The Ancient Romans ate edible dormouse in a pot

The ancient Romans were famous for their unusual dishes such as ostrich and rats dipped in honey. But did you know that the upper class ate edible dormice as a delicacy? The dormice were kept alive in terracotta pots called gliraria.

The dark confined space of the pot prevented the dormouse from doing to much excercise and made it think it was hibernating so it would fatten up. Over the course of a few weeks they would feed the dormouse nuts to further fatten it up.

Roman Recipe for Edible Dormouse:

1. Kill the dormouse
2. Make an incision in the dormouse
3. Stuff with minced pork, herbs and pine nuts
4. Sew up the incision
5. Roll the mouse in poppy seeds
6. Bake for 30 minutes

Bonus fact: In Slovenia and Croatia they still eat dormice.

Sources:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glirarium

Food Through the Ages: From Stuffed Dormice to Pineapple Hedgehogs
By Anna Selby