Marcus Gavius Apicius facts for kids
Marcus Gavius Apicius was a famous Roman who loved fancy food and luxurious living. He lived around the 1st century AD, when Tiberius was the Roman Emperor. Many people think he wrote the ancient Roman cookbook called Apicius. However, we can't be completely sure about this connection.
Apicius was so well-known for his love of food that his name, Apicius, became a word for someone who enjoys eating a lot, like a "gourmand." He might have gotten this name from an even earlier person named Apicius, who was also famous for loving luxury.
Who Was Apicius?
We know about Apicius mostly from stories and writings by people who lived around his time. These stories often describe his love for food and his extravagant lifestyle. It's hard to know if all these stories are completely true, but they paint a picture of a very interesting person.
Here are some of the famous stories about Apicius:
- Apicius once had dinner with Maecenas, who was a trusted adviser to Emperor Augustus.
- He convinced Drusus, the son of Emperor Tiberius, not to eat common cabbage sprouts. Apicius thought they were too ordinary for someone important.
- The Roman leaders (consuls) of AD 28, Junius Blaesus and Lucius Antistius Vetus, enjoyed a very fancy dinner at Apicius's house.
- Emperor Tiberius saw a large red mullet fish at the market. He bet that Apicius or another rich man, Publius Octavius, would buy it. Both men started bidding, and Octavius won the fish.
- Apicius lived in a town called Minturnae in Italy. He heard about huge, sweet shrimps near the coast of Libya. He quickly got a boat and crew to go there. But when he arrived, he was disappointed by the shrimps the local fishermen offered. He thought they weren't as good as the crawfish he had at home. So, he turned around and went back to Minturnae without even stepping ashore!
- Apicius believed that red mullet fish tasted best if they were drowned in a special fish sauce made from red mullet before cooking.
- He also thought that flamingo tongues had an amazing flavor.
- Apicius found a way to make pig liver taste like the famous goose liver (foie gras). He fed his pigs dried figs and mulsum, which was wine mixed with honey.
Recipes Named After Apicius
Several recipes from ancient Rome were named after Apicius, likely because of his fame as a food lover.
- One recipe was for cooking cabbage. It involved marinating the cabbage in oil and salt, and using soda to keep it green.
- There was also a type of cake named after him.
- The famous Roman cookbook called Apicius contains seven recipes specifically attributed to him.
Throughout Roman history, Apicius was often mentioned as the perfect example of a "gourmet" or someone who loved to eat too much. For instance, the writer Seneca said that Apicius "proclaimed the science of the cookshop" and influenced his time with his example. By the 4th and 5th centuries, people started referring to Apicius as an author, which suggests that cookbooks with his name were already popular.
See also
In Spanish: Marco Gavio Apicio para niños
