The head cook at my villa is Guntha - she's a slave from Germania, but was actually born in Rome of slave parents, so speaks Latin better than many Romans. She has been with me for nearly X years!

She is a superb daily cook, although if I am throwing a really first-class party, I sometimes hire out a chef from one of my friend's homes. Here is one of her favorite "everyday" menus:

Savory Columella Salad
Soft-boiled eggs in pine-nut sauce
Lentils with Coriander
Fried veal escalope with raisins
Almond Tart

Eleutheria is assisted by a pastry boy, a boy to draw water and light the fires, Meso, who takes care of stocking and bringing the wines, four house-slaves to serve at small parties, and three Gallic slaves (bought as a package) who clean out stoves, wash dishes and pans, and generally run where it's needed. When a dinner party is in progress, it's pandemonium in the kitchen!

Oh, I forget another kitchen slave - Sicarius, who buys simple produce from the market!

Recipes available at VIII Ancient Roman Recipes . Thanks to Tobius Tullius for Sicarius' avatar. All avatars at the Villa are from AW artists.

Some graphics courtesy of The Villa at Boscoreale.