Sally Grainger began her career as a pastry chef. With that background she has now become a very well known hands-on food historian. After a decade working as a chef she took up Classical Studies as an undergraduate at Royal Holloway College, and, while doing so, held her first reconstructed Roman banquet.
Having taken her degree in 1993, Sally began to build a new career in reconstruction archaeology and food writing fed by continuing research. It took time to become known in the academic world of archaeology, with the help of increasing participation in conferences, frequent presence at schools and at historical sites, regular television appearances and a series of invitations to cook and present ancient meals. She has since also taken an MA in Archaeology.
Sally has worked with the British Museum (a Roman meal there coincided with the Pompeii exhibition), the Museum of London, Fishbourne Roman Palace, the Roman Baths at Bath, and Colchester Castle. Not to mention the Getty Villa near Malibu, where as food consultant she has organized three large scale meals, Greek, Roman and Byzantine, in a uniquely authentic setting. She has often been seen on Time Team, also on Neil Oliver’s A History of Ancient Britain, Rome’s Lost Empire with Dan Snow; she has fed the Hairy Bikers.
And meanwhile she and her partner Chris Grocock, a medieval Latinist, have produced what is now the standard bilingual edition of Apicius, the Roman cookbook, and a practical companion, Cooking Apicius.These were both published by Prospect Books in 2006.
Sally will be introducing us to the fascinating world of Roman food, telling us more about the ingredients and methods of cooking and also giving us the opportunity to taste!
