I hope you enjoyed my Saturday morning foray into #FoodHistory and #Archaeology. Now back to my usual posts -- with a focus on #Exxon -- 'cuz we all know that #ExxonKnew. A #HexOnExxon!

#Archaeology: 1,800-Year-Old #Spices Are Earliest Evidence of #Curry Making in #SoutheastAsia

#Archaeologists found evidence of spices such as turmeric and cloves from ancient #Vietnam, suggesting South Asians shared their culinary traditions via an ancient maritime trade route

By Timmy Broderick on July 21, 2023

"Traces of eight spices were found: turmeric, ginger, fingerroot (Chinese ginger, lesser galangal), sand ginger (aromatic ginger), galangal (a relative of ginger and turmeric), clove, nutmeg and cinnamon. (One nutmeg fragment even retained a faint version of its signature pungent, slightly nutty aroma.) Because most of these spices originated on distant islands, traders would have had to bring them from several thousand kilometers away by sea. Hung says the stone tools were also likely imported, which suggests the larger culinary practice of incorporating such spices into foods was also borrowed from another ancient culture. 'This study reveals that trading activities were rather complicated, as not only precious goods were moving around, but also people and their entire set of culinary cultures were transferred between the regions,' she says."

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/curry-has-been-a-global-phenomenon-for-millenia/

#FoodHistory #History #Histodon #CulinaryArchaeology #Archaeobotany

@lizetkruyff Take a look:
Making the 2000 Year Old "Pizza" from Pompeii |Tasting History with Max Miller
https://youtu.be/eEgSGkp8nMA

#FoodHistory #Pizza #Pompeii #Archeology #Cooking #Histodon

A coworker shared a slice of the medieval pie she made and it slappeth.

#medieval #food #FoodHistory #pies #pie #homecooking

'In this book #JoannaCrosby explores how apples and orchards have reflected the social, economic and cultural landscape of their times. From the association between English apples and 'English' virtues of plain speaking, hard work and resultant high-quality produce, to practices of wassailing highlighting the effects of urbanisation and the decline of country ways and customs...'

#foodhistory #apples #orchards #England #UK #culture #rural #urbanisation

'The spread of Pilsner beer from its inception in 1842 clearly shows the changes wrought by globalization in an age of empire', written by @beer_historian https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/globalization-in-a-glass-9781350324374/ #drinkhistory #Pilsner #foodhistory #brewing #globalisation #colonialism

'While many people have never heard of Bourekas before, even fewer know that they were first invented by Spanish Jewish immigrants in Turkey some 600 years ago who were expelled from Spain during the inquisition.' https://aish.com/the-shocking-story-of-the-boureka-israels-favorite-snack/ #foodhistory #bourekas #diaspora

'...[T]he shift from ale to lager started centuries before when a new yeast species Saccharomyces pastorianus or “lager yeast,” popped up in Germany around the end of the Middle Ages.' https://www.popsci.com/health/lager-beer-history-science-biology/ #foodhistory #drinkhistory #lager #ale #science

'In other words, food may be a universal human experience, but it is also a means of differentiating self and other that is contingent on history.' https://tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/20549547.2023.2196924 #foodhistory #identity #SouthAsia #women #other

'Mughal-era manuscripts and paintings frequently reference the smells of spices, fruits, and flowers in the context of food preparation as well as consumption'. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/20549547.2023.2203603 #foodhistory #MughalHistory #fragrance #courtlylife #EarlyModernFoodways

'Agriculture, spreading north and west across the continent, had arrived. ... With this lifestyle shift came a new focus on charting the seasons to regulate farming and herding activities.' https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/beltane-origins #foodhistory #agriculture #seasons #festivals

Check out "Fit for a King - Ceremony and Feasting" with @TheRegencyCook : Spectacular rituals and procedures performed at grand occasions and the food that was eaten. To honor the coronation of King Charles III. https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/fit-for-a-king-ceremony-and-feasting-tickets-617133170927 #foodhistory #events

'Early human foragers may have relied on eating the partially digested vegetable matter, called digesta, found in the stomachs and digestive tracts of bison and other large game herbivores.' https://news.umich.edu/digesta-an-overlooked-source-of-ice-age-carbs/ #foodhistory #AncientHumans #carbohydrates #foraging

A fun find in my copy of The Best Way Book no. 3: 1200 Household Hints and Recipes (1916) in light of the recent #InsideTheFactory episode covering vegan sausage and the #foodhistory of #vegetarian movement with @GreggAWallace
, @cherryhealey
, and Ruth Goodman.

'Shortly after the foil-wrapped treats appeared in RAF ration packs, pilots began to notice that as altitude increased, the teacakes expanded. At 15,000 feet, the marshmallow interior cracked the chocolate shell.' https://www.atlasobscura.com/foods/exploding-teacakes/ #foodhistory #RAF @TunnockOfficial

'The music blares—noisily, tinnily, and out of tune—from three-wheeled tuk-tuks, each fitted with glass cabinets and a rooftop speaker system. It’s the soundtrack to choon paan: Sri Lanka’s musical, mobile bakeries.' https://atlasobscura.com/articles/sri-lankas-musical-mobile-bakeries #foodhistory #portablefood #SriLanka

Note: Emily Meggett died Friday, Apr. 21, 2023 at age 90 after a brief illness. In tribute to her, NPR again shared their 2022 profile of this queen of Gullah Geechee cooking. https://www.npr.org/2022/08/15/1116289080/for-this-89-year-old-gullah-geechee-chef-cooking-is-about-heart #foodhistory #GullahGeecheeCuisine #EmilyMeggett

ICYMI: 'Bell is one of many #Indigenous people who are privately and publicly engaged with the restoration of their food cultures, returning to a more traditional diet through activities like sustenance hunting'. https://thewalrus.ca/the-history-of-food-in-canada-is-the-history-of-colonialism/ #foodhistory #colonialism #FirstNations

'As best historians can tell, modern fortune cookies were invented in San Francisco in the early 1900s, a variation on the Japanese tsujiura senbei, or “fortune cracker.” The cookies are part of San Francisco’s history, and representing that history is the Golden Gate Fortune Cookie Factory, owned and run by Kevin Chan.' https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/a-day-in-the-life-of-a-fortune-cookie-maker-at-the-golden-gate-fortune-cookie-factory #foodhistory #California #AmericanChinese

ICYMI: Culinary Detectives Try to Recover the Formula for a Deliciously Fishy Roman Condiment: From Pompeii to modern laboratories, scholars are working to recreate garum... https://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/recoving-the-recipe-for-garum-180978846/ #foodhistory #garum #liquamen