Making the 2000 Year Old "Pizza" from Pompeii

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Regarding the amount of garlic: Could it be that 2000 years ago garlic cloves were smaller than today? This would explain why they used more.

A 2000 year old pizza in a video precisely 20:00 minutes long. Feels perfect.

As a big fan of mortar & pestle, I will tell you that the flavor will be different if you grind vs chop the garlic! Also, the salt needs to go in WITH the garlic to grind. It helps, both mechanically and chemically. You can also notice a big difference in flavor if you make prik nam pla in a mortar vs food processor. Invest in a larger mortar and give it a try!

The cheese spread looked so good that I immediately paused the video, went to the kitchen, and made a quick variation with spinach dip, feta and garlic. Think I got the garlic amount just right; right at spicy and garlicky but not overwhelming. Yum! Definitely want to make the real version now!

Here's a tip my father brought into the family from Czechoslovakia: If you want to crush garlic in a mortar, you have to add salt. the salt grains act as abrasive to shred the garlic. not adding the salt to the mortar like Virgil says that's why it wasn't working.

I always let my parents know when a new episode of Tasting History has dropped, and what the topic is. Today, I tell them it's Pompeiian pizza, and my dad goes, "It'll just be burnt."

The bread was stamped also (required under law at the time actually) because bakers sometimes would cheat and put sawdust into their bread (remember, Rome itself paid for the bread and it was given to the people. "Bread and circuses" were the social contract of Roman life - Rome gave you bread and you obeyed Rome. When Rome failed to give bread, riots happened). With the stamp, bakers could be held accountable if they were caught cheating by putting sawdust into the bread by checking the stamp on the loaf.

it's unexpected that a channel of this quality about this exists Sometimes it's awkward explaining to people who think I like cooking in general that my interest in culinary is only "historical"... Thanks a lot for your videos, they're really nice

I like how Max says he is growing it in his garden but the subtitles say Jose is. Thanks for this creative recipe!

It's extraordinary how well the volcanic ash preserved Pompeii.

Daily Dose of Internet: "Archeologists discovered evidence of ancient pizza in Pompeii" One day later... Max: "I made the ancient pizza!"

I couldn't bring myself to type it at the time, but since I'm back here, thank you for releasing this video when you did. Our cat Pompeii passed away June 25th of this year (named so because when we found him he was bath-level filthy and the water looked as if he had been covered in ashes) so it was nice to have his name pop up in a pleasant context 💜

The way you styled the scene with the “pizza” when it was done to look like the fresco made me really happy

It's weird to think that this baker would never, ever imagine that his name would be known to people all over the world 2000 years after he died.

You deserve a documentary series on the BBC. Your material is well researched and entertaining, and you are a joy to watch. Compared the the dreadful dross that passes for history on most so called educational channels, you shine like a diamond. Never stop.

Very interesting video Max! I’m from Rome and what you baked really look like a focaccia or a “pizza bianca” that you can find in any bakery in Rome. I like to eat it with sheep ricotta, olive oil and either mortadella or prosciutto on the top, not really that different from what they were eating 2000 years ago. For those that love ancient history visiting Pompei and Ercolano is really a must do, they even started a high speed direct train service directly from Rome to Pompei a few days ago. ☺

I worked in yachting for years and we had some Italian charter guests. They insisted on making 'pizza' the ancient way' of making focaccia bread as the crust, then adding garlic, cilantro, parsley, pine nuts, sheep's cheese, shallots and then breaking from tradition, one wanted prosciutto, another wanted smoked and grilled cod, another wanted grilled lobster and another, thin sliced filet mignon. So I guess they were kind of accurate. Our chef didn't think so. But now I know they were actually close. Who knew drunk Italians that wore too much cologne, drank every alcohol they saw, came aboard with hook...I mean....escorts, and ate huge meals that were exceedingly complicated and often they had to tell us what was in in the dish, we usually thought they were just making stuff up, but now 20 years later....I know they were right.

fun fact about the phalluses of pompeii: there’s a common misconception that the phalluses often seen on the streets point to the nearest brothel, but that’s not the case! they’re sort of like the evil eye symbol, and are meant to ward off bad luck. so it makes sense that a phallus would be paired with the bakery’s inscription of good fortune.

I love how the captions specify that Max is not the one growing the herbs, JOSE is the one growing them in HIS garden 😂 I'm even more amused that unless you actually have the YouTube captions on, you'd never see this slight shade being thrown either 😂😂😂😂😂