Sample the tastes of ancient Rome in a custom designed four-course meal designed for the University of Hartford by the acclaimed Metro Bis Restaurant in Simsbury. You might be surprised at the inventive, yet healthy constellation of ingredients you find! We'll welcome you with a complimentary glass of Roman spiced wine to set the tone. Then, historian Mari Firkatian sets the historical backdrop: How is the food before us shaped by Rome's once expanding empire? Which trading routes carried the most exciting new spices or tastes back to Rome? How were these foods and culinary traditions imbued with religious or social meanings? Mingle with us over a delectable meal, in which you will come to understand how the food before you revives the traditions of a bygone era. Either a fitting capstone to our 3-session course, Food and Culture of Ancient Rome, or a wonderful one-time unique restaurant experience to encourage friends to gather mid-winter.
Mari A. Firkatian is a professor of history and chair of the Hillyer Humanities Department at the University of Hartford. She has been a Fulbright Scholar and a National Endowment for the Humanities Fellow as well as a Yale University Fellow and a recipient of International Research and Exchanges Board scholarships. Her research interests began with nationalism, segued to diplomatic history, and her current research interests have veered toward food history. Her books are The Forest Traveler: Georgi Stoikov Rakovski and Bulgarian Nationalism, 1996, Diplomats and Dreamers: The Stancioff Family in Bulgarian History, 2008, and Home Again: Armenian Recipes from the Ottoman Empire, 2018. She has lived and traveled extensively in Southeast Europe, the Levant, and the Soviet Union.
Tuesday, Feb. 24 | 6:30 p.m.–8:30 p.m. | Metro Bis Restaurant (off-campus/Simsbury) | $80
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