History of Food 2
Ancient Mesopotamia and Egypt and the domestication of animals for food
Continuing from my last blog, we are around about 10-12ooo years ago when man had sttled in the Middle East. Bear in mind of course, that Homo Sapians were roaming all over including Australia over 40,000 years ago, but they had not settled in one place and harvested crops and raised animals. Once the harvest of crops started, the domestication of animals came next. Dogs had always been 'Mans Best Freind' since the Stone Age, but now they bred Goats, Sheep and cattle. Pigs were very common in ancient China (Think 'Sweet and Sour Pork!')
In Ancient Mesopotamia the Sumerians flourished buiding the first city at Jericho. This region became known also as the 'Fertile Crescent' and ran from the Nile Delta through Palestine to Lebanon and the hills of modern Turkey and East to the highlands of Iran. Nowasdays, this region is very dry, but 10,000 years ago it had great rainfall and fertile soil.
Now, about 9000 years ago, those clever ancient Sumerians created the first civilization around Jericho and they developed quite a varied cuisine, as besides harvesting wheat, barley and millet, they also grew lettuce and cucumbers and garlic, chickpeas, beans and lentils, which are still synonymous with Middle Eastern Cuisine
They also ate the goat, mutton and pork and it has even been recorded that the rich ate some beef.
The interesting thing also was women started to brew the first Barley Beer, in fact most of the grain went into making it , as a Beer connoisseur I can seriously relate to that, I mean no Tea or coffee in them days, wine came mush later, and water was often contaminated by animals. So get the beer on the go ladies! Whilst we blokes fry the fish downtown. Old Testament records that Abraham and his fellow blokes sold Fried Fish in town.
Also interesting was how bread was first made especially in Ancient Egypt. It was unleavened like pita bread, but the theory goes that somebody used beer instead of water, then must have rushed off to build a pyramid, ( no proof, sorry, my joke...Prooving of bread etc...oh, never mind!) on return the dough had doubled in size and hence our risen bread was invented!
More next week!
Continuing from my last blog, we are around about 10-12ooo years ago when man had sttled in the Middle East. Bear in mind of course, that Homo Sapians were roaming all over including Australia over 40,000 years ago, but they had not settled in one place and harvested crops and raised animals. Once the harvest of crops started, the domestication of animals came next. Dogs had always been 'Mans Best Freind' since the Stone Age, but now they bred Goats, Sheep and cattle. Pigs were very common in ancient China (Think 'Sweet and Sour Pork!')
In Ancient Mesopotamia the Sumerians flourished buiding the first city at Jericho. This region became known also as the 'Fertile Crescent' and ran from the Nile Delta through Palestine to Lebanon and the hills of modern Turkey and East to the highlands of Iran. Nowasdays, this region is very dry, but 10,000 years ago it had great rainfall and fertile soil.
Now, about 9000 years ago, those clever ancient Sumerians created the first civilization around Jericho and they developed quite a varied cuisine, as besides harvesting wheat, barley and millet, they also grew lettuce and cucumbers and garlic, chickpeas, beans and lentils, which are still synonymous with Middle Eastern Cuisine
They also ate the goat, mutton and pork and it has even been recorded that the rich ate some beef.
The interesting thing also was women started to brew the first Barley Beer, in fact most of the grain went into making it , as a Beer connoisseur I can seriously relate to that, I mean no Tea or coffee in them days, wine came mush later, and water was often contaminated by animals. So get the beer on the go ladies! Whilst we blokes fry the fish downtown. Old Testament records that Abraham and his fellow blokes sold Fried Fish in town.
Also interesting was how bread was first made especially in Ancient Egypt. It was unleavened like pita bread, but the theory goes that somebody used beer instead of water, then must have rushed off to build a pyramid, ( no proof, sorry, my joke...Prooving of bread etc...oh, never mind!) on return the dough had doubled in size and hence our risen bread was invented!
More next week!
Comments
Post a Comment