Foods of the gods

There has been no shortage of eating for this past week. We started each day with a "breakfast of champions." We generally had a buffet with offerings of things like yoghurt (European, no sugar), cereals of various sorts,breads, croissants or other Italian sweet breads, canned fruits, fresh fruit, sliced ham, sliced cheese, sometimes scrambled eggs, bacon and sausage. Pineapple juice seemed to be an Italian staple, along with a mixed berry juice and always water (fizzy or naturale)  (nat-YOUR-al-AYE)

Lunch was generally on our own so we found varieties of pizza or pasta dishes or sandwiches (paninis) at lunch stands, grocery shops or dine in restaurants. Dinner was generally pizza, a pasta dish, or what seemed to be their meat staple - roast chicken and potatoes, which interestingly, I did not consider to be Italian at all. Tomatoes were abundant in EVERY form.


REAL Italian pizza is so different from American Italian pizza. The crust is very thin and not oily at all. Imagine taking fresh tomatoes, pureeing them in the blender and putting them on the dough...and calling it tomato sauce. Yes, it is a little runny and if you try to eat the pizza immediately, all of the sauce and toppings slide right off. You must RELAX and let it set up for a moment or two. I also never saw a pizza with more than three toppings. We excessive Americans...really, a pizza supreme?
All of the meals could be considered generally healthy, but everyone still has a meal of choice that they can hardly wait to eat upon our return. I have heard requests for things like "a REAL McDonald's burger," an Outback steak, and Mrs. Wagner's lasagna (which supposedly tops anything we had in Italy) to my personal favorite......Vegetables (other than roasted eggplant, zucchini or tomatoes. (oh yes, like the Brits, they serve fresh tomatoes for breakfast as well)

We also learned of food and excess during the time of the Roman Empire. The trip up to Palatine Hill was pretty interesting. When you hear "palatine" just think PALaces....up on a hill. We have an area near Orlando Regional Hospital called "Pill Hill,". Same thing....back in the early days of Orlando the doctors tended to build large homes in the area just east of the hospital, thus, Pill Hill (doctors/pills). And so in Rome the Emperors...those people with great wealth....chose the hill with the panoramic view of Rome and the Empire. I marveled at the way they built the palaces into the hill. The shear size of what remains of the palaces is an indicator of how huge and how elaborate they were. The fact that they could actually engineer these things was astounding to me. 
They had running water and fountains everywhere...because they could. Rome had what others did not....water, good water...via an aqueduct system...and some of that system still stands today.

So, how does this relate to food? Excess. The Roman Empire was about excess, and plenty of it. Food, included. I was brought back to recollections of the stories of the emperors table. We can see illustrations in paintings......but just think of large a quantities of food, food from all over the world, rich food. Now imagine people close to the emperor joining together for a meal, imagine the meal lasting for 24 hours...food coming non- stop. Now imagine the flowing waters running through the palaces and I guess the nicest way to describe the activity is....binging and purging.......and continuing to eat. It is hard for us to imagine such a thing, yet that was a normal activity.
Just ask the kids to explain this to you. I am sure their terms will be more graphic than mine....the water was useful for taking the 'remains' out of the dining halls.  I don't recall ever studying about more than the excesses, but standing on the Paletine Hill and imagining the happenings of centuries ago, just made a visual impression on me that I will not likely forget. Excess....and in America, we too have way too much of it.
Today I pondered the "food of the gods" ......god, of course, meaning the emperors. Plenty of food. Plenty of Emperors. I pondered also the food of OUR GOD....you know, the one and only, Jehovah God. He provides, every day. Not only does He provide for our physical needs, but He has a provided the wealth...the abundance of His wisdom, found in His love letters to us...The Bible. That kind of excess is healthy for us!