Here are some specific responses from the Classics list:
You might want to look for A. Dalby & S. Grainger, The Classical Cookbook, Getty, 1996. it has a number of recipes adapted for the modern kitchen from ancient sources.
Umm Is there really such a **thing** as a NT meal? The location of
the meals mentioned in the NT are all over the place, aren't they? In
Galilee, in Jerusalem, in other villages and cities in Palestine, not
to mention in Corinth, Rome and elsewhere, and among a variety of
different social groups from Peasants to the elite and among Jews and
Gentiles. So which one would be a NT meal? Is any one typical?
In any case, for resources, try the 3 articles listed under the
heading of "Meals" in the Anchor Bible Dictionary. I'd check Hastings
and the New Interpreter's Bible Dictionary as well.
You'd get quite close to it by ordering mixed mezze from a Lebanese
restaurant. Things haven't changed much. If you are going for
reasonable authenticity, avoid anything with tomatoes, potatoes, or
aubergines (bye bye babaghanoush). Beans in such a selection are
likely to be broad beans, which were known at the time, though the
_Phaseolus_ beans (kidney and string types) are from the New World.
[with reference to the triclinium]
Might it? But I seriously doubt whether anyone in the New Testament
below the status of Pontius Pilate dined in this style. I'd think that
wooden benches and tables would be perfectly acceptable.
The last is pretty much what I would have thought as well.
N.E. Barry Hofstetter
Instructor of Classics
The American Academy