Since I mention food so often in my books, and I have spent so much time researching Byzantine cuisine, I thought the food of the time period would make an interesting article. Eating is a subject is of prime interest to everyone. Not only is it important for sustenance, but it occupies a space in human life that comprises a social aspect. It was no less important to the people of the middle Byzantine period. Food in Byzantium was abundant and of a particular quality few in Western Europe enjoyed at the time. Even the poor often ate better than some better off individuals might have eaten at the same time in say, England. Nevertheless, meat occupied a place of more prominence on the table of the upper middle class than it did the poor, and even then, meat such as beef was not often served. Cattle were more often used for dairy and draft animals. As Constantinople and indeed much of the Empire was in some way close to the sea, one should not be surprised to find that much of the diet was comprised of seafood. All manner of shellfish, mackerel, tuna and mullet were among the general bounty of the Mediterranean. The Eastern Roman Empire, while not as vast as the Roman Empire had been before the split, covered a good piece of real estate and the diets of the inhabitants would be varied according to the culture at that particular time and place. Even in Constantinople, much of the customs regarding food were influenced by Arab cuisine. Constantinople was a cosmopolitan place akin to cities like New York or London today. There were many cultures and languages flowing in and out of her gates daily. From the south and the east came traders bring goods such as spices and dates from India, from Arabia and Africa. Honey was brought in from the Baltic countries, and pickled herring from the North Sea. Figs and pomegranates were brought from the Aegean coast and Anatolia supplied grapes, pears and apples that were much sought after. From the coast of the Euxine Sea (Black Sea) came hyssop, aloes and asafetida as well as fish roe. The rest of the western world was befuddled by the Byzantine predilection for salads. Interestingly, there is no mention of coffee in Byzantine sources, though it seems they would have been familiar with it from close association with the Arabs. Perhaps they did not care for it.
While there was of course the usual care taken to comply with requirements of Lent, the well off diner could expect to eat three meals a day, the latter two consisting of three courses. Even the better off in Western Europe rarely ate more than two meals a day, the largest being at midday.
The fish sauce known as garum was well known and widely consumed, though the best garum was produced for only those who could afford it. Garum, sometimes also known as liquamen was apparently an acquired taste. Either you loved it or you hated it. In simplest terms, it was the fermented innards of fatty fish such as anchovies, sardines and mackerel. Mixed with salt, pepper and old wine it was left in the sun for two to three months, after which it was served mixed with oil or wine. A tenth century Byzantine collection of agricultural lore, the Geoponika, gives the following description for the manufacture of garum:
What is called liquamen is thus made: the intestines of fish are thrown into a vessel, and are salted; and small fish, especially atherinae, or small mullets, or maenae or lycostomi, or any small fish, are all salted in the same manner; and they are seasoned in the sun, and frequently turned; and when they have been seasoned in the heat, the garum is thus taken from them. A small basket of close texture is laid in the vessel filled with the small fish already mentioned, and the garum will flow into the basket; and they take up what has been percolated through the basket, which is called liquamen; and the remainder of the feculence is made into allec.
This mixture sounds foul to our modern palate, but fetched a high price in the markets of Constantinople. It was obviously not to everyone’s taste. Liutprand of Cremona, an ambassador from the Holy Roman Emperor, Otto I, disapproved of his food being covered in an “exceedingly bad fish liquor.”
Next time we will discuss the most common foodstuffs in the empire — bread and eggs. Let me know your thoughts on Byzantines and gastronomic subjects below!
Sources:
The Complete Works of Liudprand of Cremona (Medieval Texts in Translation) Liudprand (Bishop of Cremona)
Everyday Life in the Byzantine Empire by Marcus Rautman