Dessert is an apt conclusion to the series on food. Desserts, including sweetmeats and honey cakes were eaten by the higher classes, including koptoplakous, the ancestor to baklava still eaten in Greece today. It would have certainly been on Theophana’s table:
Theophana smiled indulgently at her. She seemed to be in an especially good humor. “Since Constantine will not be returning, I think it best that we look elsewhere to marry you. There are so many good matches to be had for a young woman of your position in the world and I hardly think any suitor will find your looks displeasing or wanting. Now,” She picked up a two-tined fork and prodded a dish in which lay koptoplakous in golden, honeyed splendor. “Won’t you try this, Davit? It is very good.” She smiled at him. Normally the koptoplakous, filled with nuts and honey, soaked with bay leaves and resting between layers of pastry would have made Sophia’s mouth water. She watched as a servant prepared to cut and serve the sweetmeat. Theophana’s eyes were bright with anticipation, but Sophia did not think it was the koptoplakous that inspired her.
Speaking of forks, to the imperial family the fork would have been a recognizable implement, yet still hundreds of years away from regular use in Western Europe. The wife of the Holy Roman Emperor in the West, Otto II was a Byzantine princess. (Her name was Theophano Sclerina and she was a member of the Scleros family. Not to be confused with my fictional Theophana nor to the historical Theophano who was mother to the emperors Basil II and Constantine VIII). She used a fork as a matter of course at a banquet in 972 in Germany and caused no little astonishment (and perhaps scorn) to her Western in-laws.
If women were present at banquets, they were most often served at a separate table. Then as now, social rules might often be disregarded however. Women’s social standing in the Byzantine Empire presents an interesting subject for another article outside the scope of this one. They were certainly excused from post dinner festivities which were often the venue for riotous drinking and dancing girls.
A whole book could be written regarding the gastronomic and culinary delights of the middle Byzantine empire and suffice to say there is not room in a blog. Food says much about a culture. What could food say about the Byzantines? That they enjoyed fine food in an age when much of the world dined on simpler fare, perhaps? Or does it say something about the abundance of the empire during the reigns of Basil II and his brother Constantine? Basil II was known to give special preference in taxation to the common farmers versus the large plantation farms of the nobility. He recognized that agriculture was the foundation of his empire. Truly the Byzantines have bequeathed to us a legacy not least of which was their food. Perhaps except for the garum.
I highly recommend reading from these resources:
Daily Life in the Byzantine Empire by Marcus Rautman
The Book of the Eparch
Geoponika (translated by Thomas Owen)
Let me know your thoughts below.
The ambassador, Liutprand of Cremona mentioned in a previous post who objected to garum, also did not care for Byzantine wine which he described as “mixed with pitch, resin, and plaster was to us undrinkable”. Perhaps the ambassador was merely difficult to please. He must have been alone in his assessment, as Byzantine wines were much favored by Western Europeans. He may have been referring to Retsina, a type of wine that got its unique flavor from sealing the wine jars with pine resin.
Vegetables were eaten by citizens of the Eastern Roman Empire and in a wide variety. Most of them were well know to the modern diet, such as cabbage, carrots and greens. Artichokes were well known and Antioch was famous for its cucumbers. Melons were cheap and readily available. Lentils were a staple in the diet of the poor. Those that could afford them seasoned their food with spices, some brought in from Asia. These included cinnamon, caraway, cardamom, cumin, ginger, nutmeg, saffron, pepper, clove, coriander, among many others that can still be find in our spice cabinets today, though now far more easily and cheaply obtained. Those with less money would use onions, leeks and garlic for seasoning their food. Eggs were favored by all classes and came from hens, geese and pheasants. The Byzantine omelet known as the sphoungata was stuffed with olives and goat cheese and perhaps chickpeas salted and cooked in olive oil. It would even have been on the table of the Emperor himself as mentioned in The Serpentine Key:
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.