Live data from Hacker News

The History of Greco-Roman Vegetarianism (2010)

advocacy.britannica.com

1–10 of 22 posts

Re: The History of Greco-Roman Vegetarianism (2010)

#3
> only the wealthiest citizens could afford to eat large amounts of meat on a regular basis

Same thing in modern day Germany. My dad told me that until the 1950s, most families in Bavaria could not afford meat, or only had it a few times a year. This must have changed when people became wealthier (and meat cheaper) from the 1960s. Still, it’s astounding that Bavarian food is mainly associated with heavy meat dishes like roast pork or knuckles today. Seems like many vegetarian dishes have been forgotten in recent decades.

Re: The History of Greco-Roman Vegetarianism (2010)

#4

> only the wealthiest citizens could afford to eat large amounts of meat on a regular basis Same thing in modern day Germany. My dad told me that until the 1950s, most families in Bavaria could not afford meat, or only had it a few times a year. This must have changed when people became wealthier (and meat cheaper) from the 1960s. Still, it’s astounding that Bavarian food is mainly associated with heavy meat dishes l…

It's probably not so much that they've been forgotten (in Bavaria) but that many people not from Bavaria don't associate the vegetarian recipes with Bavaria, but other regions - here are a few traditional Bavarian dishes:

Dampfnudel, Käsespätzle, Germknödel, Bread soup, Reiberdatschi, Schuxen, Pancake soup

(All from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bavarian_cuisine)

Also: Obatzda.

Re: The History of Greco-Roman Vegetarianism (2010)

#5

> only the wealthiest citizens could afford to eat large amounts of meat on a regular basis Same thing in modern day Germany. My dad told me that until the 1950s, most families in Bavaria could not afford meat, or only had it a few times a year. This must have changed when people became wealthier (and meat cheaper) from the 1960s. Still, it’s astounding that Bavarian food is mainly associated with heavy meat dishes l…

Same for the large majority of people in Europe up to the 1940s.

People would often "eat" meat only on Sundays by cooking a chunk in a soup. Then the elder in the family would eat the meat and everybody else would just taste it in the soup.

Re: The History of Greco-Roman Vegetarianism (2010)

#7

> only the wealthiest citizens could afford to eat large amounts of meat on a regular basis Same thing in modern day Germany. My dad told me that until the 1950s, most families in Bavaria could not afford meat, or only had it a few times a year. This must have changed when people became wealthier (and meat cheaper) from the 1960s. Still, it’s astounding that Bavarian food is mainly associated with heavy meat dishes l…

On the other hand, according to Julius Caesar in his Commentarii de Bello Gallico [1]:

[The Germani] do not pay much attention to agriculture, and a large portion of their food consists in milk, cheese, and flesh.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Germanic_peoples#Collision_wit...

Re: The History of Greco-Roman Vegetarianism (2010)

#8

> only the wealthiest citizens could afford to eat large amounts of meat on a regular basis Same thing in modern day Germany. My dad told me that until the 1950s, most families in Bavaria could not afford meat, or only had it a few times a year. This must have changed when people became wealthier (and meat cheaper) from the 1960s. Still, it’s astounding that Bavarian food is mainly associated with heavy meat dishes l…

I could see the pork knuckles actually supporting that fact since I associate them with being what people eat when they cannot afford "conventional" cuts of meat. (I realize this is probably somewhat a cultural bias on my part as well. For example, I recently learned that Chinese style pig's feet are delicious).

I know in Cincinnati (which has a very strong German influence) one of the signature foods is goetta which is a sausage stuffed with steel cut oats. I wonder if some other German dishes that we think of as indicating heavy meat consumption could actually have been ways of stretching out the available meat.

Re: The History of Greco-Roman Vegetarianism (2010)

#9

> only the wealthiest citizens could afford to eat large amounts of meat on a regular basis Same thing in modern day Germany. My dad told me that until the 1950s, most families in Bavaria could not afford meat, or only had it a few times a year. This must have changed when people became wealthier (and meat cheaper) from the 1960s. Still, it’s astounding that Bavarian food is mainly associated with heavy meat dishes l…

Actually this is the reason New Zealand was a strong sporting nation in the early 20th century. Meat and butter were cheap enough that normal people were able to eat them regularly.

Re: The History of Greco-Roman Vegetarianism (2010)

#10

> only the wealthiest citizens could afford to eat large amounts of meat on a regular basis Same thing in modern day Germany. My dad told me that until the 1950s, most families in Bavaria could not afford meat, or only had it a few times a year. This must have changed when people became wealthier (and meat cheaper) from the 1960s. Still, it’s astounding that Bavarian food is mainly associated with heavy meat dishes l…

I don't really understand why meat became so much cheaper, is it purely intensive farming of animals? Or was there other factors?
Post reply on HN