Sally Grainger

Sally Grainger
EducationRoyal Holloway University of London
OccupationFood historian

Sally Grainger is an English food historian specialising in Roman recipes.[1][2]

Early life and education

Grainger left school aged 16 with no O-levels, and worked as a pastry chef. She later gained four O-levels and two A-levels, including ancient history, at evening classes, and at the age of 30 started to study for a degree in ancient history at Royal Holloway University of London. There, at a toga party for which she had created food using Roman recipes, she met historian Andrew Dalby who suggested that they co-author a book.[2]

Career in food history

Grainger has worked with museums and television companies as an expert on Roman food, appearing on shows including Time Team and Neil Oliver's A History of Ancient Britain.[3][4] She has a particular research interest in the Roman fish sauce garum, and studied for an MA at the University of Reading where her dissertation topic was "Roman fish sauce: an experiment in archaeology".[1]

Grainger published The Classical Cookbook, coauthored with Andrew Dalby, in 1996; a revised edition was published in 2012.[5] Together with her husband Christopher Grocock she published a translation and critical edition of Apulius' Roman cookbook in 2006.

Selected publications

  • Dalby, Andrew; Grainger, Sally (2012). The Classical Cookbook (2nd ed.). British Museum Press. ISBN 978-0714122755. (1st ed published 1996 by J Paul Getty Museum Pubns)
  • Grocock, C. W.; Grainger, Sally (2006). Apicius: a critical edition with an introduction and an English translation of the Latin recipe text Apicius. Prospect. ISBN 978-1903018132.
  • Grainger, Sally (2015). Cooking Apicius: Roman Recipes for Today. Prospect Books. ISBN 978-1903018446.
  • Grainger, Sally (2021). The story of garum: fermented fish sauce and salted fish in the ancient world. London: Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group. ISBN 978-0367683122.
  • Grainger, Sally (2024). Roman Recipes for Modern Cooks. Apartamento. ISBN 978-8409656806.

References

  1. ^ a b Dalby, Andrew (26 June 2016). "Symposiasts at Work: Sally Grainger". Oxford Symposium on Food and Cookery. Archived from the original on 18 November 2025. Retrieved 30 November 2025.
  2. ^ a b Benitez-James, Layla (6 June 2025). "Interview with Sally Grainger". Apartamento Magazine. Retrieved 30 November 2025.
  3. ^ "Cookery through the ages". Current Archaeology. 23 July 2012. Retrieved 1 December 2025.
  4. ^ "Celtic History Books for Children". resourcesforhistory.com. Retrieved 1 December 2025. Sally often performs cooking demonstrations at the Roman Legionary Museum
  5. ^ Colakis, Marianthe (1 January 2014). "The Classical Cookbook, revised edition [review]" (PDF). The Classical Journal. Archived (PDF) from the original on 5 December 2024. Retrieved 30 November 2025.