on matters ranging from red hair to polenta

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Board: Etruria
Topic: Etruscan Daily Life 
Topic Editor: Nesnut Hatshepsut
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Message: on matters ranging from red hair to polenta
Author: just wondering - tanaquil Lupus 
Date: Nov 14, 2000 18:09
      According to some sources, Servius Tullius had "flamelike hair." What does 
      that mean? A redhead? Hair sticking out all over the place? Or none of the 
      above? 

      Did Etruscans in fact have red hair; i.e, did it occur among them? On the 
      tomb paintings, we see dark-haired men and--frequently--light-haired 
      women. This seems pretty unlikely. Just a convention, as in Egyptian art, 
      where you see dark-skinned men with light-skinned women? Or they dyed it, 
      as in 
      The golden hair that Galla wears 
      Is hers--who would have thought it? 
      She swears 'tis hers, and true she swears, 
      For I know where she bought it. 
      In re polenta--a friend gave me a cookbook that claims the Etruscans had 
      polenta. Say what?! They didn't have corn; how could they have had 
      polenta? SOME kind of porridge, ok, maybe. By the way, I bought an unlined 
      copper pot called a paiolo, shaped like a flowerpot and intended for 
      polenta, on the theory that it might work as well for grits. Well, yeah, 
      it does, but the high sides do not, as I'd hoped, prevent the chef from 
      being splattered with hot polenta or grits. The only thing that really 
      works is to lower the temperature and add water as necessary. 

      Still on kitchen matters, some books on the Roemertopf clay pot refer to 
      it as "Etruscan." Did the Etruscans use wet clay pots for cooking? Do we 
      know? Speak up, folks! 









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