Sumerians sipping beer through straws (ca. 2500 BC) The people of West Asia traditionally divided themselves into two groups who had very different eating and drinking habits. These two groups thought [...]
Woman baking bread Poor people who lived near the Mediterranean Sea had to eat food that would grow in very dry areas, with light and not very fertile soil. Mostly they [...]
Handmade Matzoh The beginnings of Passover In its earliest beginnings, which could go back to the Stone Age, Passover was a Jewish spring festival. Like other spring festivals, it celebrated the [...]
European food history: An early chocolate house Trade brings new foods During the 1500s and 1600s AD, European traders brought back all kinds of new foods from places they sailed to around the world. [...]
Medieval food: A man ladles porridge from a large pot over a fire Poor people's food was boring! In the Middle Ages in Europe, what people ate depended a lot on [...]
Clay figurines from Mehrgahr First people in India The first people reached India from Africa around 40,000 BC. There were probably still Neanderthals and Denisovans further north, but not in India. At first [...]
Greek goddess Demeter: A field of wheat growing What does "Demeter" mean? The Greek goddess Demeter is an earth goddess; her name is De, which means earth (the same word as Gaia) [...]
Archaic Greek economy: A black-figure vase showing a blacksmith at work (Athens, about 550 BC) Not much trade in the Dark Ages During the political collapse of the Greek Dark [...]
Northern Europeans ate a lot of ham Food is one of the most important ways that people can show what group they belong to: we eat this kind of food, [...]
Barley soup (thanks to Wikipedia) How to make barley soup You can eat like a medieval peasant by making your own barley soup at home. Start by peeling a carrot, [...]
