The Delicious Legacy

In the year 1734 three miners were taken aback when they discovered a male body inside Hallstatt salt mine. The body was very well preserved, having been mummified by salt. Accounts of the time say that the dead body, completely embedded into the rock salt deposits, was discovered following a collapse in the Kilbwerk. His shoes and traces of his clothes had been preserved: 'One can even see a bit of cloth on his dress, and the remains of the shoes on his feet'. The mine workers assumed that it was the long-dead body of a miner who had lived before the first official records, that is, more than 400 years earlier, but after thorough analysis and investigation, today’s assumption is that this man was the victim of a mining accident approximately 1000 BCE. The heyday of prehistoric mining was in the late Iron Age between 800 and ca. 400 BCE. At that time, miners would penetrate as much as 200 metres into the mountain, in the Austrian Alps, extracting not gold or precious metals but copious amounts of salt, about half a tonne a day with hand tools, supplying salt to half of Europe 2000 years ago!Hello!Today we are busting all the old myths about the salt!What and how the Romans used it?What did the Greeks say about it?Humans, like other mammals, relied on the small amounts of salt naturally present in food to regulate the amount of fluid in the body. Very powerful mechanisms for conserving salt within the body were developed. For 5 million years, our ancestors added no salt to their diet. The addition of salt to food began relatively recently, about 5000 years ago. As people became increasingly addicted to it, salt became the most important object of trade and the economic foundation of several empires. It was used by authoritarian governments to control their people and as the main source of tax revenue.Join me on another archaeogastronomical adventure!The Delicious Legacy Podcast

Hello!Welcome back to another adventure my curious archaeogastronomers!Honey from a Weed, Fasting and Feasting in Tuscany, Catalonia the Cyclades and Apulia by Patience Gray is an iconic book about Mediterranean food, traditions centred around the simplest and most common dishes of everyday people.Patience Gray was an English cookery and travel writer of the mid-20th century. Her two most popular books were Plats Du Jour (1957) – written with Primrose Boyd, about French cooking – and Honey From A Weed (1986), an account of the Mediterranean way of life.In my opinion this book has to be more universally known and celebrated so here's a start. I will be coming back to explore the author's life and recipes in another episode!For this episode I explore quickly a few recipes from the book that are Greek and a couple of them more from the island of Naxos.I hope you'll enjoy!You can buy Honey from a Weed:Fasting and feasting in Tuscany, Catalonia, the Cyclades and Apuliaby Patience Gray (1917-2005), Food and Travel WriterContributor: Illustrated by Corinna Sargood, Artisat Equinox Publishing website, digital, print or ebook here: https://www.equinoxpub.com/projects/honey-from-weedMy recommendations for the week include:Endangered Eating: America’s Vanishing Foodshttps://sarahlohman.com/endangered-eating-book/The Ancient Magic of Malt: Making Malt Sugars and Ale from Grain Using Traditional Techniques:https://exarc.net/issue-2021-2/at/ancient-magic-malt-makingLove & Fish SoupThom & The Delicious Legacy

Hello!New episode is out and it's all about, the history of sesame seeds, their use in ancient cuisines, especially Greek, their symbolism and spread across the ancient world...And what is halva anyway?! Hint: Tahini & honey...So today we are travelling to the source of sesame seeds in India, then to Ancient Mesopotamia, and Egypt, and we are examining ancient Greek desserts, and from there we are going all the way to China too!We are also looking at the role that trade between Arabia-India-China played to the spread of goods in the ancient world.Enjoy!The Delicious Legacy

Hello! Welcome to the recipe of the week on a Sunday by The Delicious Legacy!Two Greek recipes with onion as the star ingredient one way or another!Enjoy!Thom

This is a recipe and a short story that I wrote about six years ago, which you'll find out listening as to what it is and why, I hope you will enjoy it!Love,The Delicious Legacy

Hello!Brand new episode is out!I’m talking with food historian Karima Moyer Nocchi. Earlier this year she published a brand new fascinating book titled THE EPIC HISTORY OF MACARONI AND CHEESE: FROM ANCIENT ROME TO MODERN AMERICA by Columbia University Press, which I devoured from start to finish. I was made aware late last year and I could not wait for its publication. So the honour talking with her and the excitement is even bigger than normally guys and girls!Before we go to the interview with my excellent and erudite guest, let me make an exciting announcement …!The online Serve it Forth Food History Festival will be returning on Saturday 17th of October 2026. Curated by the guild of food writers members and podcasters, historians, writers and all around hyper talented humans, Sam Bilton, Neil Buttery, Alessandra Pino alongside with me, Thom Ntinas. The festival will explore many different aspects of historical food featuring fascinating discussions and historical cookery demos. Details on the full line up will be coming soon but you can view the summary of the day’s “menu” on our website. https://serveitforthfest.wixsite.com/info/bill-of-fareLet me just tell you that for our amuse bouche introduction course we have none other than the amazing food historian Eleanor Barnett! I’ll be exploring the diet and lifestyle of ancient olympians and gladiators in the Greek and Roman world with historian Alexandra Sills.Tickets are available on eventbrite and I’ll put a link below:https://www.eventbrite.com/e/serve-it-forth-food-history-festival-2026-tickets-1992224789976?aff=ebdsoporgprofile My recommendations for the week:Glorious Exploits by Ferdia Lennon – classical tragedy as a Celtic caperhttps://www.theguardian.com/books/2024/jan/06/glorious-exploits-by-ferdia-lennon-review-classical-tragedy-as-a-celtic-caperAmerican farmers slid solar panels over 62,000 acres of farmland, and the biggest payoff had almost nothing to do with electricity.https://energiesmedia.com/solar-panels-farmland-crops-agrivoltaics/The English Olive Co, the original english olive oil:https://www.englisholive.co.uk/. You can get Karima's book here:https://cup.columbia.edu/book/the-epic-history-of-macaroni-and-cheese/9780231215312/More about Karima:https://www.theeternaltable.com/. Love,Thom & The Delicious Legacy

Hello!Here's part two of my delightful conversation with James Chatto where we delve into the main characters of his fabulous book!Enjoy!Thom

James Chatto. Actor, puppet maker, author, food writer and journalist. A truly multi-talented, one would say even a renaissance man! He is my honoured guest on The Delicious Legacy today, to tell us all about his latest book “Acquired Tastes” a food history book, which explores the extraordinary journeys of specific recipes as they moved from one culture to another—carried and transmitted by eight remarkable individuals...Hello! Welcome back to another episode of the Delicious Legacy!You can get James' book here:https://utppublishing.com/doi/book/10.3138/9781487566609Enjoy!LoveThom

Hello!Welcome back to another archaeogastronomical adventure!I couldn't help myself but having Odyssey as my inspiration for this week's episode!As you probably have heard Christopher Nolan has his epic film Odyssey in official release this Friday 17th of July 2026 so I thought what better way to dive into the ancient Homeric epic poem than exploring their foods, cooking, dishes and the meaning of xenia, hospitality, kindness to strangers and welcoming others into ones house?We will also dive into the real Bronze Age Greece and the archaeological discoveries there. What do these tell about feasting, communal eating and the food of the people in the Helladic world, three thousand years ago?Enjoy!The recommendations for this week are:Did Roman Britain Ever End?Nicholas J. Higham writes about the long death of Roman Britainhttps://www.unseenhistories.com/did-roman-britain-ever-end-nicholas-j-higham/Alexandra Sills:https://www.waterstones.com/book/gladiators-in-the-greek-world/alexandra-sills//9781036130480Welsh Smokery and shop:https://welshsmokery.co.uk/about-us/our-story/Love and wineThom & The Delicious Legacy