SC - Roman armies and roman roasts

[LrdRas at aol.com]

In a message dated 2/1/99 9:33:56 AM Eastern Standard Time,
oftraquair at hotmail.com writes:

<<  I don't think a roman legion on the move would have baked it.   
 Why not roasted using the wrapped with wet clay method?  or wrapped in 
 wet leaves?  Don't both of these ideas go back to that era?  
 
 Bonne
  >>

Actually pulses and grains were the most common elements in a Roman soldiers
diet. The Legions were NOT the Roman army but merely elite units of the army.
And a field kitchen would also have accompanied the Army units when on
campaign. Military campaigns were not conducted in anyway remotely similar to
what is done. War and conquest was a deliberate and well planned event with
the battles ending at darkness and resuming the next day. Without launching
into a multipage desertation of the history of warfare, suffice it to say that
under all but the most extreme conditions armies on the march would have had
ample time to cook and would have had ample kitchen facilities in which to do
so.

OTOH, regarding the Roman meat recipe. Beef was rarely consumed by Roman
citizens as opposed to and other animals. My interpretation of this recipe
would be to simply rub salt over the roast. Bake it until it was tender and
the fat crisped and brown and serve it with honey as a sauce much as we do
chicken nibbles today. At the most I would simply brush a layer of honey over
the outside of the roast during the last 15 minutes of cooking.  Another
interpretation could be that is is roasted on a bed of salt wich is not an
unusual way of roasting meats either. But I can't see the justification for
poking the roast full of holes and literally drowning it in salt, at least
there is no justification for doing so indicated in the recipe, IMO. Read as a
simple salt rubbed roast with honey as a sauce, it would certainly be fit for
a noble table then or now.

Ras (who thinks we oftentimes see complexity where simplicity is evident)
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