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Romans had 2-3 meals a day. Breakfast was not always eaten, if eaten, it was usually quite light and eaten at early hours. It would contain salted bread called celer, eggs and maybe dried fruit. The main meal of the day, dinner, was eaten at around midday followed by a light supper in the evening. In later periods, the supper replaced dinner to be the main meal of the day, preceded by a lighter lunch. The lunch, eaten at around noon, included celer with salad, even with eggs, cheese, meat or fish, vegetables and fruit.
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For the rich, supper, the main meal of the day, had 3 courses rather like modern meals. The meal started off with an appetizer of egg and vegetables such as lettuce, cabbage, onions and beans followed by the main course of meat, particularly pork, fish or other seafood such as shellfish and oysters. Delicacies such as snails and dormice had to be specially prepared. The dessert could be apples, pears, grapes, figs, dates, nuts, or honey. The Romans liked to cook their food with a mix of honey, fruit and vinegar to get a sweet-sour taste. The poor had meals mainly made up of porridge or bread with meat and vegetables.
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All the meals would be served with wine. The wine was usually diluted with water, spiced and heated. The poor usually had leftovers or rotgut, which was barely drinkable wine that tasted like vinegar while the rich had fine vintages. Drinking sheep or goat milk was considered to be barbaric so milk was only used for to make cheese or medicine. The poor used rough pottery and the wealthy Romans used fine pottery and glass, bronze, sliver or even gold tablewares. The Romans cut their food with knives and ate with their fingers. They used spoons for eggs and soup and the ones with sharp ends to extract shellfish and snails. Most women, children and slaves sat on chairs, benches or stools to eat. The rich men lay on their sides on couches to relax and stretch barefooted during the hour-long banquets with entertainments.