The Ptuj - Ormož Regional Museum joins the exhibition Kitchen debate with a guest exhibition on Roman kitchens.

A guest appearance on the television show Dobro jutro - Good Morning.

Roman kitchens

Roman cuisine has influenced the cuisines of the Western world, including our own. It has a rich history, having evolved over centuries. It has adopted the best and most typical properties of the cuisines of ancient Greece, but also those of the Orient.

Every Roman house or apartment with a dining room had a kitchen. In poorer households, the hearth was also the kitchen. In multi-storey buildings, large, comfortable apartments with dining rooms and kitchens were mainly on the lower floors. The apartments on higher floors didn't have kitchens and the residents cooked on small portable hearths, which were also used for heating in winter. In the Roman residential quarters, where there didn't have water or kitchens, half-prepared food was taken to the nearest tavern for cooking, and water was fetched from public wells.

In the villas, the kitchen was a very modest space. It was usually located in a small inner courtyard next to the latrine, which was most often connected to a rainwater cistern. In large houses with bathrooms or spas, the kitchen was a separate room with a chimney to extract smoke and odours.

The kitchens were small and dark. The main part of the kitchen was the hearth. It was usually set in a corner, rectangular, 110-130 cm high and 80 cm wide, with an opening for firewood. The kitchen was used only for baking and cooking, and meals were prepared in the atrium or in other rooms of the utility wing, which also had a pantry.