Ancient Foods

The concept of a meal with courses is a Greek concept subsequently adopted by the Romans. The pre-literate peoples of Europe probably didn't have a concept of a meal as a sequnce of courses. We know that for many of these peoples meat predominated (though in lean times they undoubtedly had to rely on vegetables to sustain themselves). We know they had breads and pastries and it is likely that, like all humans, they enjoyed sweet things (even if this was only cream fruit and honey). Thus foodstuffs that we would call 'desserts' were undoubtedly part of the diet. From archaeological evidence we know of beers, ales and meads in the ancient world. Thus I think it's fair to break ancient foodstuffs into the categories on the left which are listed along with the recipes allocated to that section.

When I talk about 'Ancient Foods' I should really define precisely what I'm talking about. In this respect I mean the cookery of pre-literate societies; focussing on north-western Europe and the British Isles in particular. Effectively this is the cookery of the Iron Age, the Bronze age and of the Celts.

But... I hear you ask. If these peoples were pre-literate how do we know anything at all about their foods? Some of the information comes from later Greeek and Roman writers (though their writings about the so-called 'Barbarian' peoples is always suspect. We also know a fair amoun about the types of food consumed from archaeological evidence. The main ingredients of various meals are known, what we don't know are the proportions. Though, in common with modern stone-age peoples the proportions of the various ingredients used in the food probably depended on what was available at the time.

We also know something of the foods consumed from varoius contemporary works of art (especially in the Celtic world). As a result, though any interpretation of 'ancient' cookery can only be an approximation it's still possible to present to modern diners something that would be very close to the ancient original. We also know that many of the hedgerow foods such as berries and fungi that we have today were available in the ancient world and based on the cooking skills and utensils of the age it's possible to take these 'hedgerow foods' and create something that may well have been consumed in ancient times. As an aid to identification this site provides a pictorial guide to wild foods an their uses.

As a result it's possible to derive sufficient recipes that someone coult recreate a 'feast from antiquity'.

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