Hello!

This is one from the archives, updated and with added bonus content from the year 2022!

My interview with author and beer historian Pete Brown

Enjoy!

The Delicious Legacy

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Hello!

Happy New Year and a Happy New Season of The Delicious Legacy Podcast!

Pubs. I love them! Who doesn't?

Culturally and socially important spaces throughout the centuries, more so the past two hundred years.

We mourn when one has closed down. We regularly hear about their supposed demise now or in the near future. But pubs, inns, taverns, alehouses, have been part of the fabric of life in these Isles since early medieval times.

They are everywhere and ever evolving in nature.

On today's episode I have invited the esteemed buildings archaeologist James Wright to explain a little bit behind the myths, mysteries and misunderstandings about the institution that is the British Pub!

How did you order and got served your beer in the 17th century pub? And what's a "buttery hatch"?

What are some of the most prevalent myths about the oldest pub in England? Why these stories keep persisting?

How did the pub started in the Medieval period and how does it differ to the pub we know today?

These and many more subjects you'll find on today's episode all about the history of our beloved pubs!

You can find more about James's work here:

https://triskeleheritage.triskelepublishing.com/blogs/

In search of Britain’s oldest pub

https://www.historyextra.com/period/general-history/britain-england-oldest-pub-where-how-identify/

You can purchase his book here:

https://www.waterstones.com/book/historic-building-mythbusting/james-wright/9781803994475

Love,

The Delicious Legacy

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From Neolithic hunter-gatherers, to ordering food via an app on our phone and getting delivered with our groceries the English Table went through an extraordinary travel.

For access on the extra content subscribe on my Patreon page...

Food writer legend. Award winning author. Editor at Penguin Publishing. The lady is extraordinary!

Elizabeth David and Jane Grigson. Two names that might not resonate as much with today’s audience as they should, but significantly their food writing in the 60’s & 70’s created the genre that led to everyone from Delia Smith to Nigella Lawson today. They are perhaps the two most important cookbook authors and recipe writers (amongst many other things they did) of post-world war two Britain -and indeed very influential in the English speaking world-, in shaping how modern books about recipes and food are written; how the subject of food is seen as inclusive of many people from diverse backgrounds with the act of cooking and putting food on the table for a family and friends (regardless of social class or level of experience with cooking)

Anyway find out more about her life, and her new book and English food here!

The book is out on November the 4th: https://reaktionbooks.co.uk/work/the-english-table

Music by Pavlos Kapralos:

Much love,

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

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

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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

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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

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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

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

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Hello!

Fermented food is literally everywhere.

Why do we love fermented foods so much? When did we start making them intentionally and crucially are they good for us?

Today's special guest on the podcast is James Read, author of the book "Of Cabbages & Kimchi"

James Read is on a mission to smuggle bacteria into our kitchens. In Of Cabbages & Kimchi, he takes the ten greatest ‘living’ ferments – fermented foods that are neither cooked nor pasteurized – and places them under the microscope, before cooking with them in all their delicious versatility.

From the fiery funk of kimchi to the velvet tang of kefir, James describes the microbial process, then shares his recipes for recreating these wonders in your own kitchen. Alongside his recipes, James investigates the extraordinary cultural and historic backgrounds of fermented foods, exploring how the microbes that bring them to life have developed alongside our culinary evolution.

So I went into his house yesterday and had a lovely chat about his favourite fermented foods. We also tried some lovely home-made kimchi, soy sauce and tepache drink the Mexican slightly sweet slightly sour fermented beverage!

Find out more about James and order his book here: https://jamesreadwriter.com/

He is also on Instagram as @jamesreadwrites

Enjoy our conversation and if you have any questions or recommendations do let me know!

The Delicious Legacy

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

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

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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!

Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/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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Today's episode is taking a little bit of turn; I always wanted to know more about the Cornwall Project and Cull Yaw mutton, a meat not so popular in UK but there's a man that is fighting to change this: Matt Chatfield. We talk about traditional farming, timeless ancient techniques, Silvopasture and how this will help humankind for the future too.

Our online interview was very challenging as Matt is obviously down in Cornwall in his caravan somewhere in a field with only a mobile phone and sporadic 4G signal. We were regularly losing connection due to wind apparently and the quality of the audio is not the best one I'm afraid, but nevertheless I think you will enjoy the knowledge that Matt kindly offered here and shared with all of us! Matt highlights the fact that there are many farmers that are doing an excellent work both to feed the people but also care for nature.

Anyway I hope you enjoy Matt's thoughts and actions, and buy his lovely aged mutton! Incredibly tasty and versatile!

Some brilliant quotes:

- "If you look after nature, flavour looks after itself."

- "I just look after nature by using the sheep and incredible things happen."

- "I detest factory farming especially what we do to the chickens and pigs."

His Cull Yew meat is some of the tastiest mutton I have ever tried, and of course is extremely ethical, done with love and care and according to ancient methods and traditions of rearing animals that help the environment and nature, wildlife and as an added bonus sequester carbon into the ground, so help combat climate change too!

According to many farmers nowadays this is the future. Top quality meat from really happy animals grazing in woodlands.

Silvopasture is the term that's used and we talk with Matt about it quite extensively.

We are chatting about farming and farmers in general, how can they make a living and also get some younger people into farming, why the current talk of rewilding is such a con, and why it would be great to rewild Kensington with bears and wolves (!!!)

And of course the need to feed the nation and do it from our soil and land, and not make it impossible for farmers to grow meat here. How offsetting our meat production it is a form of colonial future which isn't not so far removed from the horrors of the colonial past. 

And many, many other subjects!

Fascinating talk, very pleased with it, I hope you will enjoy it too!

Thanks to Maltby and Greek for their support. I'm delighted to say that the listeners get a 15% discount from the deli in London,

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

The Delicious Legacy

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"If you deconstruct Greece, you will in the end see an olive tree, a grape vine and a boat remain. That is with as much you reconstruct her." -Odyseas Elytis Greece's Nobel Prize winning poet.

Olive Oil tasting:

Since extra virgin olive oil is simply pressed fruit juice without additives, the factors influencing its quality and taste include the varieties of olives used, the terroir and the countless decisions, production practices and the dedication of the producer. Olive oil tasters describe the positive attributes using the following terms:

• Fruity: Having pleasant spicy fruit flavours characteristic of fresh ripe or green olives. Ripe fruit yields oils that are milder, aromatic, buttery, and floral. Green fruit yields oils that are grassy, herbaceous, bitter, and pungent. Fruitiness also varies by the variety of olive.

• Bitter: Creating a mostly pleasant acrid flavour sensation on the tongue.

• Pungent: Creating a peppery sensation in the mouth and throat.

 The traditional palate cleanser between olive oils, is water, plain or sparkling, and slices of Granny Smith apple.

You may notice the smell of fresh-cut grass, cinnamon, tropical fruits or other aromas of ripe or green olive fruit. This is a good time to point out that the word “fruity” in olive oil can refer to vegetable notes, i.e. green olive fruit, as well as to ripe fruit notes. So think of artichokes, grass and herbs as “fruit” when you taste olive oils!

Music by Pavlos Kapralos

Voiceover recorded at Richard Bignell's studio, Area18 in North Acton.

Enjoy!

Thom & The Delicious Legacy

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Hello!

Sushi and sashimi are now global sensations. But how sushi begun? The book Oishii reveal the deep history of sushi which began perhaps in China and mostly as a sour fermented food.

On this episode i have the honour to have as a guest Professor Eric C Rath of the University of Kansas to explain to us the history of sushi in Japan and how it conquered the world!

Our discussion is based of course on his 2021 book "Oishii: The History of Sushi" which is rather lovely and detailed and is out now by Reaktion Books.

Enjoy!

The Delicious Legacy

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"In that acropolis is a shrine of Erechtheus, called the “Earthborn,” and in the shrine are an olive tree and a pool of salt water. The story among the Athenians is that they were set there by Poseidon and Athena as tokens when they contended for the land. It happened that the olive tree was burnt by the barbarians with the rest of the sacred precinct, but on the day after its burning, when the Athenians ordered by the king to sacrifice went up to the sacred precinct, they saw a shoot of about a cubit's length sprung from the stump, and they reported this."

What is the common thread running through the following; 

- The sack of Athens from the Persians at 480BCE

- Rome's 8th "hill"

-The end of the biblical flood

- the remains of an 1600BCE workshop in Cyprus???

Well, it's the olive tree, the olive, and the olive oil!

The Liquid Gold of the ancient world, that run empires, civilizations and the commercial activity of the ancient Mediterranean for the bigger part of 4000 years! 

Listen and find out more about the fascinating story and myths of this amazing food!

Many thanks to my actors:

Jonathan Kydd

Tony Hirst

Mark Knight

and to Pavlos Kapralos and Miltos Boumis for their music contributions.

You can hear Pavlos music endeavours here:

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

Miltos is playing and composing music with a traditional Cretan folk band:

https://cretanbrioche.com/ 

Links and info about ancient olive oil:

https://ancient-world-project.nes.lsa.umich.edu/tltc/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/FOOD_OLIVES_Tyree_Roman-Oil-Making.pdf 

Herodotus on the Greco-Persian wars:

http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0126%3Abook%3D8 

Monte Testaccio:

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

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Welcome to Season Two of The Delicious Legacy Podcast!

Garos, Garum, Fish Sauce.

All interconnected, similar, possible same, but in a essence a single idea, a concept that has connected the far corners of the Mediterranean and of course today the massive sub-continent of South East Asia!

The first episode of the new season is all a little bonus taster of what is going to follow in the next weeks...!

Garum is an ingredient, a recipe, a history and a mystery, that I find myself coming back to investigate, experiment and re-use again and again.

It really doesn't get boring at all!

Here we are updating the episode 5 from season 1, over a year and a half ago, with more interesting information:

A vegetarian Garum from ancient Rome (!!!)

Galen's dietary advice with Garum.

Details about Garum from Geponica

Updates and details from modern Garums in Andalusia and in Amalfi...

And much more of course!

Many thanks to Pavlos Kapralos for writing the theme music!

more of his work here:

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

Colatura Di Alici info (in Italian)

https://www.costieraamalfitana.com/colatura-di-alici-di-cetara/ 

Modern Flor De Garum from Cadiz:

https://fuegoysal.com/gb/vinegars-and-sauces/392-flor-de-garum-of-cadiz-andalusia.html 

Fish Salting Factories of Ancient Southern Spain:

https://www.costatropical.net/almunecar/almunecar-monuments-fish-factory.php

"A sauce with a lot of history in southern Spain"

https://www.eyeonspain.com/blogs/luislopezcortijo/19372/a-sauce-with-a-lot-of-history-in-southern-spain.aspx

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

I hope you enjoy the start of our season two!

Happy Listening!

Thom & The Delicious Legacy

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I've been eternally fascinated with ancient medicine and all the different remedies and potions that medicinal writes were advising to cure all sorts of maladies!

But one "cure" -literally- salted, cured, ham and bacon it was really above all others! Tarikhos -aka salted meat- and any other pork cut was considered light and and nutritious meat.

I wanted to find out how it was used and why!

The theory of maintaining or regaining one’s health through a lifestyle of moderation and balance was called “dietetics.” 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. Not surprisingly, foodstuffs and dishes were seen in much the same way as simple and compound drugs, and like them were classified in accordance with the theory of the four humors, by which was meant a theory of the four bodily fluids. To find out the history of this early scientific theory we must go back to the sixth century B.C., to such Greek philosophers as Anaximenes, Heraclitus, and Thales.

It was Hippocrates, the famous Greek physician, and his followers who around 400 B.C. added to the four qualities of Zeno the four bodily fluids blood, phlegm, black bile, and yellow bile, and formulated a prototype of what came to be known as “humoral theory.”

One of the few remnants of humoral theory that has survived into the twenty-first century; when we describe a person’s temperament today as sanguine, choleric, melancholic, or phlegmatic, we are, in effect, referring to their dominant bodily fluid or humor: blood (sanguis), yellow bile (cholé), black bile (melaina cholé), and phlegm. The Greek physician who was the most prolific medical writer and who influenced medieval medicine more than any other was Galen of Pergamon of the second century A.D. In selecting and harmonizing elements of the humoral theory he found in Plato, Aristotle, Hippocrates, and others, he created a system that was capable of describing the world as a whole, and all inanimate and animate objects in it.

By Byzantine times, the theory of humours was accepted without question by doctors and court alike and even amongst more common people. Foods had to be judged and balanced for their effects on the bodily humours, month by month, hour by hour, and according to individual constitution.

Ancient medicals writers, physicians and philosophers mentioned on this podcast:

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

Aetius of Amida: https://peoplepill.com/people/aetius-of-amida 

Alexander of Tralles: https://www.penn.museum/sites/expedition/the-life-and-times-of-alexander-of-tralles/ 

Paul Of Aegina: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_of_Aegina 

Anthimus: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthimus_(physician)

Many thanks to Pavlos Kapralos for the music!

You can find more of Pavlos's work on his YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzgAonk4-uVhXXjKSF-Nz1A

Thanks for listening!

The Delicious Legacy

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In a seemingly abandoned desert spot, near a small and insignificant Egyptian village, for a period of one thousand years, a city flourished; an important Hellenistic-Egyptian city, perhaps the 3rd largest in Egypt at the turn of the world from the Greek to Roman influence. This city, was called Oxyrhynchus: which translates as the city of the sharp-nosed fish .

This, is where our adventure today begins! Two thousand years ago Oxyrhynchus, was on canals leading directly to the river Nile, which as today, it was the lifeline of all of Egypt's inhabitants.

On January 11, 1897, a low mound was being dug, when a piece of papyrus with unknown Logia, or ‘Sayings of Jesus’ was brought to the surface (it would later be determined that this was the apocryphal Gospel of Thomas ). Next was a leaf from the Gospel of Matthew , and then even more pieces of papyri. In three months, the men found enough papyri to fill 280 boxes.

These papyri, tell us the story of the inhabitants, open a window to the everyday past, and to the private lives of the Hellenistic, Roman and Byzantine citizens of Egypt!

Find out how, by listening to the episode!

As ever, many thanks to Pavlos Kapralos for creating the music for this episode.

Love,

The Delicious Legacy

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Did you know that you could use cinnamon buds as spice in food? Well I didn't either before my interview with Dr Christopher Monk!

Is Forme of Cury the oldest complete collection of recipes from England?

This book was originally commissioned by Richard II and compiled by his master cooks, with the assent of his physicians and philosophers at court, and it was designed to have 194 recipes. The book dates from late 14th century originally, and is a fascinating document of the medieval period and the cooking habits not only of the King and his palace, but generally of the medieval period.

As with everything so old, that has been saved by the ravages of time, we luckily have several versions of it, some dating from the reign of Richard II, some are later, some are incomplete, we have folios, rolls, manuscripts etc...! And then, on top, modern scholars tend to muddle things with compiling all these versions into one without much context for us mere mortals to understand what's happening!

Anyway enjoy the lovely Dr Monk taking us to a journey through Medieval England, with his food adventures, including mince meats, and mince mint! (say that loudly quickly!)

Find out more medieval recipes on Dr Monks YouTube channel here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UClOt8UgoRHFIFcCD7ibGibw

As always many thanks for Pavlos Kapralos for his composition, "Marmaras" which I kindly use for my theme this time!

More about this talented man: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzgAonk4-uVhXXjKSF-Nz1A

Maltby & Greek link, for your 15% off of your next purchase, please go here: maltbyandgreek.com/delicious

Many thanks and Happy listening!

The Delicious Legacy

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

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The pudding is a dish very difficult to be described, because of the several sorts there are of it: flour, milk, eggs, butter, sugar, suet, marrow, raising, etc are the most common ingredients...They make them fifty several ways: BLESSED BE HE THAT INVENTED PUDDING for it is a manna that hits the palates of all sorts of people... Ah what an excellent thing is an English pudding!' - Henry Misson "Misson's Memoirs and Observations in His Travels Over England"

All puddings started their lives as meat puddings. Mostly sausage-like concoctions similar black pudding. Even when we started wrapping food stuffs in cloth, and boiling them, they were heavy on meat, and some fruit and spices and even some sugar. How, from this we went to the Yorkshire pudding? A good question!

A kind of early boiled pudding called thryon is described by the ancient Greek grammarian and gastronome Pollux: lard, brains, eggs and cream cheese were beaten together, the mixture was wrapped in fig leaves (in the same way as puddings were tied in a cloth later) and boiled in chicken or kid broth, then untied and given a final cooking in boiling honey. (Julius Pollux was a Greek scholar and rhetorician from Naucratis*, Ancient Egypt. Emperor Commodus appointed him a professor-chair of rhetoric in Athens at the Academy — on account of his melodious voice, or at least that's what we know according to Philostratus' Lives of the Sophists. Pollux Died in 238 AD in Athens.)

Praise of course for cooking over fire! Any cooking; meat, vegetables, stews soups for that matter! Amazing skills from people who (still) do it!

Plus my recipe for Yorkshire puddings! Tasty fluffy morsels of deliciousness! Heh...! Hope you're going to make them!

It's been a while as I was very busy ...I had it all written down, but never had the chance to go to the studio and record it. So I decided to record this in my bedroom and in a hurry so apologies for the drop in audio quality of my recorded voice!

Thanks to Sebastien Froment for lending me his French voice and accent to record as the French 17th century traveller Henri Misson. (From "Misson's Memoirs and Observations in His Travels Over England")

Charles Lamb essay is from this little gem of a book : 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Dissertation-Upon-Roast-Other-Essays-ebook/dp/B004V2WR22 

(Finally a credible explanation on how humankind started cooking over fire! Only kidding, I love the Chinese myth though!)

I've tried my best to read the Yorkshire saying “Them ‘at eats t’most pudding gets t’most meat” without trying to pretend I'm from Yorkshire!

I appreciate it might sound wrong when i say "batter" it might sound like "butter" but for the purpose of this episode, mostly when I say "batter" I mean "batter" ie flour and liquid mix that needs cooking and not the dairy product! Ha!

Another point I thought might bring confusion is "Medieval Tansie" so what's that? Tansy is an edible flower/herb/plant whom the name can be traced back to the Latin athanasia, or immortality, from the Greek athanatos, meaning deathless, perhaps because the herb has been used to preserve bodies.

Tansy was used to flavour puddings, cakes, and eggs, and gave its name to a pancake flavoured with bitter herbs known as a “tansie,” which was traditionally eaten in spring and associated with Easter. (One sixteenth-century authority noted that tansy was beneficial in purging the body of the excessive phlegm engendered by a Lenten diet of fish.)

Tansy was more often added to sweet than savoury dishes, although it is the flavouring agent in a traditional Irish blood pudding known as drisheen. Alan Davidson, in The Oxford Companion to Food, speculates that the amount of tansy used was relatively small, given its strong taste.

Some hopefully illuminating photos can be found here:

http://wildflowerfinder.org.uk/Flowers/T/Tansy/Tansy.htm

As always music is kindly composed & provided by Pavlos Kapralos:

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

Expect the opening and closing theme tune, which is "Waltz Detunee" performed, recorded and mixed by Cloudcub: https://cloudcub.bandcamp.com/album/down-memory-lane-ep

Maltby & Greek link, for your 15% off of your next purchase please go here: maltbyandgreek.com/delicious

Many thanks and Happy listening!

Thom & The Delicious Legacy

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

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

A fascinating chat with archaeologist, culinary historian and historical cookbook author Ursula Janssen!

An all around brilliant talented human being then, that her passion is history and transmitting this through her ancient cooking!

Garum made of Barley. From middle east. In the Arab times.

Food of of Mesopotamia and Biblical Times.

The Arabic influence in European medieval cuisine.

And much more...!

Find some of her ancient recipes interpretation here:

https://www.youtube.com/user/ursulajanssen 

and all about the Trullo Cicerone experience here:

https://trullocicerone.com/

Happy listening!

The Delicious Legacy

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Burmese food writer turned activist MiMi Aye has been raising awareness about the crisis in Myanmar since the coup in February. MiMi’s award-winning book ‘MANDALAY: Recipes & Tales from a Burmese Kitchen’ is loved by Nigella Lawson and was chosen by The Observer, The FT, and The Mail on Sunday as one of their Best Books of 2019. MiMi also co-hosts the food and culture podcast The MSG Pod and is on social media as @meemalee

*

*

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The vast tropical and sub-tropical south east Asia always was a place of tantalising and fascinating stories, myths and legends! Ruins and monuments hidden deep in the jungles, long and unexplored rivers, mysterious tribes living in the jungles, and long lost civilizations! Even more the myriads of different foods, the ingredients the thousands of local plants were alien to me! 

We do know a lot of Thai and Vietnamese food, and we have a sense of place for them. We know of Indian and Bangladeshi cuisines too well. But what about that "little" corner of the earth sandwiched between China in the north, India to the west and Thailand in the East? What about Myanmar? 

Or as it is also known (perhaps more correctly) Burma. I knew practically nothing about the country. Same with many of us. I could point it on the map, but aside from that, the long military dictatorship and the many years of isolation, shrouded her in mystery!

I could not pass the opportunity then, to invite Mimi Aye on the podcast, since she is the go to person for all things that have to do with Burmese food in UK!

Obviously rice was been cultivated in this region of the world for almost 6000 years...

And what is Lahpet? A unique delicacy of the Burmese people...And do they eat fish sauce? 

Tea, rice, fritters, soups and salads, fermented bean pastes, fish sauce...!

Why is that extremely bitter foods are consider a must-have?

I need to know -and most importantly eat- everything!

Well now I have a sense of direction on where to start thanks to Mimi!

And so do you:

https://www.meemalee.net/buy-my-book 

Enjoy!

Thom

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Kokoretsi!

The first love that lasts forever. It's delicious, its bloody and it requires patience and knowledge. Real heroes don't wear capes. They make kokoretsi. Thank you father!

Kokoretsi is a traditional Easter delicacy, that Greeks usually make and eat on Easter Sunday, together with the other traditional dish: Spit roast lamb over charcoal fire!

So how is it made? What's the tradition behind and what's the connection with Ancient Greece?

Which other nation makes it? Let's find out more about Sardinian, Italian, Turkish versions of Kokoretsi on the podcast!

Happy listening! 

My voiceover was recorded at Area18 studio, North Acton, West London. Many thanks to Richard Bignell for letting me use his studio for my episode!

Here's a link to the studio's website to find out more about the services Richard offers, as he is a very talented Sound Engineer!

www.area18.net/NewWebsite

Theme tune on this episode is the oldest surviving song from Ancient Greece "Seikilos Epitaph" which is performed by Pavlos Kapralos.

Enjoy!

Thom

The Delicious Legacy

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Helloooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!

Welcome back to another episode of our archaogastronomical adventures!

I hope you're all well and healthy and had a lovely Easter.

Today's episode is all about ancient vegetarianism.

And the philosopher Pythagoras is the central figure on all these talk today.

Pythagoras, the father of mathematics, was born and raised in Samos. around 580BCE. He is one of the most acclaimed pre-Socratic philosophers and the Pythagorean Theorem bears his name. Samos is a green island known for its mixed flora, full of mountains and plains. Olive groves are covering most of these plains, since the age of Pythagoras and even before, while the main varieties are the local Ntopia Elia, Koronéiki and Kalamòn. Even though Pythagoras spent more than forty years in his birthplace, he eventually decided to set sail for new seas; his thirst for knowledge led him to travel throughout most of the then known world, most notably Egypt and Babylon, centres of wisdom knowledge and secret mystical rites, before settling down to Croton, a town in Magna Graecia, modern Southern Italy. He may have found pupils to follow him, and welcoming ears to listen to his preaching....

More on the audio if you press play!

Notes for this episode:

Theophrastus (c. 371–287 BCE) was a Peripatetic philosopher who was Aristotle's close colleague and successor at the Lyceum. He wrote many treatises in all areas of philosophy, in order to support, improve, expand, and develop the Aristotelian system. Of his few surviving works, the most important are Peri phytōn historia (“Inquiry into Plants”) and Peri phytōn aitiōn (“Growth of Plants”), comprising nine and six books, respectively.

Aulus Gellius (c. 125 – after 180 AD) was a Roman author and grammarian, who was probably born and certainly brought up in Rome. He was educated in Athens, after which he returned to Rome.

Vetch: A member of the pea family, Fabaceae, which forms the third largest plant family in the world with over thirteen thousand species. Of these species, the bitter vetch, was one of the first domesticated crops grown by neolithic people. There are many different vetch species, the purple flowered varieties are all safe to eat.

Credits:

All Music by Pavlos Kapralos

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

except under Maltby and Greek promo; Song "Waltz Detuné" by Cloudcub

https://cloudcub.bandcamp.com/album/memories-i-cant-read

and under Ancient History Hound ad; Song by Aris Lanaridis

https://www.arislanaridis.co.uk/

You can help with the costs of the podcast by becoming a patron on Patreon:

https://www.patreon.com/thedeliciouslegacy

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

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Hello!

In any discussion of French cheese, it is impossible to avoid that exasperated question from President De Gaulle "how can you govern a country that has more than 246 varieties of cheese?"

I'm Thom Ntinas and this is The Delicious Legacy Podcast!

This week, continuing our adventure with Ned, we taste and explore through the cheeses some forgotten corners of France and French history for that matter.

Mons cheesemonger for the best French cheese: https://mons-cheese.co.uk/

Salers cheese from Auvergne: https://www.cheese.com/salers/

José Bové, farm union leader from Larzac to MEP: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1riGwPStcPo

Patrick Rance: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b013fm7g

Enjoy!

Book recommendation of the week is Koji Alchemy: Rediscovering the Magic of Mold-Based Fermentation(Soy Sauce, Miso, Sake, Mirin, Amazake, Charcuterie)

and you can find it on Amazon etc.

Podcast recommendation Sam Bilton's "Comfortably Hungry" podcast, new season, Dark Food is out now. You can listen here the first episode: https://open.spotify.com/episode/5K3H51ujWsu33S39vKb0E8?si=fa632f073ece4be2

See you again next week!

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

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Hello all!

What fabulous frolics and food fantasies are we exploring today? Ones made of figs and foie gras!

Well these two items might seem unrelated to begin with, but there is a very close connection!

Let's trace the history of figs in Ancient Greece and Rome, and foie gras - a technique for force feeding geese and duck - all the way back to Ancient Egypt, around 2500 BCE. (A controversial food, and technique that even then it was it's critics! We are not unique my friends!)

Enjoy!

Credits:

Thanks to Richard B for the use of his studio, Area18 to record this episode!

Music by Pavlos Kapralos for more of his amazing music go here:

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

Instrumental music on the "Support me" break at 17min 40sec composed and performed by James R Bryden & Thom Ntinas

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Hello!

What could call itself the first ice cream cup was found in Egypt in a tomb from the Second Dynasty (2700 BC). This was a kind of mould, consisting of two silver cups, one of which contained snow (or crushed ice) and the other cooked fruit. “Icehouses”, where snow was stored and ice deliberately formed, were undoubtedly an extremely ancient invention. Around AD300 in India they found a way to manufacture cheap ice: Porous clay pots containing boiled, cooled water were laid out on top of straw in shallow trenches; under favourable circumstances, thin ice would form on the surface during winter nights which could be harvested and combined for sale.

Of course ancient Persians by 400BC have mastered the art and technique of creating ice in the deserts of Iran for their needs ie storing food and for pleasure in form of iced drinks! This practice requires an ingenious structure called a yakhchāl

The emperor Nero had snow and ice transported from mountains or volcanoes such as Mount Etna, these natural ice being stored in ice-boxes and buried in wells to be preserved. Nero also feasted his guests with crushed fruit with honey and snow, practices that Seneca found very expensive.

How long have these sorbets and frozen fruits been eaten ? Historians remain silent on the subject. It seems that these icy preparations lasted in the Middle East but not in the West.

The famous Italian traveller of the middle ages, Marco Polo met Kublai Khan and had the honour of enjoying the royal treat. After leaving China, Marco Polo brought the technique of making ice cream back to Italia. Marco Polo is often recognized for bringing knowledge of Chinese ice cream techniques to Italy where it was perfected, but it seems clear that news about ice cream has travelled to Europe from the Arab world, also via a number other sources.

Resources and further reading:

"Consider the Fork: A History of How We Cook and Eat" by Bee Wilson

ISBN: 9780141049083

How Ice Cream Got Its Cone

https://www.seriouseats.com/2019/06/ice-cream-cone-history.html 

The Delicious History of Ice Cream:

https://medium.com/@andersoncuellar/the-delicious-history-of-ice-cream-6a75938630f0 

Martini Fisher Ancient History of Ice Cream: https://martinifisher.com/2020/10/30/the-ancient-history-of-ice-cream/ 

Saltpetre: Regency Refrigeration:

https://regencyredingote.wordpress.com/2013/08/09/saltpetre-regency-refrigeration/

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The Greek playwright Euripides said; "What is abundance? In a word, and no more, the wise are content with what is necessary". And we can all agree, what could be more necessary than bread, oil and wine?

Hello! 

My name is Thomas Ntinas and this is the Delicious Legacy Podcast!

Today I will sing the praises of bread! We'll see the history and myths and techniques of this delicious, nourishing magical food, going from a seed of a wild grass to dust and then to this warm, crunchy, chewy deliciousness that fed empires!

Archestratus on where to find good bread: "First then I will list the gifts of Demeter of the fair tresses, my dear Moschus: keep it safe in your heart. Now the best to get hold of and the finest of all, cleanly bolted from barley with a good grain, is in Lesbos, in the wave-surrounded breast of famous Eresos. It is whiter than snow from the sky: if the gods eat barley groats then Hermes must come and buy it for them from there. In seven-gated Thebes too it is reasonably good, and in Thasos and some other cities, but it is like grape pips compared with Lesbian. Get that idea clearly into your head. Get hold of a Thessalian roll, rounded into a circle and well pounded by hand They themselves call this roll krimnitas, but others call it chondrinos bread. Then I praise the son of fine wheat flour from Tegea, ash-bread. Bread made in the market, famous Athens provides for mortals, of an excellent quality. In Erythrae which bears clusters of grapes a white bread comes out of the oven, bursting with the delicate flavours of the season, and will bring pleasure at the feast."

Enjoy!

with music from the amazingly talented Pavlos Kapralos

If you like to support the podcast and get some exclusive content alongside with recipes do go to Patreon!

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Firstly,

Apologies for some pronunciations! I think I've 'murdered' some words or place names. So sorry. Below, you'll find the a list with the food stuff I'm talking about on the podcast.

• Dorset Blue Vinney
• Elvers
• Bath Chaps
• Forntum Black Ham
• Brawn
• Head or Pork Cheese
• Gloucester Old Spots Pig
• Hogs Pudding
• Apple Cake
• Blueberry Pie
• Chilli Mustard

Thanks to the detailed research by Laura Mason and Catherine Brown and their books!

A lot of info comes from The Experienced English Housekeeper, is a cookery book by the English businesswoman Elizabeth Raffald (1733–1781). It was first published in 1769.

The book contains some 900 recipes for: soups; main dishes including roast and boiled meats, boiled puddings, and fish; desserts, table decorations and "little savoury dishes"; potted meats, drinks, wines, pickles, preserves and distilled essences. The recipes consist largely of direct instructions to the cook, and do not contain lists of ingredients. The book is illustrated with three fold-out copper plate engravings.

The book is noted for its practicality, departing from earlier practice in avoiding plagiarism, consisting instead almost entirely of direct instructions based on Raffald's experience. It introduced the first known recipe for a wedding cake covered in marzipan and royal icing, and is an early use of barbecue. The book remains a reference for cookery writers.

http://www.elizabethraffaldsociety.org/ 

Other bits come from Martha Bradley's book The British Housewife (1758)

The title page of book version of The British Housewife, published in 1758,[a] outlines that the work contains information on cookery, pastry, puddings, preserves, pickles, fricassees, ragouts, soups, sauces, jellies, tarts, cakes, creams, custards, candies, dried fruits, sweetmeats, wines, cordials and distilled spirits. The book also contained a chapter on cures for common ailments, which included a recipe that included powdered earthworm to cure ague. The work was divided up into monthly sections, and showed a "sophisticated organisation", according to Davidson.

Bradenham Ham (Or Fortnum Black Ham) originated in Wiltshire, England. The ham is first dry-cured in salt, then placed in a liquid cure of molasses, coriander, juniper berries, and other ingredients. After curing, it is aged for 6 months, then smoked. The outside skin of the ham becomes black and shiny. The meat inside is sweet and mild.

You can see a great recipe for Brawn at Borough Markets website:

https://boroughmarket.org.uk/recipes/brawn 

Thanks! Hope you enjoy!

Thom

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This August just passed, I had a wonderful chat with chef Gianni about all things food.

Giancarlo Vatteroni aka Gianni, is an amazing Italian chef that has been cooking his delicious family recipes -and other yummy stuff- in London for over 25 years, working in Moro, Sugar Club, Salt Yard Group / Dehesa, The Modern Pantry, The Union Cafe amongst many.

We go through all the troubles and tribulations of the professional chef's life in London of course, but mainly the fun stuff of food memories growing up in Tuscany, fishing, cooking and serving pizza! And of course secret recipes from his father, favourite dishes, ingredients and some pizza classified info!

Gianni is starting a new exciting trip in his cooking travels, -this time a little more literally- with a mobile pizza van, "Pizza Squad" coming soon near you, serving amazing pizzas and the exciting farinata! A pie/pitta made from chickpea flour and really simple toppings like olive oil and salt. Simplicity and taste to the max!

We talk about the freedom and fun having your own little food business and how one returns eventually, back to their roots;

As a teenager, Gianni was working with his family for years in their pizza restaurant. And after a massive detour involving moving in London and cooking on some amazing restaurants he is back to pizza!

And what is the difference between Neapolitan and pizza from the North of Italy, and of course delicious Italian cheeses; who does the best? Italians or Spanish?

From December, you'll find them in Beresford square in Woolwich for lunch time trade!

Follow them on Twitter and Instagram

Twitter: @PizzaSquadUK1

Instagram: PizzaSquadUK1

and get in touch and check the menu:

Website: http://pizzasquad.co.uk/

E-mail: pizzasquaduk@gmail.com

Enjoy!

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Cheese!

Greek Cheese in fact!

Today, on this episode I am taking you on a virtual curd-y tour of Greece, through the medium of ...cheese!

We'll travel across each region, each county, each geographical province that comprises Hellas today, and we're going to see one or two (or more!!!) cheeses that must be celebrated, known and tasted!

In fact, while certainly Greece doesn't have the immense variety and the superbly complex cheeses of Italy, France and UK (and some Spanish cheeses too!) definitely has some that define the character of each place they come from, that taste different, unique, and are steeped into the thousands years old tradition of cheesemaking.

A land that has high mountains, wild forests, thousands of islands and such a varied climate, surely can have cheeses tied to the specific microclimate of the region it comes form, the flora, the herbs and flowers that the animals eat. Well you'll find out here.

Cheese made with fig sap, sun dried, cured in wine, or olive pulp, or bathed in sea water....Cheeses matured in massive goats skins...!

Listen and explore the rich variety of Greek cheeses here, and I wish and hope once this pandemic is over, you can go and taste them yourselves!

You can buys some amazing Greek cheeses in London from the following suppliers:

Maltby and Greek

https://www.maltbyandgreek.com/collections/cheese 

Odysea:

https://www.odysea.com/products/cheese

Credits:

Opening and closing music theme: Cloudcub " Waltz Detunee" written by Sebastien Froment, performed by Cloudcub.

https://cloudcub.bandcamp.com/

Additional Music composed, performed by Pavlos Kapralos

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

Except "Lasithiou and Pentozali" written, performed and mixed by Cretan Brioche folk ensemble: http://cretanbrioche.com/

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What makes a recipe or a particular ingredient to withstand the test of time? What P.G.I and P.D.O. foods can one discover in England?

On this episode I tried to explore a few unknown -or at least relatively unknown- ingredients of traditional English cuisine; specifically from the North of the country. Recipes or food items that intrigued me, that sound delicious, unique or at least deserve a mention equal to others that we revived in the past, and need to reviving too!

While other European - particularly Italian and Spanish- peasant, simple, food is (in my opinion) rightly praised by chefs in UK as tasty, hearty, healthy during the past decade or so a trend that accelerated the last couple of years, it seems to me that we completely sidestepped, disregarded or forgotten the delicious simple recipes from England. Is that on purpose? Is it some form of snobbery?

Have a listen and see what you think about Ribblesdale Cheese, Cumberland Rum Butter, Herdwick Lamb Macon, Manx Logthan Sheep, Char from lake Windermere, Dock Pudding, Pickled Damson, Wilfra Tart, Hawkshead Wig and Cowheel!

Bon Apetit!

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Back in 2009 I had the idea to record some of my grandmother's old stories. For posterity reasons, but mainly for me to document some of the so many different stories that she used to tell us since we were kids, and over the years, during the family gatherings, be it Christmas, Easter or other holidays and celebrations. She was a natural story teller, and she was from an interesting family that lived during interesting times. ( to say the least!) Her name was Evangelia Ntina (taking the surname of my pappous {grandfather}) her family name was "Karali" -I should spell it Kar-a-lee perhaps to make sense phonetically? Ntinas by the way is pronounced "Deenas" as the letters N+T make the sound D in the Greek language.

Anyway, she told us so many stories over the years; of course some of her opinions in actual historical facts contradicted what I was aware as real history, or even her stories were often confusing. I needed to have a definite record of her own words and her own world, even if it wasn't exactly absolute and real, at least it was her own reality! In any case having everything documented, forever, would have meant I 'd have the opportunity to examine her stories at a later date, share them with my uncles, aunties and cousins, and keep some family history alive, and not lost in the midst of time, and in the mouths and words of different people with different agendas! 

So when I had the opportunity for a short visit back home in Greece and my home town of Veria, I brought my laptop, an audio interface and a microphone with me from my studio in London and off I went to my grandmother's house! She was at that time nearly 85, so time was of the essence, I didn't know how many opportunities I'd had later on, and what would her mind be in the future, for her to give me her stories as she remembered them. And it was lucky that I did this when I did, as she sadly passed away in 2013, and the last couple of years of her life she was mostly bedridden. 

The whole aural documentary with my grandmother lasted about 4 hours, and I edited several bits to their own individual stories, one about her parents and grandparents, one about the second world war and civil war that followed and of course one about the diet, the foods, the cooking and eating back in the frugal pastoral daily lives of families in the mountainous central north west Greece somewhere between the prefectures of Grevena, Kozani and Trikala...

So a bit of a context here: My grandma's father (from my dad's side) so my great-grandfather -which I met many times in the first 8 years of my life- was born in 1893, in what was back then the Ottoman Empire. His name was Dimitris Karalis. He subsequently became a teacher at a very young age in the local school, of the small villages in the area, age 16 (!!!), and then, later on, a priest. They lived in a village called Katakali, with the extended family his brothers and sisters and led a pastoral life mainly with sheep, pigs and some cattle, and of course cultivating the land too. No electricity, no petrol powered vehicles just donkeys, bandits roaming the mountains kidnapping people for ransom and so on...The area became part of Greece after the Balkan Wars in 1913. But, life for the peasants, the poor and the farmers didn't change significantly, nor the day to day toil...My grandmother had in total 8 siblings, some of whom died in childhood of course. As I was growing up I think I met 4 or 5 who survived to an old age.

So to our story: 

...And what did you eat in the big Lent periods of the year? Easter and Christmas grandma?

We didn't eat oil , only on Saturdays and Sundays. In the winter we did not have vegetables such as peppers and aubergines that we have now. If we had pickled veg, like cabbage and peppers and so on, would eat these veg straight out of the jar, or we would fry them for a more tasty and salty snack. But mainly cabbages, endives, and leeks, with some wild poppies if the weather was good, which we would find growing in the fields... Chickpeas, peas and beans alongside with lentils that we used to grow, some yellow peas, and some other types of legumes ( called them "fakos" which I can't really decipher what she meant by this) we had a decent size croft/allotment around 500 square metres and we would sow one line with one type of legume, one line of another one and so on...we would not eat olive oil for the whole Lenten period... (alongside with any animal fat)

-What type of oils did you use, that were common back then? Did you have olive oil?

ah of course we had and used olive oil, we had always olive oil coming from south, Kalamata, Crete and so on...No bottles of course, glass bottles weren't common back then, but big tins, 16 okka in weight (this was an ottoman measurement equivalent to 400 dirhems per okka which was used by grandmothers well after WWII) This means that the 16 okka tin weights 20 litres today! A considerable size tin then, and one that had to feed a family of 7-8 for the whole year

For the Christmas lent, we were eating fish a lot, as this was allowed. (it is not as strict lent as the 'Big Lent'; the Easter lent, which we used to only eat fish on two occasions, two big Christian celebrations that would fall in the early spring pre-Easter Sunday. This is Palm Sunday, and Annunciation of the Virgin) but of course back then especially in the mountain villages that my ancestors inhabited would have much fish to eat. 

Did you had rivers and did you eat sweet water fishes up there back then?

"We had some small fish, from creeks and streams, but the main big river Aliakmonas was a little further away and the people back then they would throw a dynamite piece or some short of hand grenades (!!!) the fish would be stunned and they would be able to gather many with ease. One year my young brother Lambros went there to get fishes and it brought some big fishes with him which we roasted in a huge round oven dish the big ones we used to make pies in it. My mother would ask "where did you find these massive fishes then?" and Lambros answer was "we gathered them in Aliakmonas river"! It transpired though there was a family friend from a village near there, a hunter of rabbits, who had lost one hand from a previous dangerous fishing activity; He had thrown some explosive of sorts into the river and the boys went and gathered the fishes afterwards! From the shore of course, from the riverbank, whatever was coming towards them! The hunter used to bring some rabbits to our father (My great-grandfather the village priest) occasionally as a present. 

Our father used to bring us some small fry from the local rivulet or streams. Small but sweet fishes! 

Did you used to make pies?

Yeah of course lots cabbage pies, cheese pies, with corn and cheese and pork fat/lard and "koolouropites" aka pies with milk eggs and butter and flour of course.

We used to slaughter 100 okka pork and has 2-3 tins of fat and used it to cook with it over the summer. It was great to use, and tasty, and kept well, and preserved, as it was salted and when it was rendering in the pot over the fire... at the end when was nearly ready we also used to add a chopped onion, the onion was absorbing all the foul smells and thus it was good to use all summer long! 

...Now we are afraid to eat lard ...I have a tin of it in the fridge...

-Why?

she laughs...

Until a few years ago i used to put some in the pies...it was good!

-How do you make the lard then?

Look the pork meat is separated in two parts one white fat and one red the meat. the white would be separated and made in big cubes and in a pot with some salt over the fire and let it there to boil for hours until it became a golden liquid i'll saw you i'll bring you some your dad brought some here last year, look and try and smell it doesn't smell at all...!

-And why you are not using it anymore? 

i have gall stones and getting older and all..

{Sniffing the jar with the home made, well preserved lard}

-Yeah it doesn't smell at all.

if you take a kilo of olive oil and a kilo of this homemade lard will be in a similar texture and manner of the readymade spreads you get nowadays from the supermarkets and it's so fluffy and light in texture it feels like a feather! It's good ...Haven't used this unfortunately.(she laughs) 

-But the pure one you talking about rendered with salt and onion, it keeps and it doesn't go off as you say, for a year right? Then but know we have fridges...

yeah of course. 

now with the fridges you can keep it there and it would be ok for longer. just add a little bit of that in the pies and the taste will be explosive! 

she laughs

instead of using spreads and margarine type...

like this...people would find a way to preserve and eat everything from the animal.

In the big can of this fat, we would cook big pieces of meat would be inside this fat and were kept in there throughout the winter months and during the summer time after a day in the fields would pick some and eat to give us a boost and stop the hunger. as we didn't have fridges the houses had a larder, usually cold, dark and dumb, generally underground, especially in not so warm summers, with no windows and thick stone walls, fat in these tins of preserved meat was still solid! we would take out as i said 2-3 big pieces of meat out, we were also adding salt, coarse salt, and we would cook it with wild greens and other summer greens...or make a batter or a mush with flour...

Do you remember Filimon and Vavkida a myth from ancient greece.... Baucis and Philemon were an old married couple in the region of Tyana, in Phrygia, and the only ones in their town to welcome disguised gods Zeus and Hermes ), thus embodying the pious exercise of hospitality, the ritualized guest-friendship termed Xenia, or theoxenia when a god was involved.

The old married couple were supposedly served them some smoked meat with bitter greens as this was the only food they had and whenever i used to eat this dish as a girl i always remembered this story...for years now i couldn't remember the names of the couple and now that i'm telling you the story their names finally felled into my lips! 

-And how do you make 'koolouropita' yiayia? what is it?

you make dough, classic fylo, wet it with a bit of fat and spread crumbled feta, you could add beaten egg but without is good and then you make it in a spiral in the round oven dish. My mother used a massive round pie baking dish and didn't made the pie as one big spiral but rather individual loooong sticks and we used to grab one each and eat it greedily...! 

laughs.... 

usually they would make it with corn flour with a very fine sieve and and it was so so fine! and used this (she then goes on about some flour sieving techniques and number of pies which i have no clue how to translate )

In essence there was a technique of making big quantities of fylo and have it ready made in the house to use when you need to make a pie and not make (or 'open' as is the grandma terminology in greek) every time from scratch ...it seems they were cooked over a griddle...then they used to 'wet' them with a little water and cheese and melted fat and some wild greens if they had and were cooking it like this. and made pies likes this!

-I remember you used to make nettle pie hey?

I did and still do, i did this year as well. i have some in the freezer ready to use. although your aunties had a rummage in the larder and shuffled and jumbled up my system! 

-What do you do with the nettles before you freeze them? How cook them?

I steam or boil them till soft and tender, usually the stems of the nettles are tough and need some time to boil. one day we didn't notice how hard the stem was , from an old big plant and it wouldn't cook!

We do put some leeks and some spinach as well. and we make the pies with this mix, alongside with some crumbled feta and becomes toothsome and very appetizing. Your aunty Soula made it big and fat as we were many and we only had one piece of the pie each so the filling was very generous and thick thick pieces!

If you eat it greedily, fast and while it's hot straight from the oven then it's not really good for the stomach, but you can't really help yourself! 

-How do you make your fylo for the pie? 

We make little 8 dough balls for the bottom of the pie . around 6-7 for the top of the pie. we spread with butter on every fylo then we layer each one of the 8 balls. On top we brush the last fylo with a bit of oil too. That's how we did it. stuffing either nettles or wild greens

I used to have nettles in the back garden back in the day and i used to prune them regularly and this made the soft and tender for the pies. 

-When you say "tsouknidia" you mean the actual nettles that sting right? how di you collect them?

By hand as usual. they are the normal stinging nettles, it was a little painful, my mother used to collect them with the newspaper, and she was squeezing them inside them newspaper till the stems and leaves were crushed and wouldn't sting anymore. 

In the time of the great hunger in 1941-42, we had a family from Deskati (a village in the cluster of villages in the area that my grandmother used to live with her family) their father was a craftsman but during the war and the Nazi occupation of course there wasn't any work. as with many others they were starving. we would see the poor kids were going under the bridge in the local stream, were a lot of nettles would grow, and they were cutting the stems of the nettles, simply crushing them between two rocks with some salt and would eat just this. Sometimes thankfully the local farmers would always something little to give them even it was a bit of flour to make some bread, and this is how they survived .

-In the war, nettles and snails imagine was probably all you ate right?

We didn't eat many snails to be honest, but we weren't used to them and didn't eat them to be honest. 

The refugees used to eat them after the rains used to collect them. (the Greeks from Minor Asia after the 1922 pogroms) they were cleaning them by putting them in oats so they were cleansed and they were sauteeing them with wild greens

In the old days the locals in the area used to collect them and sell them in the local markets.

Your father and his siblings didn't use to eat the snails, i was collecting them every day from the garden patch and cooking them, but everyone was refusing to touch them. I was collecting them and I was eating them by myself! The kids would even get near to them!

(then talks about how to cleanse the snails from their slime)

My little girls (her daughters, my aunties) used to be friends with the girls from a lady from my village and they used to put the snails on the hot ashes and cooked them this way...Your aunty Tasoula sometimes keeps telling these stories...

/END

I hope you enjoyed this regardless of the fact that is in Greek -and old grandma Greek for that matter- and for the Greek speakers amongst you, if you think I've missed something interesting from my grandmothers story do let me know and I will add it!

Thanks!

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The most comprehensive archaeological excavation in Istanbul’s history, took place very recently in the 21st century; a 58.000 square meter area in Yenikapi region. Here was revealed one of the biggest harbours known in the ancient world dating back to the Byzantine Era, the Theodosius Harbour. Amongst the group of findings there were 36 shipwrecks dating between 5th and 10th century which is the biggest collection of Early and Middle Byzantine Period shipwrecks. These shipwrecks are important because of their very well preserved state. Several of them had been very spectacular, with a large number of amphorae still in position when they sank in the harbour. Their discovery, brings into light fascinating clues of the life in the late ancient city (and early medieval period) and offers some direct evidence of the foods and trading goods of the Byzantine Empire.

Where do I begin with the cuisine and food of the Byzantine Empire? This is a daunting task as this was an Empire stretching 3 continents at its peak and with over 1100 years history!

The Mediterranean trilogy of wine, oil and bread meets the flavours of the Orient and in turn this mingles with the gastronomic staples of the Roman Empire thousand years before, and thus creates the unique characteristics of the Constantinople's food character that made it to a de facto gastronomic space, having created its own culinary propositions and became established as the Christian capital of wine and gastronomic delights in the medieval world.

Find out more, and everything you need to know of the Empire that would make the "Game of Thrones" books blush, with the feasts and murders and plots of their emperors and nobility here!

Ancient & Byzantine music composed and played by Pavlos Kapralos: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzgAonk4-uVhXXjKSF-Nz1A

Traditional Cretan Music by Cretan Brioche

http://cretanbrioche.com/

Music theme"Indu" in the History Hound ad by Aris Lanaridis: https://www.arislanaridis.co.uk/

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History's first ever gourmand, foodie, hipster of the Ancient Greco-Roman world!

The question of Archestratus life story had me puzzled for ages! I wanted to write an episode for a while now, but the more I looked for information about his life and works the more unanswered questions I have had! Admittedly, countless classicists, historians and food writers have been puzzled through the ages too, with the same burning questions.

Imagine the worst foodie hipster (I zest here, I am one!) friend you have; The one that visits the local farmers market every weekend, goes to Borough Market as if on a religious pilgrimage at least once a month and also on top of that knows every single Vietnamese store in Hackney or the South-American food stall in Seven Sisters Indoor market. He also seem to know the food trends, the new ingredients and read the reviews on Eater for the cheapest eats at the outskirts of South-East London for some reason! (as if he or she will ever visit south east!)

Well your friend doesn't compare to Archestratus little finger! If you thought your friend was bad for visiting the mercado de san martin in San Sebastian, mercado San Miguel in Madrid and La Boqueria market in Barcelona, mercato delle embre in Bologna, Grand Bazaar in Istanbul or Varvakios Market in Athens spending hours looking at fish that cannot buy...you know the friend who watched all the episodes of Anthony Bourdain's "Parts Unknown" and can quote all his lines...Well, our dude Archestratus, was a lot worst!

New tastes, the freshest ingredients, so local and seasonal and simple, that even the inhabitants of the nearest town wouldn't have heard them, well he would have been there first, straight to the local fishermen begging them for a fish. Well this is Archestratus! The tourist who went to every food market on every city he visited; only he accomplished your feat 2500 years ago and all by sail!

In the interconnected world of the ancient Mediteranean we then find Archestratus, a Sicilian who circumnavigated the world to satisfy his hunger - and even lower appetites, as a Roman scholar said once quite disparagingly. He was though an inveterate traveller. How else could he have found out about the specialities of all these places, small seaside cities over 50 of them from Sicily to the Black Sea? Remarkably what he writes rings true, as sometimes their specialities are exactly the same now as they were 2400 years ago. Archestratus loved the taste of Lesbian wine but also praised the aroma of the Phoenician wine that came from Byblos. (Although he though it to go off quickly)

"When a libation to the gods you make,

Let your wine worthy be, and ripe and old;

Whose hoary locks droop o'er his purple lake,

Such as in Lesbos' sea-girt isle is sold.

Phœnicia doth a generous liquor bear,

But still the Lesbian I would rather quaff;

For though through age the former rich appear,

You'll find its fragrance will with use go off."

We know almost nothing about him, apart that he was a Sicilian Greek from Gela (or Syracuse) and that he wrote a now lost, remarkable and unique poem "The Life of Luxury" (Hydipatheia). The poem is dated variously around 350BCE.

What we know of the poem, is mostly from Athenaus from his work "Deipnosophistai" -Philosophers at Dinner- which was composed in about AD200. This, is our only source for Archestratus work, which is telling. Lost works of ancient literature - poetry, drama etc- are usually reference by multiple ancient authors; however this lack of interest demonstrates the status of food and recipe books. Not high literature and therefore not carefully preserved for posterity.

What would I give for the chance to glance upon the book on bread-making by Chrysippus of Tyana or the book on salt fish by Euthydemus of Athens! Sadly both are lost completely and only know of their existence through second -hand passing accounts from other authors! Lost masterpieces!

Archestratus cooks the fish simply, boiling roasting or grilling with light seasoning and oil added if its quality fish. Freshness and quality are his watchwords and these features mustn't be damaged by strong sauces based on cheese and pungent herbs. His favourite fish tend to have firm-textured and strongly flavoured meat; rather than mild tasting flesh like the white fish we are now used in French cooking as the vehicle for sauces. He also shows much interest in eels; common, conger, mooray. He emphasizes flavour and the oil/fat of the fish, where the taste and interest is to be found. There is much interest in texture of the fish, the different cuts and parts, from head meat, fin, tail, belly as well as in the varieties of fish.

OK I will stop now and let the audio do the talking! Happy listening!

Links, sources, further reading:

Andrew Dalby, "Siren Feasts": https://books.google.co.uk/books/about/Siren_Feasts.html?id=wtLgAAAAMAAJ&redir_esc=y

Sally Grainger, Andew Dalby : "The Classical Cookbook" : https://books.google.co.uk/books/about/The_Classical_Cookbook.html?id=T7S5iC3pZp0C&redir_esc=y

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

Ancient History Encyclopedia: https://member.ancient.eu/article/911/carthaginian-trade/

Athenaeus of Naucratis: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Athenaeus

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Cheese: A story of place and people. How is that cheese is so universal, yet so unique from one little place to the next few miles down the road?

Ned went for an adventure all over France to find an answer on "what is French Cheese?" and "why do we love it so much?" while looking for the most representative cheeses that tell this story.

Along the way, he discovered many more extraordinary and surprising details about the history of the villages, cheesemakers and cheesemongers of France.

How do some of them still clinging on, on their traditional ways? On mountaintops, through rainy autumns. harsh winters or spring and summer?

What cheese and revolution have to tell us about the making of a nation?

Ned's book is extraordinary, fascinating and full of individual powerful characters, as pungent and sophisticated at the same time as the cheeses that they create!

Join us on the first part of the interview today, to find out the history of French Cheese, and it's survival through the industrial and technological revolutions until this day.

Ned's book is out on Thursday 3rd of October and you can get it on all good bookshops, plus you can order it online:

https://www.waterstones.com/book/a-cheesemongers-tour-de-france/ned-palmer/9781788166935

Enjoy!

Thom

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Hope everyone is well in these strange times and keeping safe and healthy!

Let's talk a bit about Roman Britain and how the Romans viewed these mysterious lands...

But, before that let's get some anecdotal accounts from our Mediterranean cousins about UK:

Cold. Wet. Foggy. Miserable. These are probably the main descriptions -unfair of course- that one gets from modern Italian (and Greek!) students after they've spent their first semester in UK universities, particularly in the Northern cities. Well nothing has changed since Caesar's time! Take the following lines: 

'It is "the home of men who are complete savages and lead a miserable existence because of the cold; and therefore, in my opinion, the northern limit of our inhabited world is to be placed there" (II.5.8). By Diodorus Siculus an ancient Greek historian, known for writing the monumental universal history Bibliotheca historica, much of which survives, between 60 and 30 BC. Or the following: The nights are short (Caesar, Gallic Wars, V.13; Agricola, XII) and the weather miserable, with frequent rain and mists. "I don't want to be Caesar, stroll about among the Britons" Florus writes to Hadrian, "and endure the Scythian winters" (Historia Augusta: Hadrian, XVI.3). It is a savage place (ferox; Agricola, VIII) as are the fierce, inhospitable Britons who live there (Horace, Odes, III.4.33). Those near the coast in Kent may be more civilized, but in the interior they do not cultivate the land but share their wives with family members, live on milk and meat, and wear the skins of animals—behaviours so foreign to the Romans.

Until the Roman invasion, the most common dish would've been some short of pottage, a thick vegetable stew or soup flavoured perhaps with bog-myrtle, and served in bowls made from unleavened bread with the occasional salted pork, bacon or seafood and of course wild game. Everything changed after 43AD!

Cherry, plum, fig, cucumber, pea, chive, cabbage, lettuce, garlic, onion, marjoram, parsnip, possibly hare, (or could have been earlier) rosemary, turnip, pheasant... All introduced by the Romans...

Who Incidentally they've made the first burgers! Not the Americans! hahaahahaa! :-p

Anyway find out more about all of the above when you listen to the podcast! 

Oh check this website with aerial photos of Roman forts and settlements in Britain:

https://www.cambridgeairphotos.com/themes/roman+fort/page5.html

Ancient Music Themes by Pavlos Kapralos

Music Theme for the ad provided by Aris Lanaridis

https://www.arislanaridis.co.uk/

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Apparently the first recorded fish sauce was produced by the ancient Greeks of the Black Sea colonies. Clearly the abundant fish resources of the Black Sea played a role in the production of this extremely popular condiment! 

The sauce we know from Martial's verse - "here is lordly garum, a costly gift made from the first blood of a still-gasping mackerel!" was almost certainly a table condiment and made from blood and viscera of very fresh fish. Sometimes handled by the diner and used in relatively small amounts over already cooked food. (Sally Grainger 'A New Approach to Roman Fish Sauce' -2007) 

The other more commonplace kind of sauce was called liquamen and was used in the kitchen by the cook to add salt and other more complex flavours to most dishes, just as we add salt during cooking. This was made using various kinds of whole small fish which were then mixed with salt and left to dissolve and ferment for up to three months. The resulting liquefied fish was removed from its bone and shipped all over Mediterranean in special amphorae. This whole -fish sauce is very similar to the Thai fish sauces so popular today! Roman fish sauce was NOTHING like modern anchovy paste; using the latter has been the downfall of many an attempt to recreate ancient recipes! ( Sally Grainger -The Classical Cookbook)

Fish sauce was manufactured at factory sites along the coast; these were typically beside a beach or a harbour. The fish was only a few hours from the net when the process began. These sauces cannot and shall not be seen as a rotten decaying substance! What took place was not bacterial putrefaction (which, given the high proportion of salt would be impossible) but enzymic proteolysis, a process in which the enzymes in the viscera of the fish convert the solid protein into a liquid form. The viscera is therefore essential to the process; without them the protein does not dissolve. 

What the modern gourmet has to understand, and probably some only know too well from modern experience, is that there was not a single Garum sauce. As always there was the elite one, one for commoners and many other versions in between. For example, when Martial describes this sauce being "made from the blood of a still breath­ing mackerel " it therefore implies this was a black and bloody sauce. Or, the surviving Greek recipes for fish sauce also affirm the importance of the distinc­tion between blood/viscera sauce and one made from whole fish. As we see things can get a little bit complicated when we muddle through the murky waters of ancient gastronomy!

One could buy aged elite black mackerel garum, ordi­nary black tuna garum, elite liquamen cooking sauces made from mackerel or cheaper cooking sauces made with a mixture of clupeidae and sparidae, or a tuna or mackerel muria, both of which could also be aged or new. All of these products could also come in second or even third grade versions.

The expensive and intensely- flavoured blood sauce would be lost in the cooking process and wasted, needed to be seen by the gourmet to be experienced, val­ued and discussed. Therefore we can conclude it would have been the table sauces handled by the guests or the host himself. 

From modern South East Asian cuisine we learn of a fermented squid blood viscera (and ink) sauce that is used today in Japanese cuisine. It is known as ishiri and is used as a finishing sauce for sushi as well as cooked food. Its taste neither fishy nor salty, and smells of the iron compounds from the blood. Japanese cuisine also has a whole-fish sauce called ishiru and many dishes are prepared with both i.e the whole fish sauce is used for cooking and the blood/viscera sauce finishes the dish. This sauce is truly fermented with bac­teria and low salt. It is quite remarkable that the Japanese word for viscera is gari!  

In Roman cuisine, the use of garum was enriched with different combinations of the sauce - with honey (meligarum), vinegar (oxygarum), wine (oenogarum), water (hydrogarum), or dry spices (such as dill, oregano, coriander, celery, or even mint). These sauces were used as condiments for literally everything: from meat and fish to vegetables, salads, desserts, bread, and wine dipping.

The best way to use it in all recipes is thus; Take a litre of grape juice and reduce it by half, cool it and blend a bottle of Thai nam pla fish sauce with it. My favourite recipe that includes garum is "Honey-Glazed Prawns with Oregano and Black Peppers" a relatively simple dish, which I've made countless times as a starter in one of my ancient Greek themed dinners! 

For a decent starter for two, take 8 large prawns 15ml of olive oil, 30ml of fish sauce 30gr of clear honey, a handful of chopped fresh oregano and black pepper. Place oil, fish sauce and honey in a saucepan, then add the prawns. Sauté gently in the cooking liquor for 2 or 3 minutes. remove prawns from sauce and keep them warm, cook the liquor a little longer so in reduces by half. Add oregano, pour over the prawns and sprinkle liberally with freshly ground black pepper. Serve with crusty bread. 

Similarly homemade smoked sausages with fish sauce are indeed a treat for every gourmet! mince belly of pork, pine kernels, rue, peppercorns, savory, cumin bay berries fresh parsley and simply grill them! Yum!

Music by Aris Lanaridis

https://www.arislanaridis.co.uk/

The Noma Guide to Fermentation:

Authors: René Redzepi, David Zilber

ISBN: 9781579657185

Review here: https://www.wired.com/story/noma-guide-to-fermentation-book-review/

The Classical Cookbook 

Authors: Sally Greinger, Andrew Dalby

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1579230.The_Classical_Cookbook

Andrew Dalby:

Siren Feasts: A History of Food and Gastronomy in Greece

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/308027.Siren_Feasts

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Today's episode is all about cheese!

I had the pleasure - and it was such a fun interview- to talk about cheese with Cheesemonger and Author Ned Palmer!

A history of cheese. From the first discovery in Neolithic times in Mesopotamia through Europe and Britain, to ancient Greece and Rome and the Dark Ages, Medieval Europe and the monastic cheeses...All very intriguing! We are talking about cheese origin stories, and myths about cheese. All so fascinating!

So we tried some cheeses...We had to. It would be rude otherwise! Plus I made a couple of recipes based on ingredients from Roman times, inspired by the cookery book of Apicius!

The cheeses we've tasted yes, ok they are modern of course, but the style and the techniques and the taste would differ very little since the time they were first created. Essentially if an neolithic or ancient human was transported here and saw them would recognize them as cheeses they've made.

Some of the cheeses we've tasted:

Perroche, Tor, Berkswell, Durrus, Isle of Avalon, Barrel Aged Feta, Lord of the Hundreds, Cantal

I've also made a cheese log with feta, pecorino olives, spring onions artichokes and crushed smoked almonds, essentially an ancient farmers lunch all in one!

Of course if you go to my Patreon page, you can find more info about each cheese there if you're a subscriber and make a pledge or become patron of my Ancient Gastronomic Writing!

https://www.patreon.com/join/thedeliciouslegacy?

As ever you can follow me on Twitter for more news and updates: @deliciouslegacy

Happy listening I hope you enjoy as much as I did while I was doing it!

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