Re-creating the complex cuisine of prehistoric Europeans
arstechnica.com
Re-creating the complex cuisine of prehistoric Europeans
1–10 of 37 posts
Re: Re-creating the complex cuisine of prehistoric Europeans
#2Article is mainly about the Baltics, but I always wondered what Italians ate before tomatoes came from the Americas.
Re: Re-creating the complex cuisine of prehistoric Europeans
#3Article is mainly about the Baltics, but I always wondered what Italians ate before tomatoes came from the Americas.
If you’re interested in what ancient romans ate, that seems well documented.
Bread, olives (and olive oil), cheese, meat, fish, fruit, nuts, wine.
Re: Re-creating the complex cuisine of prehistoric Europeans
#4Article is mainly about the Baltics, but I always wondered what Italians ate before tomatoes came from the Americas.
Pasta alla genovese is one such dish, it resembles modern ragu
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genovese_sauce
That being said I think the ubiquitousness of tomato sauce even in modern Italian cuisine is overestimated.
Re: Re-creating the complex cuisine of prehistoric Europeans
#5Article is mainly about the Baltics, but I always wondered what Italians ate before tomatoes came from the Americas.
Pasta alla genovese is one such dish, it resembles modern ragu https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genovese_sauce That being said I think the ubiquitousness of tomato sauce even in modern Italian cuisine is overestimated.
Onions, carrots, and celery, there you have it. I was trying to find out what renaissance celebrity chef Bartolomeo Scappi typically did for sauce, but I'm not sure. I think mostly meat broth. This tortellini here has a sort of Christmas spices stuffing with nutmeg, cloves, cinnamon, and raisins ... and marjoram and mint and rosewater and saffron ... and sugar and parmesan on top. In meat broth.
https://www.theeternaltable.com/historical-recipes/tortellin...
Re: Re-creating the complex cuisine of prehistoric Europeans
#6Article is mainly about the Baltics, but I always wondered what Italians ate before tomatoes came from the Americas.
Or Europeans before potatoes.
Re: Re-creating the complex cuisine of prehistoric Europeans
#7Article is mainly about the Baltics, but I always wondered what Italians ate before tomatoes came from the Americas.
The majority of Italian food doesn’t actually use tomatoes. That impression is mostly because internationally-known Italian foods tend to use tomatoes (pizza for example.)
Re: Re-creating the complex cuisine of prehistoric Europeans
#8Re: Re-creating the complex cuisine of prehistoric Europeans
#9Article is mainly about the Baltics, but I always wondered what Italians ate before tomatoes came from the Americas.
melanzana aka Aubergine aka eggplant
Re: Re-creating the complex cuisine of prehistoric Europeans
#10Article is mainly about the Baltics, but I always wondered what Italians ate before tomatoes came from the Americas.
Honestly I find the impact of the Columbian exchange on cuisine of the old world overblown. Tomatoes potatoes and corn a sure are great, but you can do without them. Italian cuisine was different but most of the modern elements were in place. I'd say the role of tomatoes in Italian cooking isn't as big as people make it out to be.
On the other hand it's almost impossible to imagine what food was like in the Americas before Columbus. No wheat, no pork/beef/chicken, no dairy, no onions, no cabbage, no oranges/apples/figs, any citrus and much much more.