Re-creating the complex cuisine of prehistoric Europeans

(arstechnica.com)

36 points | by apollinaire 23 hours ago

1 comments

  • thisismyweakarm 2 hours ago
    Article is mainly about the Baltics, but I always wondered what Italians ate before tomatoes came from the Americas.
    • keiferski 20 minutes ago
      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.)
    • thih9 45 minutes ago
      If you’re interested in what ancient romans ate, that seems well documented.

      Bread, olives (and olive oil), cheese, meat, fish, fruit, nuts, wine.

      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Food_in_ancient_Rome

      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apicius

    • throwaway110022 43 minutes ago
      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.

      • card_zero 32 minutes ago
        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...

    • analog31 28 minutes ago
      Or Europeans before potatoes.