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SecretsVINAIGRE VINAIGRE
Vinegar: A Refreshing Beverage
The Romans made a bitter wine called posca with watered-down vinegar (prepared from sour wine spoiled by poor preservation), sometimes mellowed by adding egg yolk . Posca was given to slaves, the Roman army, and the lower classes, and was a popular beverage because it was a very effective thirst quencher . When a soldier gave it to someone who had been subjected to corporal punishment, or condemned to die, he was simply offering the victim his or her everyday beverage . It was a gesture of charity to relieve thirst and not intended to inflict more suffering on the condemned prisoner . In fact, Roman soldiers gave Jesus posca during his crucifixion . “Later, knowing that all was now completed, and so that the Scripture would be fulfilled, Jesus said, «I am thirsty .» A jar of wine vinegar was there, so they soaked a sponge in it, put the sponge on a stalk of the hyssop plant, and lifted it to Jesus’ lips .» John 19:28-29
During the reign of Claudius, Scribonius Largus assembled his own collection of recipes, Compositiones, in which he describes a dentifricium composed of barley flour, vinegar, burnt honey, mineral salt, and nard2 oil that he claimed would brighten teeth to a glimmering white and prevent them from falling out .
In Ancient Rome, a traditional meal usually started with eggs and ended with a serving of fruit . Romans were great aficionados of sweet-and-sour foods, and
2 Nard essential oil comes from Northern India and has been used for thousands of years for its therapeutic properties and as a perfume. It is an aromatic plant from the same family as valerian.
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