 Hellenistic civilization, compared with classical Greece, was much

more luxurious, extravagant, and even opulent. Ancient writers

seem to think that this was a result of the infl uence of Persia.

 The opulence is most obvious in the art of the period, which

became really decadent—even pornographic at times. There was

also an unctuousness that was evident in the culinary arts. For

all the discernment and knowledge Archestratus had, his recipes

were still pretty simple. However, all of that changes in the

Hellenistic period.

 All of this opulence was the result of increased trade, migration,

spread of merchants and specialized agriculture, and slave trade. All

sorts of previously unconnected cultures mixed, and new luxuries

were used in cooking in new ways.

Humoral Physiology
 Along with all of the luxury, the Hellenistic period was also a
golden age for dietary writing. With all of these people indulging,
they needed doctors to tell them how to get well. The genre of

Myma

T

he following is a recipe for a meat dish from the cookbook of

Epaenetus. This dish is savory because of the meat and liver,

spicy because of the cumin and coriander, sour because of

the vinegar, sweet because of the raisins and honey, and aromatic

because of the hyssop, thyme, and silphium.

A myma of any sacrifi cial animal, or chicken, is to be made by

chopping the lean meat fi nely, mincing the liver and offal with the

blood, and fl avoring with vinegar, melted cheese, silphium, cumin,

thyme leaf, thyme seed, Roman hyssop, coriander leaf, coriander

seed, geteion (maybe a spring onion), peeled fried onion, raisins or

honey, and the seeds of a sour pomegranate.