The genuine ancient kitchen of Fullonica di Stephanus,  a launderette functioning 2000 years ago, has been equipped with pots and pans as part of a new project that is trying to give visitors a sense of what day-to-day life in the city was like. The Fullonica was the place where wealthy Roman patricians sent their togas to be washed in huge baths using clay and urine. The kitchens inside the Fullonica now appear as they did 2,000 years ago, complete with metal grills, pots, pans and earthenware crockery.

The new instalment provides an interesting window on Roman cooking practices. The Romans cooked their food over specially-made troughs, in which beds of flaming charcoal were placed. Hunks of meat, fish and vegetables were then laid on grills directly over the coals, while soups and stews simmered away in pots and pans that were stood on special tripods to elevate them above the scorching embers.

Further examples of ancient Roman culinary practices were also given permanent exhibition at the city gym, the Pallestra Grande. Among the exhibits is a carbonized loaf of two-millennia-old bread and a metal pot containing the fossilized remnants of a bean and vegetable soup.

(after The Local)