Preserving Perishables seeks to develop conservation parameters and techniques for selected moments in Rome’s contemporary food network as models for similar cultural and architectural conservation in other parts of the world. While we may re-create a recipe, such as hot lamb stew, from Apicius’s De re coquinaria (On the Subject of Cooking)—in a meal prepared with onion, coriander, cumin, garum, olive oil, and wine that allows the epicure to approximate the flavors of first century Rome—the diurnal produce market at the Campo de’ Fiori is transforming into a cluster of semipermanent souvenir stands, alimentari are giving way to gelaterie, and macellerie are transforming into to take-away pizzeria. The need for this work to be completed is urgent as modern Rome’s century-old food traditions are in danger of perishing along with the places, spaces, and memories that define them.