The Delicious Legacy

Have you ever wondered how common or rare the ovens once were? What was the original mince pie? And what was the first EVER bread humankind invented?Hello!Welcome back to another archaeogastronomical adventure!Today I have as a guest an old friend of the podcast; Dr Neil Buttery and we have a good long chat about his new book, all about baking!The book will be released on 12th of September and our interview today will give you a taste of the subjects covered in the book as well some of our favourite baked goods, and myths that are baked in our societies and have to do with the discovery of certain items!You can pre-order 'Knead to Know' here:https://www.waterstones.com/book/knead-to-know/neil-buttery/9781837731213Neil has also another book ready for publishing, for The British Library, called "The Philosophy of Puddings" which is released on 24th of October!and you can find it here:https://shop.bl.uk/products/the-philosophy-of-puddingsEnjoy!Thom & The Delicious Legacy

What is with vinegar? Why it is so popular as an ingredient in our cooking?Why do we love the sour taste so much when mixed in our dishes?In the ancient Mediterranean vinegar was practically always made from wine, hence the epic epithet oininon oxos 'winy vinegar' employed by Archestratus.Vinegar is most often used as a culinary ingredient and as a preservative. Numerous medicinal uses are listed by ancient physicians. A vinegar and water mixture, known in Greek as oxykraton, was also used medicinally. A very similar mixture, flavoured with herbs, formed a popular cheap drink (Latin posca, Greek oxos and later phouska)Music by Pavlos Kapralos.Enjoy!The Delicious Legacy

Hello!Pickled food through the ages and continents!We will go to the ancient lands of China, India, 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? Or how the lactobacillales domesticated humankind...We will also be seeing 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!Sources used in this episode is Jan Davidsons book: Pickles A Global Historyand the fantastic Noma Guide to Fermentation alongside with Cato "Liber De Agricultura"and Columella's "De Re Rustica" agricultural manualMusic theme is Seikilos Epitaph the oldest recorded surviving melody, performed by the formidable Panos Kapralos.Thank you and enjoy!The Delicious Legacy

Oh hi!Nice to see you here hey?OK here's is a little present. The latest episode about the history of Chinese food, based on the book of Thomas DuBois, "China in Seven Banquets" which I interviewed for this episode all, in one episode, no ads etc, with additional content basically about soya bean, history of soy sauce, and a few bits and bops about tea.Enjoy!WEIGHTS AND MEASURESBefore 1930 1930–59 After 1959Weightjin 斤 0.6 kg 0.5 kg 0.5 kgliang 兩 37 g 31 g 50 gqian 錢 3.7 g 3.1 g 5 gfen 分 .37 g .31 g .5 gLengthcun 寸 3.2 cm 3.3 cm 3.3 cmfen 分 3.2 mm 3.3 mm 3.3 mmVolumedou 斗 10.3 litre 10 litre 10 litresheng 升 1.03 litre 1 litre 1 litrege 合 103 ml 100 ml 100 mlCups and bowls: pre-twentieth-century recipes often give measurements in cups and bowls, which then as now came in different sizes. Readers seeking the comfort of an arbitrary standard could think of these as 200 ml and 300 ml, respectively. Modern recipes use the u.s. cup measure of 240 ml.Recipe:Hanging Roasted Meat (Qing)Mix 2 jin of short ribs, 1 bowl of bean paste, 2 qian of crushed star anise and vinegar as needed into soy sauce. Place four iron bars on top of a pot. Use the vinegar paste to paint the meat and rest it on top of the bars. Add 4 or 5 onion whites and cover the pot with a plate so it is airtight. Once smoke and oil start to escape, turn the meat over and apply more of the paste, vinegar and onions. Do this several times until the skin is golden. To improve the taste, spread some fine salt at the end.For chicken, goose or duck, first boil the meat until it is cooked. Spread with sugar syrup or honey. Add fat or sesame oil to the pot and fry until golden. As with hanging meat, sprinkle some salt over the meat and spread it evenly. Letthe boiled meat cool before frying and then add the sugar or honey. Fry at a low temperature to ensure that the insides are warmed.The Delicious Legacy

Hello!With the arrival of the Olympic Games in Paris, we have a reached a peak of reminders of the ancient Greek Olympic games and with them, a tonne of misinformation and misconceptions about the ancient Olympians!Well, the most important thing, was left out however from most of these articles; The food and the drink and the partying in Ancient Olympia! What was it like?How did an ancient Olympian athlete and a winner ate, what was their diet and how they've used food and wine as ways to cheat their way to the first place?These and a lot more, with myths from the ancient times on today's episode!Enjoy!The Delicious Legacy Music by Pavlos Kapralos

Hello! Part two of our archaeogastronomical adventure is out!How the myth of Marco Polo bringing "pasta" back to Italy started? What's the truth behind it?What are the origins of tea and tea drinking ceremonies?How important are dairy products, milk and cheese in Chinese culinary history and what's the impact today?All this and a lot more on our episode today!Excited to have as a guest Professor Thomas DuBois introducing us to his new book, an adventure through China's culinary history "China in Seven Banquets, A Flavourful History", published by Reaktion Books: https://reaktionbooks.co.uk/work/china-in-seven-banquetsYou can purchase Professor Thomas DuBois book from many online shops like here: https://www.waterstones.com/book/china-in-seven-banquets/thomas-david-dubois/9781789148619Enjoy part two, of our adventure through China!The Delicious Legacy

Hello!Excited to have as a guest Professor Thomas DuBois introducing us to his new book, an adventure through China's culinary history "China in Seven Banquets, A Flavourful History" , published by Reaktion Books: https://reaktionbooks.co.uk/work/china-in-seven-banquetsYou can purchase Professor Thomas DuBois book from many online shops like here: https://www.waterstones.com/book/china-in-seven-banquets/thomas-david-dubois/9781789148619Enjoy part one, and I'll see you next week for part two!The Delicious Legacy

Enjoy a nearly three thousand year exploration of Persian food, culture and inventions that made our culinary pleasures, even more pleasurable!Info if you want to find out about yakhtchal, the ancient Persian refrigerators check here;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yakhch%C4%81lThe Shahnameh (“Book of Kings”) By Ferdowsi -the Persian epic poemhttps://sdbiblestudy.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/The-Shahnameh.pdfMedieval Persian Cookbook"A Baghdad Cookery Book"https://www.amazon.co.uk/Baghdad-Cookery-Book-Al-oTabaikh-Culinaires/dp/1903018420/ref=pd_bxgy_d_sccl_1/258-4486056-9939464?pd_rd_w=h0uD7&content-id=amzn1.sym.46f507f3-7fc1-4bf4-9492-ed026d6e4f68&pf_rd_p=46f507f3-7fc1-4bf4-9492-ed026d6e4f68&pf_rd_r=CY9W5FDBRDZ88YJH8B8J&pd_rd_wg=jGw6S&pd_rd_r=287bc114-87a3-4bc4-bc48-174d24e4ac0b&pd_rd_i=1903018420&psc=1-How Persian Kings and the Imperial Court was drinking wine from rhyton:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5yJCay1_CA4Food of Life: Ancient Persian and Modern Iranian Cooking and Ceremonies by Najmieh Khalili Batmanglij https://www.najmieh.com/book/food-of-life-ancient-persian-and-modern-iranian-cooking-and-ceremonies/I hope you will enjoy this episode as much as I did!Much love,Thom & The Delicious Legacy

An early fourteenth-century Baghdadi cookbook begins thus: “The pleasures of this world are six: food, drink, clothing, sex, scent, and sound. The most eminent and perfect of these is food, for food is the foundation of the body and the material of life.”What is a "rhyton"? What's a yakhtchal? And how is that Persian walled gardens are connected to Christian paradise?I am Darius, the great king, the king of kings, the king in Persia, the king of countries, the son of Hystaspes, the grandson of Arsames, the Achaemenide.Join me on this new episode to explore nearly three thousand years of Persian food, culture and inventions that elevated our culinary pleasures to higher standards that we still follow to this day! Music by Pavlos Kapralos and Motion ArrayEnjoy!The Delicious Legacy