Hello!

New episode for your archaeogastronomical delights , is out now!

Today I have author, chef and food historian Jay Reifel in this episode as my guest, and we muse about all things "Baghdadical"!

10th century Baghdad the capital of the Islamic world in a sense it was a sensuous place.

And it produced perhaps a cookbook, more than mere recipes something extremely modern in some senses, and something that didn't exist in the West (if we want to put labels on things) for another 400 years or so!

This cookbook, "The Annals of the Caliph's Kitchen" contained a treasure of information and it was more than 500 pages long!

What's Jay's favourite recipes, what did the Abbasids loved to cook and eat and what were the ingredients that we might not know today?

Anyway I hope you'll enjoy today’s musings!

Love,

Thom & The Delicious Legacy

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Hello!

On this exclusive episode for you, I'm discussing the music of the podcast, the themes written by my friend and musician Pavlos Kapralos. Over the past five years of the podcast I used a few of Pavlos's compositions, for my ancient Greek food themed episodes and for the Byzantium ones.

Here we talk about his approach in creating the songs, his inspiration and what do we know of ancient Greek music: how it sounded, what instruments the ancients had and how do we recreate it today!

Plus what is the Byzantine music? Both secular and church hymns, and how its the link between the ancient and modern folk music in the East.

I hope you'll enjoy this different episode today!

If you wanna listen to the whole episode, without adverts, then please subscribe to Supercast or Patreon:

https://thedeliciouslegacy.supercast.com/#episodes

https://www.patreon.com/thedeliciouslegacy

Pavlos's channel: https://www.youtube.com/@pavloskapralos3969

Love,

Thom & The Delicious Legacy

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Hello and welcome back to another culinary adventure my curious and hungry archaeogastronomers!

How, when and why the first potatoes were domesticated? Who were the people who did it?

The tough, inhospitable terrain, the extreme climate and the improbably high altitude plateau of the Andean altiplano is the home of the potato. A tuber that was a staple of the diet of the Andean people for thousands of years; then went not only to conquer the world, but be the friend of peasants, farmers, poor people too and save millions from starvation around the world! How did that come about? And what was the genius systems of the Incas that helped grow this amazingly tasty and nutritious food?

Let's find out on today's epic adventure!

Recommendations for the week:

The Puratos Sourdough Library

https://www.questforsourdough.com/puratos-library

People | Planet | Food, a Scigest podcast series exploring the intersection of sustainability, agriculture, and our global food system.

https://www.plantandfood.com/en-nz/people-planet-food

Cradle of Gold:

The Story of Hiram Bingham, a Real-Life Indiana Jones, and the Search for Machu Picchu

https://www.christopherheaney.net/cradle-of-gold/description

Enjoy!

The Delicious Legacy

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What is your favourite sandwich? How do you make it?

Many myths and delicious recipes for a sandwich exist through the ages!

Who was the first who made a sandwich? Why?

And what does a small town in the Kent coast has to do with naming this culinary concoction across the globe?

And are we addicted to plasticky, fridge-cold supermarket sandwiches?

This Episode was brought to you with the welcome suport of Maltby and Greek UK's No1 Greek Delicatessen. Get your hands in some delicious Greek food here:

https://www.maltbyandgreek.com/

Music by Cloudcub https://cloudcub.bandcamp.com/music

and Pavlos Kapralos

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzgAonk4-uVhXXjKSF-Nz1A

Enjoy!

Thom & The Delicious Legacy

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What made the Umayyah descendants to flee Damascus and the Caliphate there almost overnight and travel all the way to the westernmost tip of the known world in the Iberian Peninsula?

And how in turn succeeded in creating a flourishing cultural and culinary paradise?

Let's find out some amazing recipes from the period and the secret ingredients in the highly sophisticated cuisine of Moorish Spain!

Enjoy!

Find out more about

Nawal Nasrallah:

https://nawalcooking.blogspot.com/

https://www.aramcoworld.com/Articles/November-2022/Refuge-in-Recipes-The-Research-Journey-of-Nawal-Na

https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2020/9/13/medieval-arabic-cookbooks-reviving-the-taste-of-history

On today's episode the music featured is from Motion Array and the song "Thessaloniki" from Pavlos Kapralos! If you want to find out more check his YouTube channel here:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzgAonk4-uVhXXjKSF-Nz1A

This episode comes with the welcome support of Maltby and Greek UK's No1 Greek delicatessen!

Get shopping some delicious Greek wines, cheeses, honey and herbs here:

https://www.maltbyandgreek.com/

And don't forget to use the discount code delicious for 15% discount!

The Delicious Legacy

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Hello!

New episode is out!

Whale excrement anyone? Deer glands?

Not keen? What could not entice you to taste these?

Where did these ingredients come from? And what is the allure?

Aside from perfumes, how do we eat these mysterious spices from the depths of the oceans and the farthest corners of Siberia?

Let's delve a little deeper and find out the history and use of the above aromatics to our recipes through the centuries.

This episode was brought to you with the welcome support of Maltby and Greek Uk's No1 Greek delicatessen, supplier and distributor of premium Greek product.

get your order here: https://www.maltbyandgreek.com/

Enjoy!

The Delicious Legacy

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Dr Christopher Monk is a specialist consultant in medieval culture and texts, working freelance in the heritage sector and with creative professionals. He is also a cook.

A cook of Medieval food and recipes, re-worked for our modern kitchens. The feasts of kings usually cooked over open fire, for 100's of guests and with the help of countless cooks, spit-turns, kitchen assistant's and many others now reworked for your family table!

What are the barriers for us when trying to cook an ancient recipe? What does the language and the translation of the texts tell us and how do we interpret the texts?

What recipes can be found in the early Anglo-Norman kitchen?

Let's dive in and get a chance to find out recipes, language and techniques of the past going back nearly a thousand years in Medieval Europe.

Do we need a glossary - a medieval culinary glossary- to better understand the ingredients of our old English kitchens?

On his YouTube channel Dr Christopher Monk brings to you recipes from the fourteenth century Fourme of Cury ('Method of Cookery'), King Richard II's official cookery treatise (c.1390), as well as other early cookery works.

If you want to find more about Dr Monks forthcoming book as well as watching some of the fascinating recipes he re-creates check his website and YouTube channel here:

https://modernmedievalcuisine.com/

https://www.youtube.com/@MonksModernMedievalCuisine/about

This podcast comes with the welcome support of Maltby and Greek UK's No1 Greek delicatessen!

Get your hands to some delicious cheese, wine and herbs here: https://www.maltbyandgreek.com/

Music was composed by Pavlos Kapralos: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzgAonk4-uVhXXjKSF-Nz1A

Thank you for listening!

The Delicious Legacy

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Hello!

Brand new episode is out!

Part 4 of our Medieval European Cuisine tour!

How did Byzantium played a role to create the first ever French cookbook? Who was Anthimus? And what foods did the Frankish kings ate?

And how we could leave out the legendary empire of Byzantium and its influential court, palace life, writers, doctors and physicians who went to establish trends across the medieval Mediterranean and European world with their food habits. And how in turned they were influenced by outside factors and the spice trade from Arab merchants.

Enjoy the latest archeaogastronomical adventure here!

With music from the immense Pavlos Kapralos and Miltos Boumis!

The Delicious Legacy

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Hello!

A new archaeogastronomical adventure beckons!

Come with me and explore the complex flavours of England and Italy a thousand years ago. Let's find out how our ancestors used spices, and what was the common and traditional dishes for the folk of the continent of Europe so many centuries ago.

Where do we find our sources from? What recipes and cookbooks have survived? And what archaeology tells us?

Listen now and find out!

Thom

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On the second part of our exploration of Europe's Medieval Cuisine and the regional recipes, we are delving to the amazing, rich and complex foods of Al-Andalus: The medieval Arab Iberian peninsula and the heady mix of spices, fruits from the East, and the mix of Arab, Jewish and Roman cuisines to create something out of this world!

The Almohade Cookbook’s 220 recipes have no counterpart in Middle Eastern cookery of the time; this speaks for the unique character of Muslim Spain’s cuisine. Will check some mouthwatering recipes too.

And from there we go to to Catalonia and then Medieval Germany!

Enjoy!

Thom and The Delicious Legacy

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In 1000 years of eating & cooking…there are too many things to explore!

Before the arrival of new foods from the New World…

There was still a remarkable variety of foodstuffs available to European citizens. Certainly not for everyone, not all the time, but many had access to both indigenous varieties of fruit and veg AND meat..

When was the medieval period? 

What were the kitchens, cuisines and the diet back then?

Who are our sources that gives us all the information about it?

Find out on today's part one!

Enjoy!

Thom and The Delicious Legacy

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Every recipe -almost universally- begins with "finely chop an onion..." or a variation on the theme. Yet, when was the last time you really thought about one?

Onions are ubiquitous in every cuisine and every country. But what is their deep history?

Join me to find out the symbolism of onions and their healing properties according to ancient sources, form Mesopotamia, to Ancient Egypt and Rome.

Let's find out some delicious ancient recipes, with onions, or just onions cooked in ways that our ancestors used to eat.

Enjoy!

Thom

Music by Pavlos Kapralos and Miltos Boumis

Thanks to Maltby and Greek for sponsoring this episode!

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The ancient Greek chef, was the first of the genre we know today as "Celebrity Chef".

Competitive, highly sought after, creative, innovator...Feuds and fights and fish, gossip and satire! They had it all!

Who were they? What did their contemporaries thought of them? What did survive of their fame, of their recipes and their books?

Take for example, the only surviving recipe by Europe's oldest cookbook author, Mithaecus, from Sicily, is an instruction for dealing with this fish. 'Gut, discard the head, rinse,. slice; add cheese and oil. Cepola rubescens, a long, ribbon-like fish. Now not much sought after, this was a delicacy to classical Greeks...

The recipes the fragments of which I'm sharing with you today will delight you, excite you, mystify you...and hopefully will inspire you too!

Find out more, on today's episode....

Enjoy!

Thom & The Delicious Legacy

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Hello!

The island of Corfu was legendary since the homeric times for it's agreeable climate and the lush green forests. Food was abundant and the inhabidants wealthy.

So what's the traditional food of Corfu and the influnces in the island?

And how come and it has over five million olive trees and almost a million of them centuries and centuries old?

Let's find on todays episode!

With music from Pavlos Kapralos

The Delicious Legacy

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Salt!

Homer, Plato, Plutarch, Pliny and Livy all wrote about it in various forms.

Life saving, literally we can't survive without salt our bodies won't function.

Preserving in more than one ways, giving us the chance to have food in the lean harsh winters...

Delicious in so many ways.

And yet not known too well, commonly misunderstood, and with many myths attached to it.

Let's explore the deep, ancient and fascinating history of salt!

Enjoy!

Music by Pavlos Kapralos

This episode comes with the welcome support of Maltby and Greek UK's No1 Delicatessen.

The Delicious Legacy

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Did you know that humans couldn't digest milk? All humans except babies and toddlers that is. But cheese...Cheese was OK!

Our Neolithic ancestors were goat and sheep herders and had this amazing resource, milk from their animals, which was making them ill. Till something clicked and they've realised that we could utilize it if it is transformed to cheese!

When did all that happened? Why? Where was cheese first 'invented' by whom and how did it spread across Europe and the world?

In this episode - a rerun and re-edit of an older one from season one- I speak with author and cheesemonger and all around great human being Ned Palmer, who's book "A Cheesemongers Guide to the British Isles" was released in 2019 and formed the basis for our conversation here.

*Warning there is a somewhat graphic description of the "dead goat cheese" which some listeners might find upsetting.

The episode is updated and more concise than the one from Season 1, this one is roughly 50 minutes of fascinating cheese history; we are time-travelling in an adventure to discover one of our most genius creations! Cheese!

With so many varieties and styles join us for fun trip to humankind's past! We travel to Neolithic Mesopotamia, Prehistoric Britain and Ireland, Homeric Greece, Ancient Rome and Medieval Europe!

Music by Miltos Boumis https://cretanbrioche.com/author/boumis/

and Pavlos Kapralos. https://www.youtube.com/@pavloskapralos3969

This episode is brought to you with the kind support of Maltby and Greek, UK's No1 Greek Delicatessen.

https://www.maltbyandgreek.com/

You can get Ned's book here:

https://www.waterstones.com/book/a-cheesemongers-history-of-the-british-isles/ned-palmer/9781788161176

Support The Delicious Legacy here:

https://www.patreon.com/thedeliciouslegacy

Many thanks!

The Delicious Legacy

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On a glorious sunny winter day on 21st of January, I arrive on Horsenden farm intrigued by what I am about  to witness next. It’s a crisp bright afternoon just about lunchtime. People had already gathered and chatted and they were all dressed with some very interesting attire, all mysterious and pagan they’ve seemed to me. Some of them resembled the Holy Man, the winter incarnation of the Green Man that kind of thing, with leaves and branches adorning their head and upper body and capes. Bells around the thighs for noise when walking. And of course all this interesting stuff included hot cider, and people had gathered around a table, waiting for the possession to start, helping themselves with the hot spiced beverage, very welcome on a cold winter day but also delicious.I too helped myself to one or three cups while waiting for the ceremony to start… The whole vibe was very folk, very old spirit of the forest type of thing, really ancient England stuff. I wondered if it was the effect of the hot cider that amplified these surreal scenes, or indeed I stepped into the past…An overall feeling of revelry and party was hanging in the air, people with instruments practising the tunes…and of course plenty to drink and keep us warm on this winter day…

The purpose of the Wassailing ceremony is to awake the cider apple trees from the winter sleep and to scare away the evil spirits. And so what happens is the people wet the trees with cider and play music and bang on drums and pans to frighten the evil spirits. This is definitely a weird and wonderful sight to behold.

On the verge of extinction, now Wassail is back, almost from the dead! What’s going on? Are we going back to something, hankering to return to some mythical age? Or the disconnect with land, the growing of food and the old folk traditions, breeds a strange not nostalgia but thirst perhaps for knowledge and understanding of our past? Something to connect us in the current disconnected age?

Whatever it is that made it possible, it seems Wassail has returned for good in the parts of England that originated, but also in many places that aren’t in Somerset, like Sussex and well, even here in London!

Thank you and enjoy!

Thom

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Chocolate, gambling, debauchery, and plotting to bring down the government...

You wouldn't expect that from your average coffee house, but this was part and parcel of the most exclusive clubs of the day, the infamous chocolate houses of St James Square, London...

And you thought Aztecs were the wild ones...

Sadly almost all that we know for the Aztecs is wrong or plainly exaggerated. Montezuma indeed he had lavish feasts with many courses, but he certainly didn't drink 50 cups of cocoa! And certainly it wasn't an aphrodisiac. This was a strange fascination and obsession of the Spanish conquistadors.

The Aztecs drunk it as a ritual drink, a drink fit for the nobility and the higher echelons of society.

Find out about the above and a lot more on today's episode about the history of chocolate in the Aztec Mexico and in Europe!

Enjoy!

The Delicious Legacy

The episode was sponsored by Maltby and Greek. Get your 15% discount if you shop online with the code "delicious" on the checkout.

https://www.maltbyandgreek.com/

Music by Motion Array.

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Fun fact about chocolate:

The chocolate drink of today, is nothing like the drink the ancient Mayans had! That was 98% cacao nibs, today is probably 2%!

Have you ever thought how on earth someone thought to take the seeds of a difficult to grow tree, dry them, ferment them, toast them, grind them and make them into a delicious yet bitter drink? How did all start? When and where?

Chocolate has been known for 3000 years , give or take to humankind. And for almost all of it’s history, it has been consumed as a drink. Mayas and Aztecs both used to drink it, making a form of frothy chocolate drink flavoured sometimes with spices such as chilli and vanilla. In order to achieve the froth which was considered a sign of quality, the drink was poured back and forth between two jars.

Enjoy!

The Delicious Legacy

This episode features music from Motion Array.

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Deep in the diverse, evergreen, and humid tropical forests of Yucatan, lies a secret; something that in the past 50 years we certainly have become more familiar with, yet when one sets foot today, in these vast tropical landscapes, it is hard to imagine. Once, this was part of the urban landscapes of the Mayans, long before the European invaders trampled on American soil with their armour and leather boots. Here, Mayans planted cacao trees amongst other crops on these sites, right on the riverbanks. The birdsong in the morning was and still is, intense. Troops of howler monkeys, swing and cry and feast on figs that grow along the river, and which provide the shade that cacao trees need to thrive.

Who made the first cacao drink? Where does the name come from?

Find out this and a lot more on this episode of The Delicious Legacy!

This episode was sponsored by Maltby and Greek UK's No1 Greek Deli!

Get your hand to some delicious Greek produce with a generous 15% discount if you use the promo code "delicious" here:

https://www.maltbyandgreek.com/

Happy listening!

Thom & The Delicious Legacy Podcast

This episode features music from Motion Array.

Support the podcast on Ko-Fi and Patreon for ad-free episodes!

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How did our ancestors celebrated the birth of Christ? What was considered "special" and celebratory dish and food worthy of the birth of Christ?

Are there many differences between the nations of Europe, north, south, east and west?

What the Greeks of different regions cook for their Christmas table? what other foods and cakes we serve during the twelve day festive table?

And most importantly, why am I so excited and greedy when Christmas comes?

Find out all the above and more here!

Why there are so many cakes and sweet puddings over the festive period? Traditional cakes made and eaten almost everywhere in Western Europe between Christmas and early January.

The Twelfth Night cake, which is in direct line of descent from the Roman cakes of Janus, after whom January is named. Janus, god of the double gate – the gate that opens and

the gate that shuts – had two faces and a double mission: to look back at the past, the Old Year, and forward to the future, the New Year.

In Gascony, aniseed cakes used to be distributed after midnight Mass at Christmas.

Celebratory foods include Goose, the Germanic tradition was to serve roast goose at Christmas. This is convenient,

since the goose, a large bird, hatches in spring and is in its prime at eight or nine months old. Any older and it will not be a success roasted.

Or Carp; who is king of the fish in Central Europe, where Christmas or Easter would be unthinkable without it.

In South France dried figs also feature among the traditional ‘Thirteen Desserts’ of Christmas. With walnuts or hazelnuts, raisins and almonds, they were one of what were called the quatre mendiants, the four orders of begging friars (so called because the different colours of the nuts and dried fruits suggested the colours of their habits). A treat for children was a ‘Capuchin nougat’ – a dried fig split open and stuffed with a green walnut.

Calissons, the famous sweets of Aix-en-Provence, must be made with almonds. They consist of marzipan and crystallized fruits mixed with orange-flower water, all the ingredients being Provençal, and worthy of a sweetmeat which is the pride of Aix. Olivier de Serres, in his Théâtre d’agriculture et mesnage des champs, describes a confection very much like calissons d’Aix. Mme de Sévigné was delighted with a big box of them that her daughter gave her. The word calisson may be from Latin. At Christmas festivities in Aix-en-Provence rich families and confectioners had them distributed by priests at Mass instead of the consecrated bread.

Enjoy the latest episode with the welcome support of Maltby and Greek UK No1 Greek Delicatessen!

https://www.maltbyandgreek.com/

Much love

Thom & The Delicious Legacy

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Io Saturnalia!

Long before Christmas existed and was celebrated...

There was another mid-winter festival...SATURNALIA!

Gaius Valerius Catullus described it as "the best of times"; an extravaganza of food and drink, an inversion of social roles, an expression of one's self through singing gambling...

Originating as a farmers' festival dedicated to Saturn, the Roman god of agriculture and the harvest, it started as one day celebration, usually December 17th, but over centuries evolved to something bigger.

Eventually the Roman dramatist Seneca complained 'December used to be a month- now it's a whole year'

Can you not relate? Every holiday nowadays seems to last, until the next one! Could be month, could be longer, after all, the Christmas tat goes for sale in August these days!

Music by Pavlos Kapralos.

You can find delicious traditional Greek products online for your Christmas table at Maltby and Greek with 15% discount if you put the discount code "delicious" here:

https://www.maltbyandgreek.com/

Happy listening,

Thom & The Delicious Legacy

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The Abbasid caliphate (750-1258) and its associated "golden age of Islam" is famous for a range of achievements in science, literature, and culture. The preservations and translations of ancient Greek texts to Arabic and the flow of discussion, philosophy, the merging of Persian, Greek and Arabic thought with Islam the countless inventions and new paths in science, mathematics and astronomy. All these are more or less known widely. Huge achievements. A mass of ancient texts were preserved for our eyes thanks to Persian scientists.

But what about...Pickles?! What do we know about this superb condiment I say?!!?

Well let's try and get a sense of place and a starting point to our story!

Baghdad was founded in 762 as The City of Peace.

The Abbasid empire stretched from the edges of India to the borders of Europe. Baghdad was the heart of the Islamic world and the centre of political rule. It was also the centre of the Translation Movement, when scholars from around the world came together at the House of Wisdom in Baghdad, translating ancient Greek and Roman texts on subjects like algebra, medicine, and astronomy. Music, poetry and art flourished. The society of the Abbasid Caliphate was diverse and open. Think of it a little bit like the “Citadel” in Game of Thrones.

As a Metropolis of a vast empire, Baghdad it was a sprawling city with houses of main thoroughfares, connected by narrow, winding and shade-giving streets; all within earshot of the local mosque. Business and trade were kept to the main streets and public squares, bustling and noisy with its food stalls and many other traders. Gardens both public and private, were an imitation of paradise with attention and care to details. Huge water-raising machines could be seen pumping water from rivers into the fields and to the cities and houses.

In this hugely influential cultural city al-Baghdadi was born in 1239AD. He was a scribe, and was a compiler of an early Arabic cookbook of the Abbasid period, The Book of Dishes. Originally with 160 recipes but later 260 more were added.

Thank you and see you soon!

Music by Pavlos Kapralos and Motion Array (Arabian Nights, Barren Sands)

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How do you like your coffee?

Dark, bitter, milky, sweet or spiced?

Hot, or iced?

From Brazil, Mexico, Java, Jamaica or Colombia?

But even if it's unimaginable to think your morning without it, there was a time before the caffeinated era! A time that people didn't drink it!

I know! The horror!

Where did it all started and why? and how come it's the most popular trading commodity in the world after oil?

From Ethiopia to Yemen from there to Egypt and Turkey and then Europe...

and then the new world and the whole world! Coffee is truly global!

Many myths persist on how or why and many wars were fought. And bans on its consumption. And slavery.

So much to unpack!

Listen and enjoy!

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Hello!

In today's episode we have an Interview with Dr Christina Wade, author of the newly released book "Filthy Queens - A History of Beer in Ireland."

Irish stories, myths and legends are full of spirits and ghosts. The history of beer in Ireland is no different; many of these shadowy echoes are still reverberating in the modern brewing history. Beer and ale can bring us together, and importantly understand the past, our past, better, as well as bring us closer to our ancestors, who also drunk beer. And they did so to celebrate, commiserate and of course to socialise with friends and family just as we do.

But beer has a secret. For centuries, women brewers remained key participants in the beer trade, up to the Industrial Revolution when increased mechanisation, alongside Victorian societal constraints, conspired to push a lot of them out. This was true in England, and many other places and it is no different for Ireland. Saints, nuns, wives, queens; the stories of Irish women and ale are countless.

Join me today as I talk with Dr Christina Wade about her latest book Filthy Queens A History of Beer in Ireland, to find out more of the amazing history of women brewers of the Emerald Isle!

You can buy the book here:

https://ninebeanrowsbooks.com/en-gb/products/filthy-queens

and Dr Wades substack: https://substack.com/home/post/p-151378197

This week's recommendations:

Musician and poet of ancient music Bettina Joy De Guzman:

https://www.bettinajoydeguzman.com/

https://www.youtube.com/@bettinajoydeguzman1981

The Ancient Crops We've Forgotten How to Grow:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VjFT4PC8YIQ&t=3s

Jonny Garrett:

https://www.goodbeerhunting.com/authors/jonny-garrett

https://www.waterstones.com/book/the-meaning-of-beer/jonny-garrett/9781838959944

Enjoy!

Much love,

Thom & The Delicious Legacy

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How would our modern day to day life would be like, in a world without sugar?

I’m very pleased to have Neil Buttery on the podcast today, the food historian and author of “A dark history of sugar”, who’s book is out now and traces the origins of all the above, sugar’s production and consumption especially during its darkest parts between the 16th and 19th century.

Once, it was called Indian Salt. Or white salt. The Chinese lay claim to be the first to make it; among their many inventions.

It seems the art of making it though, came from India.

Sugar cane is a giant grass that once was native to the island of New Guinea.

This is the history of sugar, and sugar cane, the plant Saccharum officinarum which today is found growing in many places around the world, but crucially used in so many of our foods that it certainly makes it ubiquitous …

Darius the Persian King is said to have discovered in India a reed that gives honey without the aid of bees. And brought it home with him.

A spice -as it was considered in the ancient world- more expensive than any other, and used for medicinal primarily purposes.

Dioscorides, a Greek contemporary of Augustus, remarks that: ‘There is a kind of solid honey called saccharon, which is found in the reeds of India and Arabia the fortunate. It resembles salt in consistency, and crunches in the mouth.’

Sweet foods are very rare in nature indeed. And exactly why before the age of sugar, honey was the no1 sweetener in the world, eaten and used by people all over.

Energy giving, it was the only sweetener available in a pure and natural state.

We describe people as sweet when they’re nice, polite and so on.

Clearly sweetness is something we desire, something we need, something we revered as sacred since our deep ancient past. Honey and sugar have religious connotations too.

But we also need high energy for our development. As a species our need for sweet and sugar led us to develop ingenious ways to make things sweeter. From the development of sophisticated apiculture to agriculture and breeding selectively fruit bearing plants that have more sugar.

But how did sugar as we know today come to the forefront of our lives? And how it created and was shaped by the transantlantic slave trade, colonialism and exploitation of humans and nature?

If you want more archaeogastronomical content, and the extra bits from our conversation with Neil, please subscribe to the Patreon page here:

https://www.patreon.com/thedeliciouslegacy

You can buy Neil Buttery's "A Dark History of Sugar" book in every good bookshop.

Music by Pavlos Kapralos.

If you want to get your hands on some delicious Greek products go to Maltby and Greek website and use the code "delicious" at the checkout to get a lovely 15% discount!

Enjoy!

The Delicious Legacy

Support the podcast on Ko-Fi and Patreon for ad-free episodes!

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Who were the heavy drinkers of Post-Roman Western Europe? What did Kings, monks and bishops did to curb the excess of wine consumption and violence in what is now France, Germany and England?

Find out on the newest episode of The Delicious Legacy...

I hope you enjoy the start of our wine series so far!

Happy Listening!

With the so-called collapse of the Western Roman Empire, Europe was in turmoil. Or so the traditional narrative goes. Certainly there was de-centralised powers emerging.

What did this do to wine cultivation and production? Who drunk wine? What happened in the years between 500 and 1000 AD?

Listen to find out on part five of this exploration of the history of wine!

And of course I'm delighted to say that the listeners get a 15% discount from Maltby and Greek deli in London,

when you shop online using the code "delicious" here: maltbyandgreek.com/delicious

You can follow and listen to everything my friends Partial Historians do here: https://linktr.ee/ThePartialHistorians

Music by Pavlos Kapralos.

Thanks!

Thom & The Delicious Legacy

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An interview with Aghiles Ourad from the project The Other Grape.

From around 800 BCE ancient Phoenician merchant sailors created commercial hubs and trading stations all over North Affrica and Spain. Doubtless they exported their wine making and grape growing there more than 2600 years ago...

The Mediterranean is for all intends and purposes a lake as much as a sea. The trade and commerce of the peoples living on her shores happened through the sea for millennia. The climate is very similar and the exchange of ideas, foods, and culture almost free-flowing. 

And yet, nowadays, when we talk about wine we only think of French, Spanish, Italian, perhaps Greek and ...that's about it! We completely forget the other half of the Med. The southern shores, the lands of North Africa and the Middle East. A vast area of any fertile lands, that played important roles in the rise and fall of countless empires! The grape was first cultivated and wine drunk in the East. In the Anatolia lands, in modern Turkey but also in Iran and Iraq, and Lebanon. Ancient Egypt too, had a very important wine production.The proper old, old world wines!

Why this blindness persists in our globalised age? And what is the colonial legacy of the wine making and vine growing on these lands?

Yet today we tend to ignore of the wine production of the predominately Muslim countries. Well today we'll try and rectify that!

I hope you'll enjoy our discussion! 

Thom & The Delicious Legacy

Music by Pavlos Kapralos

Aghiles wine adventure is https://theothergrape.co.uk/

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Hello!

"...For filled with that good gift

suffering mankind forgets its grief; from it

comes sleep; with it the oblivion of the troubles

of the day. There is no other medicine for misery."

Wine. More than medicine. More than nourishment. A gift from the Gods...

Though wild grapevines have grown on the Italian peninsula since prehistory, historians are unable to determine precisely when domestic viticulture and winemaking first occurred.

The earliest recorded evidence of Greek influence dates to 800 BC. Viticulture was widely entrenched in Etruscan civilization, which was centred around the modern winemaking region of Tuscany.

For most of Rome's winemaking history, Greek wine was the most highly prized, with domestic Roman wine commanding lower prices. The 2nd century BC saw the dawn of the "golden age" of Roman winemaking and the development of grand cru vineyards (a type of early first growth in Rome). The famous vintage of 121 BC became known as the Opimian vintage, named for consul Lucius Opimius. Remarkable for its abundant harvest and the unusually high quality of wine produced, some of the vintage's best examples were being enjoyed over a century later.

For the most part wine was fermented in sealed amphoras. Small holes permitted carbon dioxide to escape during fermentation, but after the process was complete they were blocked up. The wine was not always racked or filtered and when it was not it was syphoned or run through a sieve as it was poured out to be consumed.

Cato recommended drying grapes in the sun for two to three days, while Virgil advised a different means to the same end of increasing sugar content: leaving grapes on the vine until they were exposed to frost. The products of Virgil’s method were the forerunners of modern late- harvest wines.

Cato also said that during the thirty days of fermentation the insides of wine jars should be regularly scraped with brooms made of elm twigs to stop the dregs sticking to the sides. This process was the equivalent of batonnage and other methods of ensuring that the less stay in contact with the must during fermentation. Depending on the grapes used, it should have ensured a darker and more tannic wine. The jars were then sealed until spring when the wine was racked off into clean amphoras for ageing.

Cato provided several recipes for *Greek', 'Coan' (that is, from Cos) and other wines, including this one which he described as suitable 'for the hands

to drink through the winter:

Pour into a jar ten quadrantals of must, two quadrantals of sharp vinegar, two quadrantals of boiled must, fifty quadrantals of fresh water. Stir with a stick thrice a day for five consecutive days. Then add sixty-four sextarii of old sea-water, cover the jar, and seal ten days later. This wine will last you until the summer solstice; whatever is left over will be a very sharp and excellent vinegar.

That and a lot more on this weeks episode!

Enjoy!

The Delicious Legacy

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Wine, because no great story started with a salad!

Hello!

Today we shall explore the legacy of ancient Greece and her wines.

Symposiums, ancient Greek grape varieties and wines, like Lemnio, Savvatiano, Assyrtiko, Thassian and Chian wines...

And what about the ancient Greek drinking vessels? Which ones did they use?

"In ancient Greece, the master of the house would open the festivity known as an agape (meaning literally ‘love’ in the sense of friendship) by pouring a libation of wine. For once, the wine was served neat, without water, and very little of it was drunk. Before any of the guests raised it to their lips the host emptied a cup of wine on the sacred family hearth, as the share for the gods, those of the hearth and the others. Then everyone sang a hymn to Dionysus."

Sit back, relax, open a bottle of wine and listen!

Remember if you want to enjoy the extra content with exclusive recipes why not join me on Patreon and become my patrons there? Tonnes of lovely material to enjoy as well as extra content on the episodes!

Thanks!

The Delicious Legacy

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"Nothing more excellent nor more valuable than wine was ever granted to mankind by God.” – Plato

Hello!

Today on this first part of the History of wine, we’ll go back into the past to trace the beginnings, from prehistory and also see some Greek myths about the legendary god Dionysus.

Let me ask you this: and be honest with me. When I say ‘wine’ what do you think?

What’s the first thing that comes to mind? Or rather to give a clue, what country comes first to your lips when one says wine?

Is it perhaps, by any chance, France? Well today we're not discuss anything about the history of French wine! heh...

The history of wine is steeped into peril, danger and many many myths and controversies!

Let's find out!

Thanks, and happy listening!

The Delicious Legacy

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The spice trade episode was an epic undertaking and I am so pleased with it, but sadly we have reached the end!

On this final part we are examining a number of other spices -namely black pepper, cardamom and ginger- and we learn about the demise of the Nabateans in the early centuries of our common era. We also see how the clever tribes enhanced the selling of their incense and spices by weaving elaborate stories, with monsters and dangerous birds guarding the valuable trees!

The ancient world was highly globalised and the Arabian traders were in the middle of a lucrative route; incense and spices and precious, exotic luxury goods were coming from the East and used in the West, for many millennia. For rituals, for food and seen as items that bestowed power and authority to the person who possessed them. Were the magical tears of Frankinsence, much coveted by the Egyptian Nobility, the thing that kick-started the global race for spices?

Enjoy!

Music by Epidemic Sound and Motion Array except

Theme of The Delicious Legacy and end song by Pavlos Kapralos

Free Mily by Miltos Boumis

Voiceover actors appearing in order : Mark Knight, Baron Anastis, Jim Bryden, Rachael Louise Miller.

Sources:

The Periplous of the Erythraean Sea (ancient unknown author),

Roman Arabia by Bowersock

Cumin, Camels and Caravans - A Spice Odyssey by Gary Paul Nabhan 

Food in the Ancient World from A to Z by Andrew Dalby.

Wikipedia : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cinnamon

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indo-Roman_trade_relations

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pre-Islamic_Arabia

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

Support the podcast on Ko-Fi and Patreon for ad-free episodes!

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Making this episode was an epic adventure, "travelling" through the ancient world and through time, so I had to divide it into three parts.

Today in part two of our adventure amongst other things we follow the trails of frankinsence and who were the Nabataeans?

The ancient spice route is inextricably linked with the Arabian peninsula. At first, this seems a little bit odd perhaps, and a little baffling. Why this inhospitable desert, is connected with the spice trade so closely?

In today's part two of our trilogy about the ancient history of the spices and spice trade, we'll talk about the Frankincense and other spices introduced to the temples and plates of ancient Egyptians, Greeks and Romans.

Let's delve a bit deeper to the history of aromatics and spices, their use in ancient Greece and Egypt

The ancient world was highly globalised and the Arabian traders were in the middle of a lucrative route; Incense and spices and precious, exotic luxury goods were coming from the East and used in the West, for many millennia. For rituals, for food and seen as items that bestowed power and authority to the person who possessed them.

Enjoy!

Music by Epidemic Sound and Motion Array except

Theme of The Delicious Legacy and end song by Pavlos Kapralos

Free Mily by Miltos Boumis

Voiceover actors appearing in order : Mark Knight, Baron Anastis, Jim Bryden, Rachael Louise Miller.

Sources:

The Periplous of the Erythraean Sea (ancient unknown author),

Roman Arabia by Bowersock

Cumin, Camels and Caravans - A Spice Odyssey by Gary Paul Nabhan 

Food in the Ancient World from A to Z by Andrew Dalby.

Wikipedia : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cinnamon

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indo-Roman_trade_relations

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pre-Islamic_Arabia

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

Support the podcast on Ko-Fi and Patreon for ad-free episodes!

https://ko-fi.com/thedeliciouslegacypodcast

https://www.patreon.com/c/thedeliciouslegacy

Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/the-delicious-legacy.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week's episode is an epic so I had to divide it in three parts!

Part One today and then part two next week, and the final part the week after.

The ancient spice route is inextricably linked with the Arabian peninsula. At first, this seems a little bit odd perhaps, and a little baffling. Why this inhospitable desert, is connected with the spice trade so closely?

In today's part one of our trilogy about the ancient history of the spices and spice trade, we'll get introduced to the climate, region and the people who inhabited the Arabian peninsula.

The ancient world was highly globalised and the Arabian traders were in the middle of a lucrative route; Insence and spices and precious, exotic luxury goods were coming from the East and used in the West, for many millennia. For rituals, for food and seen as items that bestowed power and authority to the person who possessed them. Were the magical tears of Frankinsence, much coveted by the Egyptian Nobility, the thing that kick-started the global race for spices?

Enjoy!

Music by Epidemic Sound and Motion Array except

Theme of The Delicious Legacy and end song by Pavlos Kapralos

Free Mily by Miltos Boumis

Voiceover actors appearing in order : Mark Knight, Baron Anastis, Jim Bryden, Rachael Louise Miller.

Sources:

The Periplous of the Erythraean Sea (ancient unknown author), 

Roman Arabia by Bowersock 

Cumin, Camels and Caravans - A Spice Odyssey by Gary Paul Nabhan  

Food in the Ancient World from A to Z by Andrew Dalby.

Wikipedia : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cinnamon

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indo-Roman_trade_relations

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pre-Islamic_Arabia

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

Support the podcast on Ko-Fi and Patreon for ad-free episodes!

https://ko-fi.com/thedeliciouslegacypodcast

https://www.patreon.com/c/thedeliciouslegacy

Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/the-delicious-legacy.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

I'm very excited to share this episode with you!

Also this hot, hot weather makes one thirsty! There's only one thing that can sort our thirst: Beer!

Beer indeed is the answer. A pint of cold, clear, crispy happiness. An almost universal pasttime, African, Asian, European and South American civilisations all had a version of this delightful alcoholic beverage, to enjoy with friends, and family around the fire. Water, malt, hops and yeast is all there is and yet we’ve managed to produce countless different delicious drinks from these simple four ingredients.

In this episode I'm delighted to have as my guest Pete Brown, the beer writer, and all around delightful human, to ask him all the important questions:

When did humans started making beer? And why? Where's the birthplace of beer-making?

How did the first beer tasted like? And can we try it now?

Is beer the drink of the commoners or actually a great social leveler anyway?

What is a lambic beer?

We sat around and ate some ancient Greek inspired BBQ, drunk some delicious beers both modern and some old school ones too and we discussed all of the above, for your curious ears!

Pete Brown is an expert writer of all things degustatory, but most of all passionate for the convivial drink that we call beer! And his expertise helped to match great beers, with some fantastically marinated bbq meats.

Join us for an adventure that begins in the neolithic era, as we travel through to ancient Mesopotamia, and China then to modern-day subsaharan Africa in our quest to quell our thirst for ancient beer!

You can find Pete's books on all good bookshops, and he has a website with articles and other useful stuff here:

https://www.petebrown.net/

Music on this episode is by Pavlos Kapralos. You can find his music at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzgAonk4-uVhXXjKSF-Nz1A?app=desktop

This episode comes with the welcome support of Maltby and Greek, and you can find some really taste Greek beer here:

https://www.maltbyandgreek.com/collections/beers-spirits

Enjoy!

Thom & The Delicious Legacy

Support the podcast on Ko-Fi and Patreon for ad-free episodes!

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"The monks say the divine flavour befits quiet seclusion.

The abundant fluttering leaves become a welcome guest.

They would send a package to my prefectural office,

But the brick well and copper stove would ruin its

character.

Worse yet, the spring teas from Meng Mountain and

Guzhu

Sealed in white clay, stamped in red, they travel dusty

roads.

If you want to know the pure cooling taste of milky buds,

You must be one who sleeps in clouds and squats on rocks."

These are the words of the early ninth-century poet Liu Yuxi. After drinking tea with Buddhist monks on a mountain, Liu contemplates the tragedy of taking a parcel of tea home with him...

Hello! Welcome back to another episode of The Delicious Legacy, my hungry and curious archaeogastronomers!

I'm Thom Ntinas and this is a short history of Tea. The world's most thirst-quenching liquid after water!

Enjoy!

Support the podcast on Ko-Fi and Patreon for ad-free episodes!

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What is Silphium and why was it so valuable for ancient Greeks and Romans alike?

In today's episode I am exploring the long history of the mysterious plant Silphium, how is it connected with the prosperous ancient Greek colony of Cyrene, in modern day Libya, and I try to answer the question if indeed went extinct!

Join me for another archaeogastronomical adventure into the deep Meditarannean past; let's taste some ancient recipe with Silphium and see if we can unravel the mystery of its supposed disappearance and how we today can we get a taste of it...!

It's all very intriguing! You won't regret it! I even try some raw asafoetida powder for you!

Herodotus passage read by the superb Mark Knight

Music by the amazing Pavlos Kapralos

Sound design created with Soundtoys and UAD Plugins as well as Spitfire Synths.

Don't forget to review and rate the podcast on all platforms you listen to! It helps to get us out there! And please share with three of your friends who haven't heard it yet!

Enjoy!

The Delicious Legacy

Support the podcast on Ko-Fi and Patreon for ad-free episodes!

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Chios, the fifth largest Greek island, is best known perhaps as one of the acclaimed birthplaces of Homer; The famous ancient poet, supposed author of Iliad and Odyssey.

Whatever truth is behind this claim, we will never know.

The second most important thing that is famous for, is mastiha, from the south of the island, the beautiful 'tears' which gives it's unique flavour in many recipes in the Greek cuisine and also gives us the term "masticated" in English, deriving from the ancient Greek term "to chew"; For 'Mastiha' was the world's first -natural - chewing gum, popular from antiquity till today!

So, what does the raisin mastic, from a tree native to the island of Chios in North East Aegean Sea doing in a dietary manual from the Mongol Emperor all the way in what is today's modern China? How did it get there?

Let's explore three often used in middle east and Greece but a bit forgotten spices here, on today's episode; especially the marvellous, magical mastiha!

Music by Pavlos Kapralos

Enjoy!

Thom & The Delicious Legacy

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Hello!

On today's bonus episode I'm exploring somewhat little known local delicacies from the Northern corners of England. Some cheeses, and meats, and desserts that seem to deserve a lot more limelight than they currently have!

For example Ribblesdale cheese, "Pressed Beef", Cumberland Rum Nikki, Taylors Original Prepared Mustard, and Swaledale Cheese!

(Get the cheeses, here https://www.ribblesdalecheese.com/ 

and https://swaledalecheese.co.uk/ )

Enjoy!

Thom & The Delicious Legacy

Support the podcast on Ko-Fi and Patreon for ad-free episodes!

https://ko-fi.com/thedeliciouslegacypodcast

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The ancients, -Greeks and Romans alike- where equally worried about health and food and the balance between a healthy diet and a delicious one.

More than in our days, diet played a role in preventing and curing diseases, and in fact it was one of the main areas of study at medieval medical schools.

Medical writers and doctors and philosophers of the ancient world, from Hippocrates, to Galen and Oreibasius to Haly Abbas in Islamic Persia al obsessed and thought about the connection of diet and healthy body.

The notion of humours and the idea that disease was related to some imbalance of them was only one of many theories in antiquity, some of which completely ignored them. For Galen the definitive theory was that articulated in the Hippocratic Nature Of Man. The nature of Man was made up of blood phlegm yellow bile and black bile, and it was through these that the body felt pain and maintained health. If their balance was disturbed the body experienced disease.

To find out more, listen to the episode!

The music on this episode was written and performed by the incredible Pavlos Kapralos.

Find out more here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzgAonk4-uVhXXjKSF-Nz1A

Enjoy,

Thom & The Delicious Legacy

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Welcome to Part Two of our Interview!

So much more to explore, with kitchen innovations, stews, pickles, and the most incredible cookbooks preserved for our eyes from Medieval Arab World.

The Islamic Golden Age...

What does it come to one's mind when hears the above words?

Do you think of the 'Arabian Nights' ? Or as it is properly called as 'One Thousand and One Nights'?

Is your imagination also filled with other Middle Eastern Folk tales of Aladdin and Ali Baba and Sinbad the Sailor?

Or, maybe, the flourishing of scientific, cultural, economic activities in the near middle east and the centre of the worlds knowledge in the largest city then in the world, Baghdad?

Well so you should; these are superbly important aspects of the medieval Arab world, but for me equally important was the flourishing of an extremely delicious, complex culinary tradition, a cuisine with one foot in the Arab peninsula and the other in ancient Persia! Mouth watering rich stews and elaborate banquets, feasts for kings and caliphs that lasted weeks on end...

In other words, food! Food glorious food, food that we've never heard of, food and recipes that influenced the European medieval cuisine and to this day we find echoes of them in recipes across the known world,-without exaggeration- from India to South America!

For this reason I have invited on today's episode Professor Daniel Newman; an academic from Durham University specialising in Arabic literature, to talk to us about the medieval Arab cuisine. He is also known for his blog "Eat like a Sultan" where he brings the medieval recipes to our modern world with some mouth watering creations, professor Newman shares with us his unique insight of a rich and wonderful world!

This was such a fun interview and I thoroughly enjoyed our chat. He is such a passionate and knowledgeable man who loves sharing his wisdom with us! If I had such lecturers when I was at University doubtless my time there would have been much, much more worthwhile!

Today's music Nihavend peşrev is kindly performed by Pavlos Kapralos and it's by Petros Peloponnesios a great cantor, composer and teacher of Byzantine and Ottoman music (born c. 1735 Tripolis– died in 1778 Constantinople) the music is influenced obviously by Persian motifs and the song is played with a santur which is a hammered dulcimer of Iranian or Mesopotamian origins.

Prof Daniel Newman's blog, Eat Like A Sultan: http://eatlikeasultan.com/ 

Thank you and enjoy!

Thom & The Delicious Legacy

Support the podcast on Ko-Fi and Patreon for ad-free episodes!

https://ko-fi.com/thedeliciouslegacypodcast

https://www.patreon.com/c/thedeliciouslegacy

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Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Islamic Golden Age...

What does it come to one's mind when hears the above words?

Do you think of the 'Arabian Nights' ? Or as it is properly called as 'One Thousand and One Nights'?

Is your imagination also filled with other Middle Eastern Folk tales of Aladdin and Ali Baba and Sinbad the Sailor?

Or, maybe, the flourishing of scientific, cultural, economic activities in the near middle east and the centre of the worlds knowledge in the largest city then in the world, Baghdad?

Well so you should; these are superbly important aspects of the medieval Arab world, but for me equally important was the flourishing of an extremely delicious, complex culinary tradition, a cuisine with one foot in the Arab peninsula and the other in ancient Persia! Mouth watering rich stews and elaborate banquets, feasts for kings and caliphs that lasted weeks on end...

In other words, food! Food glorious food, food that we've never heard of, food and recipes that influenced the European medieval cuisine and to this day we find echoes of them in recipes across the known world,-without exaggeration- from India to South America!

For this reason I have invited on today's episode Professor Daniel Newman; an academic from Durham University specialising in Arabic literature, to talk to us about the medieval Arab cuisine. He is also known for his blog "Eat like a Sultan" where he brings the medieval recipes to our modern world with some mouth watering creations, professor Newman shares with us his unique insight of a rich and wonderful world!

This was such a fun interview and I thoroughly enjoyed our chat. He is such a passionate and knowledgeable man who loves sharing his wisdom with us! If I had such lecturers when I was at University doubtless my time there would have been much, much more worthwhile!

Today's music Nihavend peşrev is kindly performed by Pavlos Kapralos and it's by Petros Peloponnesios a great cantor, composer and teacher of Byzantine and Ottoman music (born c. 1735 Tripolis– died in 1778 Constantinople) the music is influenced obviously by Persian motifs and the song is played with a santur which is a hammered dulcimer of Iranian or Mesopotamian origins.

Prof Daniel Newman's blog, Eat Like A Sultan: http://eatlikeasultan.com/ 

Thank you and enjoy!

Thom & The Delicious Legacy

Support the podcast on Ko-Fi and Patreon for ad-free episodes!

https://ko-fi.com/thedeliciouslegacypodcast

https://www.patreon.com/c/thedeliciouslegacy

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Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A splendid photo from 1858, of the colossal Temple of Olympian Zeus in Athens spurred me to write today's episode: A top of the ancient columns, protruding was a weird structure, almost placed on top as joke. What was it? This, it transpired, was the hut of a monk! A hermit, a stylite, an ascetic who lived his days praying on top of this magnificent ancient monument in the centre of 19th Century Athens.

A history of monasticism: one that traces the history of Christian religious life through food, eating and fasting. More importantly though,finding at the end that it is about the deliberate relegation of food and eating to a purely physical need, separated from any conscious emotion of pleasure or displeasure, on the part of individuals and collectives who followed a Christian religious life in the period from the earliest days through to the late Middle Ages. All the way from the Sinai Desert and the isolation of Dead Sea caves through to the forests of Northern England.

Easter is nearly here, and I thought that some Lenten recipes would be welcome if we would like to imitate the lifestyle of the first desert fathers and on this episode I have two recipes in the spirit of fasting that hope will inspire you.

Enjoy!

Thom & The Delicious Legacy

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Today, we know this beautiful legendary city, as Marseilles.

It's the 2nd largest city in France and the most ancient one. And her foundations were laid thanks to ancient Greeks!

The mythical start of the city is told by Herodotus and Aristotle who give us some information and traces of truth through their stories about her establishment. But we will look into her ancient food traditions!

Wine! Grapes! Olives and Herbs! The Greeks brought a lot with them when settled in Massalia around 600 BCE.

The inland routes to reach northern Europe started here; the navigable rivers that led to the Atlantic, made the spot the city was built, ideal. The trade of tin and other goods was of outmost importance, and so was the necessity to avoid the conflicts with Carthaginians along the southern routes from Spain.

But let's go to the food.

Archestratus says:

How is the traditional Provençal dish "sartanado" connected with the above passage from Archestratus?

What is "myttotos"? What has in common with rouille? 

What does a recipe found in a papyri, has to do with the famous French bouillabaisse?

Which oysters the poet Ausonious things are the best?

These, and a lot more are answered in the episode today! 

Join me and enjoy the foods of Massalia!

The Delicious Legacy

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Hello!

New episode is out!

Here, Ned and I, met in Borough Market in London Bridge -the biggest and perhaps oldest continuous market here in London- the "Mecca" of the freshest food produce! So we came here to discuss his latest book "A Cheesemongers Compendium of British and Irish Cheeses" and of course to question like modern philosophers what it means to be a cheesemonger? (it turns out there a lot of recovering philosophers in the cheesemongers profession!) What is terroir and how this manifests in the differences in cheese? And of course I ask more information about the tastiest British Cheeses and more broadly about the place of them in the modern world. (and table!)

Do you want to know which cheese tastes of roasted peanuts? And has floral notes? Or what about banana scented cheese, the old artificial kinda of banana, and estuary! Surprising huh? You don't expect that huh? Well, have a listen and all will be revealed!

Extra content for backers only (if you subscribe on Patreon you have access to it) Ned gives us his perfect cheese and beer pairings! Because cheese and beer goes really well together, and perhaps so, even better than most wines! 

Enjoy!

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Just before the Christmas break, I had the chance to interview -via the magic of the internet- Pen Vogler: author of "Dinner with Mr Darcy" and "Dinner with Dickens" who also had curated the exhibition "Food Glorious Food" at the Charles Dickens Museum. She edited Penguin's Great Food series, writes and reviews on food history for the press and has recreated recipes from the past for BBC Television.

On this episode though, we actually chat about her latest book "Scoff" which is a history of food and class in UK through the ages. Her title, Scoff, plays on two meanings, the first being to chow down and fill your boots with whatever good things come your way, while the second means to mock or negate another person’s way of life – their taste, in other words!

So together we trawl through history and find out why breakfast is crucial mean, what is an important and healthy breakfast, and of course what does it say about your status and your standing in society; what is the most breakfasty breakfast food you should eat?

Of course we explore some recipes, and some delicious ideas for breakfast or brunch (ever so fancy and trendy!) and get deeper into fads and fashionable things, how they change though history and what is -or not- nutritious for you. Needless to say we both hate, and scoff in the notion of cereals for breakfast! Yet we must endure their presence; they are so ubiquitous everywhere we turn! Oh the irony!

Happy listening!

The Delicious Legacy

Music by Pavlos Kapralos. Find out more here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzgAonk4-uVhXXjKSF-Nz1A

Thanks to Maltby and Greek for sponsoring this episode! Check how you can get your 15% discount!

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Lenten fasting became law at the Council of Aix in 837AD.

Charlemagne was determined to see that it was observed, by force if necessary. Any baptised Lombard or Saxon chieftain who failed to do proper penance had his head cut off, an uninviting prospect for any budding Christian!

Hello,

Enjoy this updated version of an older episode about feasting and fasting in the desert nearly 2000 years ago from the first Christian fathers, the monks who made the religion of Christianity what it is.

How did they live, survive and thrive? What did they eat? And how this strict lifestyle evolved to monasticism as we know it in Europe medieval period?

All the above and much more, with recipes from the past in this updated marathon episode!

Enjoy!

Music by Pavlos Kapralos

The Delicious Legacy

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Welcome to Part 2 of the Universal History of Pickles!

Humanity have been fermenting for so long, so many thousands of years! These microorganisms that help us ferment, might be considered domesticated just like our cats and dogs! Or, they domesticated us, in order for them to thrive? Hmmmm....always worth wondering! Lactobacillales are present on the skins and leaves of just about any vegetable or fruit you would ever want to ferment! Coincidence? who knows...! There's definitely an element of co-dependence between us and them for sure!

This time we will see a medieval chutney from Richard the II's cookbook "Forme of Cury", evidence of the first "modern" mention of brined cheese aka feta from Crete, the emergence of Dutch pickled herrings and how it conquered Europe, a brief history of saurekraut, Indian pickles, why balsamic vinegar is such a special vinegar, and of course the holy triptych of soya beans- soy sauce- miso!

Enjoy!

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Helloooooo!

Part 1 of the History of Pickles across the globe is out! Quite excited about it!

We will go to the ancient lands of Mesopotamia, Greece, and Rome, and through them to Persia, the Arab world, Spain and Latin America!

I think a history of civilization is a history of pickles, and fermentation!

Without fermentation we wouldn't have beer, wine, cheese, miso, kimchi. sauerkraut and pickled herrings!

Where would we be then huh?

Sources used in this episode is Jan Davidsons book: Pickles A Global History

and the fantastic Noma Guide to Fermentation 

alongside with Cato "Liber De Agricultura"

and Columella's "De Re Rustica" agricultural manual

Part2 will be released next week!

Music theme is Seikilos Epitaph the oldest recorded surviving melody, performed by the formidable Panos Kapralos.

Thank you and enjoy!

The Delicious Legacy Podcast

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Join myself and Dr Janega, a medieval expert, in a discussion about the most important things! Beer and Cheese! And women! All while we eat cheese and drink beer, on a Sunday afternoon! What can possible go wrong?

Cheese! Beer! Women! It seems women did everything didn't they? Why did medieval women worked so hard?

So why did we forgot their contribution? Well, find out here!

Other subjects discussed:

• Hoped beer - drink of the Satan!
• Myths and misunderstandings about medieval times
• Spices in everything, especially drinks!
• Rome didn't fall on 476 CE! Constantinople is/was Rome!
• Monks, nuns and beer! (and wine)
• Henry VIII - evil b*st*rd or what?

Thanks to Dr Eleanor Janega

and to Pavlos Kapralos for the music!

Enjoy!

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