Culture

Pompeii Snack Cart Discovery Reveals People of Pompeii Loved Their Snails

Snail and pork soup, anyone?

by Merryana Salem  27 December 2020

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A fast-food cart at Pompeii has been excavated, possibly revealing dishes that were popular for the ancient Roman city’s citizens.

The city of Pompeii is about 23km south-east of Naples. It had a population of about 13,000 people when it was buried under ash, pumice, dirt and dust after it endured the infamous eruption of Mt Vesuvius in 79AD. Of the 66-hectares of land that the ancient town occupied, about two-thirds are estimated to be uncovered.

The latest archeological find is a thermopolium, aka a hot fast-food street cart. While many partial remains of thermopoliums have been found, this is the first full one to excavated inside and out.

The cart even contains some preserved food remains that could potentially provide insight into what the good citizens of Pompeii were chowing on right before their untimely demise.

The paintings, or frescos, found at the site are believed to show some of the food that was on offer to customers. Those that were uncovered included chicken and duck. Traces of pork, fish, snails and beef were also discovered in jars and other containers.

Chiara Corbino, the archaeozoologist involved in the dig, said preliminary analysis of the inside of the cart contained two kinds of dishes: A common pork and fish dish that has been found in other excavation sites around the city, and a concoction involving snails, fish and sheep. Maybe a soup or stew? Further analysis is expected to determine whether vegetables were part of the ancient recipe.

Site anthropologist, Valeria Amoretti, proclaimed that the find is a discovery that is a “testimony to the great variety of animal products used to prepare dishes.”

And the best part? You can (in theory) visit the thermopolium in Pompei. The cart will be open to the public in 2021. Sadly. it is not for the authentic Roman dining experience, but for viewings only.

At the moment, Pompei is currently closed due to the coronavirus pandemic, but the park hopes to reopen by Easter.

Merryana Salem is a proud Wonnarua and Lebanese–Australian critic, teacher, researcher and podcaster on most social media as @akajustmerry. If you want, check out her podcast, GayV Club where she gushes about LGBT rep in media with her best friend. Either way, she hopes you ate something nice today.