"Did Romans eat corn?" Topic

Someone asked if they ate rice and that led me to think of the Marcus Didius Falco series where they always are eating corn, which I thought only came to the old world after we landed on the new world years later. Anyone know?

Corn or maize as we know it is a new world food. However, I've seen references that barley was referred to as "corn" before then.

Wyatt

In the Queen's English, 'corn' means grain. In 'Namurrican 'corn' means specifically maize.

'Corn' is a catchall for cereal* crops.

What you colonials call corn, we call sweetcorn or maize. Old World corns are barley, wheat, rye. You could include millet too, I suppose. :)

* from Ceres, the Roman goddess of agriculture.

As zippyfusenet states, corn was a more generic term than what it can mean now.

As zippy says in British English all grain is referred to as corn and has been for a long time. This means that Lindsey Davis, a English writer, would use corn as a general term.

x42

Did they eat millet on the cob?

Now you're being silly.

It's his wry humor.

*groan*

So wry I barley caught it.

So wry I barley caught it.

Oooh! That was corny!

Right. I'm taking names.

One of the less believable scenes in Tom Clancy's "The Patriot Game" (the book) was not-Prince Charles and not-Diana sitting back at Jack Ryan's house eating corn on the cob. I can just picture them wiping the butter off their chins with paper napkins. (Does "napkin" mean something else across the Pond? Probably enough to earn me some British condescending chuckles…)

Did the Romans eat Raisin Bran? That's my favorite cereal.

So I take it they had flour tortillas with their tacos then.

Napkin is a perfectly acceptable term. My Irish grandparents gave me napkin rings as a christening present, we use them at table regularly :)

Don't ever ask for a 'serviette' at a posh nosh though. And never, ever ask for the toilet.

Did they eat millet on the cob?

More likely on stone, wood or packed earth. Cob is more of a walling material, really.

JtOFM,

as long as you don't call napkins serviettes you're doing fine, though officially napkins should be cloth and are socially acceptable, serviettes are paper and rather infra-dig old chap.

edit Xpost, Connard beat me to it, no surprise!

Oooh! That was corny!

Wheatever you say!

In the Philippines napkin usually referres to something else and you don't use them at the dinner table. At least that's what my wife calls them…

We call them sanitary towels. No need to be coy.

There go my wannabe middle class credentials.

And there I was, thinking that Connard was one of the landed gentry.

Another myth dispelled.

What is there left to hang on to?

They don't have toilets where you live, Connard?

Grits. Romans ate grits.

Yeah, but I thought grits trees didn't grow in Europe.

The Romans ate pizza. That's why they fought all the time. Control the the toppings, control the mob.

Grits are nasty. Not quite scrapple bad, but bad. Sorry, had to be said.

Grits are nasty. Not quite scrapple bad, but bad. Sorry, had to be said.

Then you've never had good, fresh, stone-ground grits. Head down to Nashville or Gatlinburg and visit the Pancake Pantry in either place. Order grits with your pancakes. Slap some butter on and a little salt or pepper or both… mmm, now that's some good eatin', as we say 'round here.

(Otherwise I agree with you… most people these days just can't seem to do grits right.)

Good grits are hard to find, but day old ones do make good Spackle.

At this point I have to ask:

Did Cesar like Fruity Pebbles or Lucky Charms?

To turn this off-topic thread back around to wargaming, can day old grits be used for texturing your bases?

"Then you've never had good, fresh, stone-ground grits."

No. Like communism, I dislike grits on general principle rather than a specific implementation. Same goes for cream corn.

You guys are cobbling a lot of bad jokes into this corn thread.

My only run-in with Grits was in the Army. No need to repeat a bad experience.

mjc

Not to go oatside the topic but is there a kernel of truth that we can rye out of this and quit going against the grain for people.

Delthos:

Kiss my grits. You are right – I just checked with my Filipina wife and she confirms – it is Napkin. I always wondered why I ask for napkins at the supermarket and they send me to the sanitary isle, only in the Philippines.

"sanitary isle"

Is that a tropical paradise where they vacuum the sand and dust the palms?

Raducci"

Good one – made me laugh and the wife also.

The sheer wit on this thread is astonishing to behold! Gosh I'm proud to be a TMP'er. Thank you all.

They may have…..but they don't remember eating it.

<Austin Powers reference>

And there I was, thinking that Connard was one of the landed gentry.

Another myth dispelled.

What is there left to hang on to?

Life is full of disappointments. Or so my wife tells me…

They don't have toilets where you live, Connard?

Only the chavs have them. The rest of us use lavatories. Which is also a misnomer…

Surely the chavs have bogs. The rest of us have loos. Posh people might have a lav?

Well this thread took an interesting turn! Thanks for the info.

jaguars earlobes?
wolf nipple chips?