities and temperatures and times - and some accounting for changed palates. So in many respects, these updated recipes are not really the foods that the ancients were eating. On the other hand, I think that these are foods that the ancients would enjoy, if they were given a chance. Nearly everything I've prepared has been a major hit at dinner parties. The lentils and artichokes (although the artichokes were not necessary), the golden beet soup, the lamb with pomegranates and even the brussel sprouts. How often do you have guests make a run on your brussel sprouts - even people who say that they don't usually care for the vegetable? So in terms of the results the cook book is a great success. However, a few warning: check your spice cabinet to make sure you have all that's needed. You may need to hunt in a few different grocery stores to find the ingredients for some of the recipes and you may be surprised by the prices when you do find them. Some of the recipes are labor intensive - scooping out pomegranate seeds! - so this is not the cookbook that a busy person can use on a daily basis.

Excellent recipes beautifully presented

I've made a number of recipes in this book and they have all been delicious and unusual. The photographs are lovely and the book contains appropriate quotes that stimulate the intellect as well as the appetite!

Awesome recipes

Ever since I first ate at a "Roman" restaurant in Trier Germany (the ancient Roman capital of Germany), I have been fascinated with ancient cuisine. When I first heard of this book, I was anxious to get it and did as a Christmas present. I have prepared several of the recipes so far and they are fantastic. The book makes for great reading as well and is a joy to just page through, though eating the results is even better.

Great Entertaining Source and Fun Foodie Read

This is the third literary themed cookbook by self-styled food historian Francine Segan. The first, which I have not reviewed or seen, dealt with meals from movies. The second volume that I did read and favorably review dealt with recipes of dishes based on quotes from Shakespeare's plays and documents contemporary to Shakespeare. Aside from the fact that `contemporary of Shakespeare' was interpreted a bit liberally, with references to works which were published many decades after Shakespeare's death in 1616, this was an entertaining and informative book with recipes you would actually want to make, as the author modernized all of the texts to fit modern cookery praxis and cookbook readers' expectations. This third book, `The Philosopher's Kitchen' deals with recipes from ancient Greece and Rome. In many ways, this book is superior to the Shakespeare volume. For starters, I suspect many people are actually much more interested in Mediterranean cuisine before the advent of New World fruits and vegetables than they are with the early version of a cuisine with few contemporary claims to fame. A second advantage is that there really are a lot of ancient references to recipes, many with a lot more substance to them than the hint given in a single Shakespearean line. Those Greeks and Romans liked to talk about and write about their food as much in ancient times as they do now. I have often heard it said that the ancient Romans were basically vegetarians, with only the occasional piece of meat used more as a seasoning than as an important source of protein. You can see from these recipes why beans and greens and mushrooms and other vegetables are so important to modern Mediterranean cuisine by seeing their role in these recipes. The olive and the grape were as important in ancient times to the Mediterranean cuisine as they are today. In fact, there is a Latin quote that says that a meal without wine is a meal for the dogs. It seems odd, therefore, that the author did not include any wine recommendations with these recipes, although wine and wine vinegars are used liberally in these recipes. Similarly, olive oil was as much a final dressing to dishes as it is today in Italian cuisine. Mario Batali would have been right at home in an ancient Roman kitchen. The attention to sauces also reminds one of French cooking of Careme and Escoffier that has often been described as being done to accommodate poor teeth. I suspect the dental equipment of the ancients was no better than that of 19th century Frenchmen. The nine (9) chapters of recipes follow a very traditional organization, with the twist of titles borrowed from ancient texts. The eight chapters of recipes are: Ad Gustum: Appetizers where lots of olive based goodies look a whole lot like Italian, Provencal, and Spanish starter dishes. The author takes more than a little poetic license by using pasta that, strictly speaking, was a medieval invention. All is explained, so all is forgiven. Fire: Soups