For #WorldFoodDay where to start in #Pompeii & the Vesuvian sites? So many foods are represented in frescoes but have also been found preserved, predominantly in the form of carbonised remains, in archaeological excavations. The most famous is the daily staple of a loaf of bread. 
One of my favourite food discoveries from #Pompeii is the incredible survival of this ceramic bowl of eggs found in the House of Julius Polybius. His near neighbour, Julia Felix, had a fresco of a plate of eggs (and a tea towel!) adorning the wall of her study. #WorldFoodDay
Possibly the most infamous foodstuff from #Pompeii is garum made by fermenting blood & innards of fish. Umbricius Scaurus was a proud garum producer & had mosaics of his garum amphorae in his house. It’s an ingredient used to bring together flavours of the dish. #WorldFoodDay
As for grapes from #Pompeii... we are inundated by them in their many forms and of course their effects... #WorldFoodDay
There are also pomegranates - evidence of ripened ones are still the most crucial evidence (in tandem with doliae filled with the AD79 harvest of wine) for a date later than the 24th August for the eruption of Vesuvius.
And they are currently growing in Herculaneum! #WorldFoodDay
And they are currently growing in Herculaneum! #WorldFoodDay
And of course dates and figs, the latter allegedly used by Livia to poison Emperor Augustus. #WorldFoodDay
Evidence for Pompeians eating quail/partridge is expected but their taste for thrushes less so! A thrush’s leg bone discarded in a kitchen drain was found in excavations dir. by @StevenEllis74 & now on display in the brilliant #LastSupperinPompeii @AshmoleanMuseum #WorldFoodDay
I wish evidence of soft cheese had been found in #Pompeii so I could add to this thread the fantastic fresco of baskets of ricotta cheese.... #oops
#WorldFoodDay
#WorldFoodDay
And after all that food, if you’re in need of a toothpick... the Pompeians had them too #Pompeii #WorldFoodDay
Remiss of me to forget another staple of the Pompeians’ diet: olives! Plenty of carbonised olives have been found in Pompeii but only one bottle of olive oil has. According to @DrPCRoberts, curator of #LastSupperinPompeii, it still smells strongly of olives today. #WorldFoodDay
Finally, a food list – graffito on the atrium wall of the inn of Fabius Memor and Celer, #Pompeii. Detailing items either purchased/sold over 8 days it lists the price of bread & interestingly ‘bread for slaves’, cheese, steak, porridge, olives, leeks, onions & wine #WorldFoodDay
Seems an opportune moment to return to this little thread too if Pompeian gardens, frescoes and evidence for food remains are your thing. The great Wilhelmina Jashemski pioneered this type of research and is an inspiration.
