August  24

Anniversary of the Destruction of Pompeii and Herculaneum
by the Eruption of Mount Vesuvius
 

Public interest in the story of the destruction of Pompeii and Herculaneum by the massive eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 A.D., has peaked several times during the past three centuries. The first major interest was in the latter part of the eighteenth century when Workmen digging by the Sanro canal along the Bay of Naples discovered a cache of bronzes and marbles identified as originating in Pompeii. For the next 150 years, the general area became a veritable quarry for extracting major works of antiquity, many of which were included in the major museum show of 1981 and 1982, Pompeii, 79 A.D., which traveled to 42 cities and which was viewed by over three million people.

After the excavations started, there was the 1834 publication of Edward Bulwer-Lytton's Last Days of Pompeii which was one of the most popular English novels of the nineteenth century. Several generations of English women created romantic fantasies about the destruction of Pompeii as a result of this book. Even Queen Victoria  visited the site in 1838. Then came the  films inspired by the book and all titled The Last Days of Pompeii.  First was the 1913 Italian silent film. Then came the 1934 Preston Foster/Basil Rathbone classic. The cheesiest was the typical Italian Steve Reeves sword and sandal epic in 1959 with the tag-line,
"The Mighty spectacle of a city that lived in sin and died in flame!".  Bulwer-Lytton's classic was eventually adapted to a  popular 1984 television miniseries starring Sir Lawrence Olivier which attracted another forty million viewers to NBC. This three-part, seven-hour TV adaptation was more faithful to its source than any of the earlier film versions. Even child rapist/director Roman Polanski flirted with making another remake in 2007, but later pulled out of the project when he couldn't get a coherent script.

The eruption of Vesuvius also captivated the Italian culinary imagination with Chicken Vesuvio, Pork Chops Vesuvio, and Potatoes Vesuvio in which the liberal addition of red pepper flakes and garlic create a lava-like taste intensity.  Here is the most popular of the vesuvios.
 

Chicken Vesuvio
 

3/4 cup olive oil
10 cloves garlic, minced
breasts, legs and thighs from 2 large chickens
salt & freshly ground pepper to taste


*See Appendix A

1. Heat the olive oil in a large Dutch oven and add 6 of the minced cloves of garlic.
2. Salt & pepper chicken and sauté in oil for about 20 minutes, turning chicken occasionally to lightly brown pieces on all sides.
3. Remove chicken. Discard olive oil. Add d wine. Add salt & pepper to taste and remaining 4 minced cloves of garlic.
4. Replace chicken in Dutch oven and sprinkle with half of parsley, cayenne, and oregano. Bake for 20 minutes. Remove from oven, turn chicken over and sprinkle with remaining parsley, cayenne and oregano.
5. Return to oven and bake another 15 minutes.