Celtic Moment

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Meals

Terracotta model representing a lion’s paw tripod table, 2nd1st century BCE, from Myrina, Louvre

At home

The Greeks had four meals a day. Breakfast ( akratismos) consisted of barley bread dipped in wine ( akratos), sometimes complemented by figs or olives. A quick lunch ( ariston) was taken around noon or early afternoon. Dinner ( deipnon), the most important meal of the day, was generally taken at nightfall. An additional light meal ( hesperisma) was sometimes taken in the late afternoon. / aristodeipnon, literally “lunch-dinner”, was served in the late afternoon instead of dinner.

Men and women took their meals separately. When the house was too small, the men ate first, the women afterwards. Slaves waited at dinners. Aristotle notes that “the poor, having no slaves, must use their wives and children as servants”.

The ancient Greek custom to place terra cotta miniatures of their furniture in children’s graves gives us a good idea of its style and design. The Greeks normally ate while seated on chairs; benches were used for banquets. The tables, high for normal meals and low for banquets, were initially rectangular in shape. But by the 4th century BCE, the usual table was round, often with animal-shaped legs (for example lion’s paws). Loaves of flat bread could be used as plates, but terra cotta bowls were more common. Dishes became more refined over time, and by the Roman period plates were sometimes made out of precious metals or glass. Cutlery was not often used at table: Use of the fork was unknown; people ate with their fingers. Knives were used to cut the meat. Spoons were used for soups and broths. Pieces of bread ( apomagdalia) could be used to spoon the food or as napkins, to wipe the fingers.

Social dining

Banqueter playing the kottabos, a playful subversion of the libation, ca. 510 BCE, Louvre

As with modern dinner parties, the host could simply invite friends or family; but two other forms of social dining were central in ancient Greece: the entertainment of the all-male symposium, and the obligatory, regimental syssitia.

Symposium

Main article: Symposium

The symposium ( symposion), traditionally translated as “banquet”, but more literally “gathering of drinkers”, was one of the preferred pastimes for the Greeks. It consisted of two parts: the first dedicated to food, generally rather simple, and a second part dedicated to drinking. However, wine was consumed with the food, and the beverages were accompanied by snacks ( tragmata) such as chestnuts, beans, toasted wheat, or honey cakes; all designed to absorb alcohol and extend the drinking spree.

The second part was inaugurated with a libation, most often in honor of Dionysus, followed by conversation or table games, such as kottabos. The guests would recline on couches ( klinai); low tables held the food or game boards. Dancers, acrobats, and musicians would entertain the wealthy banqueters. A “king of the banquet” was drawn by lots; he had the task of directing the slaves as to how strong to mix the wine.

With the exception of dancers and courtesans, the banquet was strictly reserved for men. It was an essential element of Greek social life. Great feasts could only be afforded by the rich; in most Greek homes, religious feasts or family events were the occasion of more modest banquets. The banquet became the setting of a specific genre of literature, giving birth to Plato’s Symposium, Xenophon’s work of the same name, the Table Talk of Plutarch’s Moralia, and the Deipnosophists (Banquet of the Learned) of Athenaeus.

Syssitia

Main article: Syssitia

The syssitia ( ta syssitia) were mandatory meals shared by social or religious groups for men and youths, especially in Crete and Sparta. They were referred to variously as hetairia, pheiditia, or andreia (literally, “belonging to men”). They both served as a kind of aristocratic club and as a military mess. Like the symposium, the syssitia was the exclusive domain of men although some references have been found to all-female syssitia. Unlike the symposium, these meals were hallmarked by simplicity and temperance.

Foods

Bread

Woman kneading bread, c. 500475 BCE, National Archaeological Museum of Athens

Cereals formed the staple diet. The two main grains were wheat ( sitos) and barley. Wheat grains were softened by soaking, then either reduced into gruel, or ground into flour ( aleiata) and kneaded and formed into loaves ( artos) or flatbreads, either plain or mixed with cheese or honey. Leavening was known; the Greeks later used an alkali ( nitron) or wine yeast as leavening agent. Dough loaves were baked at home in a clay oven ( ipnos) set on legs. A simpler method consisted in putting lighted coals on the floor and covering the heap with a dome-shaped cover ( pnigeus); when it was hot enough, the coals were swept aside, dough loaves were placed on the warm floor, the cover was put back in place and the coals were gathered on the side of the cover. The stone oven did not appear until the Roman period. Solon, an Athenian lawmaker of the 6th century BCE, prescribed that leavened bread be reserved for feast days. By the end of the 5th century BC, leavened bread was sold at the market, though it was expensive.

Barley was easier to produce but more difficult to make bread from. It provided a nourishing but very heavy bread. Because of this it was often roasted before milling, producing a coarse flour ( alphita) which was used to make maza, the basic Greek dish. In Peace, Aristophanes employs the expression , literally “to eat only barley”, with a meaning equivalent to the English “diet of bread and water”. Many recipes for maza are known; it could be served cooked or raw, as a broth, or made into dumplings or flatbreads. Like wheat breads, it could also be augmented with cheese or honey.

Fruit and vegetables

The cereals were often served accompanied by what was generically referred to as opson, “relish”. The word initially meant anything prepared on the fire, and, by extension, anything which accompanied bread. In the classical period it came to refer to fish and vegetables: cabbage, onions, lentils, sweet peas, chickpeas, broad beans, garden peas, grass peas, etc. They were eaten as a soup, boiled or mashed ( etnos), seasoned with olive oil, vinegar, herbs or gron, a fish sauce similar to Vietnamese n m. According to Aristophanes, mashed beans were a favourite dish of Heracles, always represented as a glutton in comedies. Poor families ate oak acorns ( balanoi).. Raw or preserved olives were a common appetizer.

In the cities, fresh vegetables were expensive: the poorer city dwellers had to make do with dried vegetables. Lentil soup ( phak) was the workman’s typical dish. Cheese, garlic and onions were the soldier’s traditional fare. In Peace, the smell of onions typically represents soldiers; the chorus, celebrating the end of war, sings Oh! joy, joy! no more helmet, no more cheese nor onions! Bitter vetch was considered a famine food.

Fruits, fresh or dried, and nuts, were eaten as dessert. Important fruits were figs, raisins and pomegranates. Dried figs were also eaten as an appetizer or when drinking wine. In the latter case, they were often accompanied by grilled chestnuts, chick peas, and beechnuts.

Fish and Meat

Sacrifice; principal source of meat for city dwellers here a boar; tondo of an Attic kylix by the Epidromos Painter, c. 510500 BCE, Louvre

The consumption of fish and meat varied in accordance with the wealth and location of the household; in the country, hunting (primarily trapping) allowed for consumption of birds and hares. Peasants also had farmyards to provide them with chickens and geese. Slightly wealthier landowners could raise goats, pigs, or sheep. In the city, meat was expensive except for pork. In Aristophanes’ day a piglet cost three drachmas, which was three days wages for a public servant. Sausages were common both for the poor and the rich.

In the 8th century BCE Hesiod describes the ideal country feast in Works and Days:

But at that time let me have a shady rock and Bibline wine, a clot of curds and milk of drained goats with the flesh of a heifer fed in the woods, that has never calved, and of firstling kids; then also let me drink bright wine

Meat is much less prominent in texts of the 5th century BCE onwards than in the earliest poetry, but this may be a matter of genre rather than real evidence of changes in farming and food customs. The eating of fresh meat was accompanied by a religious ritual in which the gods’ share (fat and bones) was burnt while the human share (meat) was grilled and distributed to the participants; there was however a lively trade in cooked and salted meats, which demanded no ritual.

Spartans primarily ate pork stew, the “black broth” ( melas zmos). According to Plutarch, it was “so much valued that the elderly men fed only upon that, leaving what flesh there was to the younger”. It was famous amongst the Greeks. “Naturally Spartans are the bravest men in the world”, joked a Sybarite, “anyone in his senses would rather die ten thousand times than take his share of such a sorry diet”. It was made with pork, salt, vinegar and blood. The dish was served with maza, figs and cheese sometimes supplemented with game and fish. The 2nd3rd century author Aelian, claims that Spartan cooks were prohibited from cooking anything other than meat.

In the Greek islands and on the coast, fresh fish and seafood (squid, octopus, and shellfish) were common. They were eaten locally but more often transported inland. Sardines and anchovies were regular fare for the citizens of Athens. They were sometimes sold fresh, but more frequently salted. A stele of the late 3rd century BCE from the small Boeotian city of Akraiphia, on Lake Copais, provides us with a list of fish prices. The cheapest was skaren (probably parrotfish) whereas northern bluefin tuna was three times as expensive. Common salt water fish were yellowfin tuna, red mullet, ray, swordfish or sturgeon, a delicacy which was eaten salted. Lake Copais itself was famous in all Greece for its eels, celebrated by the hero of The Acharnians. Other fresh water fish were pike-fish, carp and the less appreciated catfish.

Eggs and dairy products

Greeks bred quails and hens, partly for their eggs. Some authors also praise pheasant eggs and Egyptian Goose eggs, which were presumably rather rare. Eggs were cooked soft- or hard-boiled as hors d’uvre or dessert. Whites, yolks and whole eggs were also used as ingredients in the preparation of dishes.

Country dwellers drank milk ( gala), but it was seldom used in cooking. Butter ( bouturon) was known but seldom used either: Greeks saw it as a culinary trait of the Thracians of the northern Aegean coast, whom the Middle Comic poet Anaxandrides dubbed “butter eaters”. Yet Greeks enjoyed other dairy products. Pyriat, was a kind of thick milk, commonly mistaken as yogurt. Most of all, goat’s and ewe’s cheese () tyros) was a staple food. Fresh and hard cheese were sold in different shops; the former cost about two thirds of the latter’s price. Cheese was eaten alone or with honey or vegetables. It was also used as an ingredient in the preparation of many dishes, including fish dishes. The only extant recipe by the Sicilian cook Mithaecus runs: “Tainia: gut, discard the head, rinse and fillet; add cheese and olive oil”. However, the addition of cheese seems to have been a controversial matter; Archestratus warns his readers that Syracusan cooks spoil good fish by adding cheese.

Drink

Attican Rhyton, c. 460450 BCE, National Archaeological Museum of Athens

The most widespread drink was water. Fetching water was a daily task for women. Though wells were common, spring water was preferred: it was recognized as nutritious because it caused plants and trees to grow, and also as a desirable beverage. Pindar called spring water “as agreeable as honey”. The Greeks would describe water as robust, heavy or light, dry, acidic, pungent, wine-like, etc. One of the comic poet Antiphanes’s characters claimed that he could recognize Attic water by taste alone. Athenaeus states that a number of philosophers had a reputation for drinking nothing but water, a habit combined with a vegetarian diet (cf. below). Milk, usually goats’ milk, was also consumed.

The usual drinking vessel was the skyphos, made out of wood, terra cotta, or metal. Critias also mentions the kothon, a Spartan goblet which had the military advantage of hiding the colour of the water from view and trapping mud in its edge. They also used a drinking vessel called a kylix (a shallow footed bowl), and for banquets the kantharos (a deep cup with handles) or the rhyton, a drinking horn often moulded into the form of a human or animal head.

Wine

See also: Ancient Greece and wine

Banqueter reaches into a krater with an oenochoe to replenish his kylix with wine, c. 490480 BCE, Louvre

The Greeks are thought to have made red as well as ros and white wines. As at the present time, many qualities of production were to be found, from common table wine to vintage qualities. The best wines, in general opinion, came from Thsos, Lesbos and Chios. Cretan wine came to prominence later. A secondary wine made from water and pomace (the residue from squeezed grapes), mixed with lees, was made by country people for their own use. The Greeks sometimes sweetened their wine with honey and made medicinal wines by adding thyme, pennyroyal and other herbs. By the first century, if not before, they were familiar with wine flavoured with pine resin (modern retsina). Aelian also mentions a wine mixed with perfume. Cooked wine was known, as well as a sweet wine from Thsos, similar to port wine.

Wine was generally cut with water. The drinking of akraton or “unmixed wine”, though known to be practised by northern barbarians, was thought likely to lead to madness and death. Wine was mixed in a krater, from which the slaves would fill the drinker’s kylix with an oinochoe (jugs). Wine was also used as a generic medication, being taken to have medicinal virtue. Aelian mentions that the wine from Heraia in Arcadia rendered men foolish but women fertile; conversely, Achaean wine was thought to induce abortion. Outside of these therapeutic uses, Greek society did not approve of women drinking wine; according to Aelian, a Massalian law prohibited this and restricted women to drinking water. Sparta was the only city where women routinely drank wine.

Wine reserved for local use was kept in skins. That destined for sale was poured into pithoi, (large terra cotta jugs). From here they were decanted into amphoras sealed with pitch for retail sale. Vintage wines carried stamps from the producers and/or city magistrates who guaranteed their origin. This is one of the first instances of indicating the geographical or qualitative provenance of a product, and is the basis of the modern appellations d’origine contrles certification.

Kykeon

Hecamede preparing kykeon for Nestor, kylix by the Brygos Painter, ca. 490 BC, Louvre

The Greeks also drank kykeon (, from kyka, “to shake, to mix”), which was both a beverage and a meal. It was a barley gruel, to which water and herbs were added. In the Iliad, the beverage also contained grated goat cheese. In the Odyssey, Circe adds honey and a magic potion to it. In the Homeric Hymn to Demeter, the goddess refuses red wine but accepts a kykeon made of water, flour, and pennyroyal. Used as a ritual beverage in the Eleusinian Mysteries, it was also a popular beverage, especially in the countryside: Theophrastus, in his Characters, describes a boorish peasant as having drunk much kykeon and inconveniencing the Assembly with his bad breath. It also had a reputation as a good digestive, and as such, in Peace, Hermes recommends it to the main character who has eaten too much dried fruit.

Food preparation

Food played an important part in the Greek mode of thought. Classicist John Wilkins notes that “in the Odyssey for example, good men are distinguished from bad and Greeks from foreigners partly in terms of how and what they ate. Herodotus identified people partly in terms of food and eating”.

Up to the 3rd century BCE, the frugality imposed by the physical and climatic conditions of the country was held as virtuous. The Greeks did not ignore the pleasures of eating, but valued simplicity. The rural writer Hesiod, as cited above, spoke of his “flesh of a heifer fed in the woods, that has never calved, and of firstling kids” as being the perfect closing to a day. Nonetheless, Chrysippus is quoted as saying that the best meal was a free one.

Culinary and gastronomical research was rejected as a sign of oriental flabbiness: the Persian Empire was considered decadent due to their luxurious taste, which manifested itself in their cuisine. The Greek authors took pleasure in describing the table of the Achaemenid Great King and his court: Herodotus, Clearchus of Soli, Strabo and Ctesias were unanimous in their descriptions.

Fresh fish, one of the favourite dishes of the Greeks, platter with red figures, c. 350325 BCE, Louvre

In contrast, Greeks as a whole stressed the austerity of their own diet. Plutarch tells how the king of Pontus, eager to try the Spartan “black gruel”, bought a Laconian cook; “but had no sooner tasted it than he found it extremely bad, which the cook observing, told him, “Sir, to make this broth relish, you should have bathed yourself first in the river Evrotas”.”. According to Polyaenus, on discovering the dining hall of the Persian royal palace, Alexander the Great mocked their taste and blamed it for their defeat. Pausanias, on discovering the dining habits of the Persian commander Mardonius, equally ridiculed the Persians, “who having so much, came to rob the Greeks of their miserable living”.

In consequence of this cult of frugality, and the diminished regard for cuisine it inspired, the kitchen long remained the domain of women, free or enslaved. In the classical period, however, culinary specialists began to enter the written record. Both Aelian and Athenaeus mention the thousand cooks who accompanied Smindyride of Sybaris on his voyage to Athens at the time of Cleisthenes, if only disapprovingly. Plato in Gorgias, mentions “Thearion the cook, Mithaecus the author of a treatise on Sicilian cooking, and Sarambos the wine merchant; three eminent connoisseurs of cake, kitchen and wine.” Some chefs also wrote treatises on cuisine.

Over time, more and more Greeks presented themselves as gourmets. From the Hellenistic to the Roman period, the Greeks at least the rich no longer appeared to be any more austere than others. The cultivated guests of the feast hosted by Athenaeus in the 2nd or 3rd century devoted a large part of their conversation to wine and gastronomy. They discussed the merits of various wines, vegetables, and meats, mentioning renowned dishes (stuffed cuttlefish, red tuna belly, prawns, lettuce watered with mead) and great cooks such as Soterides, chef to king Nicomedes I of Bithynia (who reigned from the 279 to 250 BCE). When his master was inland, he pined for anchovies; Soterides simulated them from carefully carved turnips, oiled, salted and sprinkled with poppy seeds. Suidas (an encyclopaedia from the Byzantine period) mistakenly attributes this exploit to the celebrated Roman gourmet Apicius (1st century BCE) 89] which may be taken as evidence that the Greeks had reached the same level as the Romans.

Specific diets

Vegetarianism

Triptolemus received wheat sheaves from Demeter and blessings from Persephone, 5th century BCE relief, National Archaeological Museum of Athens

Orphicism and Pythagoreanism, two common ancient Greek religions, suggested a different way of life, based on a concept of purity and thus purification ( katharsis) a form of asceticism in the original sense: asksis initially signifies a ritual, then a specific way of life. Vegetarianism was a central element of Orphicism and of several variants of Pythagoreanism.

Empedocles (5th century BCE) justified vegetarianism by a belief in the transmigration of souls: who could guarantee that an animal about to be slaughtered did not house the soul of a human being? However, it can be observed that Empedocles also included plants in this transmigration, thus the same logic should have applied to eating them. Vegetarianism was also a consequence of a dislike for killing: “For Orpheus taught us rites and to refrain from killing”.

The information from Pythagoras (6th century BCE) is more difficult to define. The Comedic authors such as Aristophon and Alexis described Pythagoreans as strictly vegetarian, with some of them living on bread and water alone. Other traditions contented themselves with prohibiting the consumption of certain vegetables, such as the broad bean, or of sacred animals such as the white cock or selected animal parts.

It follows that vegetarianism and the idea of ascetic purity were closely associated, and often accompanied by sexual abstinence. In On the eating of flesh, Plutarch (1st2nd century) elaborated on the barbarism of blood-spilling; inverting the usual terms of debate, he asked the meat-eater to justify his choice.

The Neoplatonic Porphyrius (3rd century) associates in On Abstinence vegetarianism with the Cretan mystery cults, and gives a census of past vegetarians, starting with the semi-mythical Epimenides. For him, the origin of vegetarianism was Demeter’s gift of wheat to Triptolemus so that he could teach agriculture to humanity. His three commandments were: “Honour your parents”, “Honour the gods with fruit”, and pare the animals”.

Athlete diets

Aelian claims that the first athlete to submit to a formal diet was Ikkos of Tarentum, a victor in the Olympic pentathlon (perhaps in 444 BC). However, Olympic wrestling champion (62nd through 66th Olympiads) Milo of Croton was already said to eat twenty pounds of meat and twenty pounds of bread and to drink eight quarts of wine each day. Before his time, athletes were said to practise xrophaga (from xros, “dry”), a diet based on dry foods such as dried figs, fresh cheese and bread. Pythagoras (either the philosopher or a gymnastics master of the same name) was the first to direct athletes to eat meat.

Trainers later enforced some standard diet rules: to be an Olympic victor, “you have to eat according to regulations, keep away from desserts (); you must not drink cold water nor can you have a drink of wine whenever you want”. It seems this diet was primarily based on meat, for Galen (ca. 180 AD) accused athletes of his day of “always gorging themselved on flesh and blood”. Pausanias also refers to a “meat diet”.

Notes

^ ^ The expression originates in Sir Colin Renfrew’s The Emergence of Civilisation: The Cyclades and the Aegean in The Third Millennium BC, 1972, p.280.

^ Flacelire, p.205.

^ At the time of Homer and the early tragedies, the term signified the first meal of the day, which was not necessarily frugal: in Iliad 24:124, Achilles’s companions slaughter a sheep for breakfast.

^ a b c Flacelire, p.206.

^ Alexis fgt.214 Kock = Athenaeus 47e.

^ Dalby, p.5.

^ Dalby, p.15.

^ Politics 1323a4.

^ Dalby, pp.1314.

^ a b c d Flacelire, p.209.

^ a b Sparkes, p.132.

^ Aristophanes Knights 41316; Pollux 6.93.

^ a b Flacelire, p.212.

^ Flacelire, p.213.

^ a b Flacelire, p.215.

^ Dalby, pp.9091.

^ a b Migeotte, p.62.

^ Galen, On the properties of Food 1.10; Dalby p.91.

^ Sparkes, p.127.

^ Sparkes, p.128.

^ Flacelire, p.207.

^ Aristophanes, Frogs 858 and Wasps 238.

^ Dalby, p.91.

^ Peace 449.

^ Dalby, p.22.

^ Scholia to Homer, Iliad’ 11.630.

^ See Kimberly-Hatch.

^ The Frogs 6263.

^ Dalby, p.89.

^ Dalby, p.23.

^ Dalby, p.90; Flint-Hamilton, p.75.

^ Flacelire, p.208.

^ Peace 11271129. Peace. trans. Eugene O’Neill, Jr. 1938. accessed 23 May 2006.

^ Demosthenes, Against Androtion 15.

^ Peace 374.

^ Sparkes, p.123.

^ Hesiod. Works and Days 58893, trans. Hugh G. Evelyn-White 1914. accessed 23 May 2006

^ Life of Lycurgus 12:12.

^ Apud Athenaeus 138d, trans. quoted by Dalby, p.126.

^ Life of Lycurgus 12:3 and Dichaearchus fgt.72 Wehrli.

^ Various History 14:7.

^ Dalby, p.67.

^ Athenaeus, Epitome 58b.

^ Dalby, p.65.

^ Athenaeus 151b.

^ Galen, On the properties of food, 3.15.

^ Dalby, p.66.

^ Athenaeus 325f.

^ Athenaeus 40f41a commenting on Odyssey 17.208.

^ Athenaeus 41a commenting on Iliad 2.753.

^ Pindar, fgt.198 B4.

^ smatds, Athenaeus 42a.

^ barystathmoteros, Athenaeus 42c.

^ kouphos, Athenaeus 42c.

^ kataxros, Athenaeus 43a.

^ oxys, Theopompus fgt.229 M. I316 = Athenaeus 43b.

^ trakuteros, Athenaeus 43b.

^ oinds, Athenaeus 42c.

^ Antiphanes fgt.179 Kock = Athenaeus 43b.

^ Athenaeus 44.

^ Apud Plutarch, Life of Lycurgus, 9:78.

^ Athenaeus 28d.

^ First mention in Dioscorides, Materia Medica 5.34; Dalby, p.150.

^ Various History 12:31.

^ Athenaeus 31d.

^ E.g. Menander, Samia 394.

^ Various History, 13:6.

^ Various History, 2:38.

^ Dalby, p.889.

^ Iliad 15:638641.

^ Odyssey 10:234.

^ Homeric hymn to Demeter 208.

^ Characters 4:23.

^ Peace 712.

^ Wilkins, “Introduction: part II” in Wilkins, Harvey and Dobson, p.3.

^ Apud Athenaeus 8c.

^ For a comparison of Persian and Greek cuisine, see Briant, pp.297306.

^ Herodotus 1:133.

^ Apud Athenaeus 539b.

^ Description of Greece 15:3,22.

^ Ctesias fgt.96 M = Athenaeus 67a.

^ Plutarch, Life of Lycurgus 12:13, trans. John Dryden. Accessed 26 May 2006.

^ Stratagems, 4:3,32.

^ Stratagems 4:82.

^ Various History 22:24.

^ Gorgias 518b.

^ Euphro Comicus fgt.11 Kock = Athenaeus 7d.

^ Suidas s.v. .

^ Dodds, pp.1545.

^ Aristophanes, Frogs 1032. Trans. Matthew Dillon, accessed 2 June 2006.

^ Flint-Hamilton, pp.379380.

^ Moralia 12:68.

^ On Abstinence 4.62.

^ Various History (11:3).

^ Athenaeus 412f.

^ Athenaeus 205.

^ Diogenes Laertius 8:12.

^ Epictetus, Discourses 15:25, trans. W.E. Sweet.

^ Exhortation for Medicine 9, trans. S.G. Miller.

^ Pausanias 6:7.10.

See also

Greek cuisine

References

Briant, P. Histoire de l’Empire perse de Cyrus Alexandre. Paris: Fayard, 1996. ISBN 2-213-59667-0, translated in English as From Cyrus to Alexander: A History of the Persian Empire. Winona Lake, Ind.: Eisenbrauns, 2002 ISBN 1-57506-031-0

Dalby, A. Siren Feasts: A History of Food and Gastronomy in Greece. London: Routledge, 1996. ISBN 0-415-15657-2

Dodds, E.R. “The Greek Shamans and the Origins of Puritanism “, The Greek and the Irrational (Sather Classical Lectures). Berkeley: University of California Press, 1962 (1st edn 1959).

Flacelire R. La Vie quotidienne en Grce au temps de Pricls. Paris: Hachette, 1988 (1st edn. 1959) ISBN 2-01-005966-2, translated in English as Daily Life in Greece at the Time of Pericles. London: Phoenix Press, 2002 ISBN 1-84212-507-9

Flint-Hamilton, K.B. “Legumes in Ancient Greece and Rome: Food, Medicine, or Poison?”, Hesperia, Vol.68, No.3 (Jul.ep., 1999), pp. 371385.

(French) Migeotte, L., L’conomie des cits grecques. Paris: Ellipses, 2002 ISBN 2-7298-0849-3

Sparkes, B.A. “The Greek Kitchen”, The Journal of Hellenic Studies, Vol.82, 1962 (1962), pp. 121137.

Wilkins, J., Harvey, D. and Dobson, M. Food in Antiquity. Exeter: University of Exeter Press, 1995. ISBN 0-85989-418-5

Further reading

(French) Amouretti, M.-Cl. Le Pain et l’huile dans la Grce antique. De l’araire au moulin. Paris: Belles Lettres, 1989.

(French) Delatte, A. Le Cycon, breuvage rituel des mystres d’leusis. Paris: Belles Lettres, 1955.

Detienne, M. and Vernant, J.-P. (trans. Wissing, P.). The Cuisine of Sacrifice Among the Greeks. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1989 (1st edn. 1979) ISBN 0-226-14353-8

External links

(French) “Vgtarisme, au commencement” (French language article on origin of vegetarianism)

A Taste of the Ancient World (University of Michigan)

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Washington Cuisine: Salmon

With its characteristic red flesh and oily texture, Salmon is one of the most popular species of fish in the world. It is found in the northern regions of the Pacific and Atlantic oceans. Because of its popularity, it has run into over-fishing problems, particularly in the North Atlantic region, where salmon has been placed on the endangered species list. There are several non-governmental agencies who are dedicated to replenishing the supply of salmon in the Atlantic Ocean.

Many of the cultures along the Pacific Rim and in the North Atlantic prize salmon not only for its delicious taste but also as a symbol of wisdom and vitality. The salmon of Llyn Llyw is a character from Welsh tales of King Arthur that dates back to 13th century. Many Native American tribes of the Pacific Northwest still use the salmon as a totem symbol to represent vitality and rebirth.

Preparing Salmon

There are many species of salmon to be found in Washington and the Pacific Northwest, including freshwater varieties like Steelhead trout, but two of the most popular are King (Chinook) and Red (Sockeye). Because of their versatility, Washing chefs use them in many dishes. The hearty red meat can stand up to strong marinades and grill cooking. It is also delicate enough to be a key ingredient for sushi and sashimi.

It is inevitable that sometime during your Washington chef career you’ll be asked to prepare salmon. One of the most popular ways to prepare it is smoking. Smoked salmon is a delicacy that comes in a variety of forms, the most popular of which is lox. This salt-brined smoked salmon is most often served with bagels, cream cheese, and capers.

California Chefs and Grilled Salmon

With grilled foods playing such a big part of modern California cuisine it’s no surprise that grilled salmon is found on menus all along the Pacific Coast. Whether cut as thick steaks or delicate fillets, Salmon absorbs the flavor of wood smoke and contrasts nicely with diverse flavors like teriyaki, lemon pepper, and herb encrusting. A quick sear over a hot grill is the best way to prepare grilled salmon. Cooking longer will result in an unpleasant drying of the meat.

The health benefits of salmon – high in omega fatty acids and protein – have also made salmon a popular ingredient in everything from salads to sandwiches.

If you have never cooked with salmon, then you will be pleasantly surprised by the versatility and complex flavor characteristics of this popular fish.

This article is presented by The Kitchen Academy. The Kitchen Academy offers Le Cordon Bleu culinary education classes and culinary training programs in Seattle, Washington and Sacramento, California. To learn more about the class offerings, please visit http://www.KitchenAcademy.com for more information.

The jobs mentioned are examples of certain potential jobs, not a representation that these outcomes are more probable than others. The Kitchen Academy does not guarantee employment or salary.

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Purchase includes free access to book updates online and a free trial membership in the publisher’s book club where you can select from more than a million books without charge. Chapters: Leek, Cuisine of Gower, Welsh Rarebit, Welsh Cuisine, Laver, Faggot, Clark’s Pies, Welsh Whisky, Cawl, Cadwalader’s Ice Cream, Welsh Cake, Crempog, Bara Brith, Tatws Pum Munud, Roast Lamb With Laver Sauce, Gilli Davies, Glamorgan Sausage, Lurvills Delight, Glengettie. Excerpt: Bar… More >>

Welsh Cuisine: Leek, Cuisine of Gower, Welsh Rarebit, Welsh Cuisine, Laver, Faggot, Clark’s Pies, Welsh Whisky, Cawl, Cadwalader’s Ice Cream

Foods used in vegetarian cuisine

Food regarded as suitable for vegetarians typically includes:

Cereals/grains: maize, hempseed, corn, wheat, rice, barley, sorghum, millet, oats, rye, triticale, buckwheat, fonio, quinoa; derived products such as flour (dough, bread, pasta, baked goods).

Vegetables (fresh or pickled) and mushrooms (though some strict Indian vegetarians do not eat mushrooms); derived products such as vegetable fats and oils

Fruit (fresh or dried)

Legumes: beans (including soybeans and soy products such as tempeh, tofu, soy milk, and TVP), chickpeas, peas, lentils, peanuts)

Tree nuts and seeds

Spices and herbs

Other foods such as seaweed (however seaweed is considered inedible by some strict vegetarians for the same reason it can be considered as non-kosher by some: the possibility that various tiny animals may be found adhering to it.

Food suitable for several types of the vegetarian cuisine:

Dairy products (milk, butter, cheese (except for cheese containing rennet of animal origin), yogurt (excluding yogurt made with gelatin), etc) not eaten by vegans and pure ovo-vegetarians

Eggs not eaten by vegans and pure lacto-vegetarians

Honey not eaten by most vegans

Cuisine that is traditionally vegetarian

Wikibooks Cookbook has a recipe/module on

Vegetarian cuisine

These are some of the most common dishes that vegetarians in the Western world eat without substitution of ingredients. Such dishes include, from breakfasts to dinnertime desserts:

Vegetarian food products made from cereal grains.

Gujarati cuisine from state of Gujarat in western India and Kannada cuisine amongst Brahmins is predominantly vegetarian.

Many bean, pasta, potato, rice, and bulgur/cous cous dishes, stews, soups and stir fries.

Cereals and oatmeals, granola bars, etc

Fresh fruit and most salads

Potato salad, baba ganoush, pita-wraps or burrito-wraps, vegetable pilafs, baked potatoes or fried potato-skins with various toppings, corn on the cob, smoothies

Many sandwiches, such as cheese on toast, and cold sandwiches including roasted eggplant, mushrooms, bell peppers, cheeses, avocado and other sandwich ingredients

Many side dishes, such as mashed potatoes, scalloped potatoes, some bread stuffings, seasoned rice, and macaroni and cheese.

Classical Buddhist cuisine in Asia served at temples and restaurants with a green sign indicating vegetarian food only near temples

National cuisines

Buddha’s delight, a famous Chinese vegetarian dish.

Indian cuisine in Asia is replete with vegetarian dishes, many of which can be traced to religious traditions (such as Hindu Brahmins). Gujarati cuisine of India is predominantly vegetarian among other Indian cuisines and Gujarati thali is very famous among Indians. There are many vegetarian Indian foods such as pakora, samosa, khichris, Pulao, raitas, rasam, bengain bharta, chana masala, some kormas, sambars, jalfrezis, saag aloo, subjis (vegetable dishes) such as bindi subji, gobi subji, Punjabi chole, aloo matar and much South Indian food such as dosas, idlis and vadas. Chapati and other wheat/maida based breads like Naan, Roti Parathas are often stuffed with vegetarian items to make it a satisfying meal. Many Indian dishes also qualify as vegan, though many others also use honey or dairy.

South Indian foods like sambar, rasam, koottu, karembadu, upma, palya, kozhambu, Aviyal, Olan, Kadala curry, Theeyal, Pulingari, Chammandi, Chutney, and breads like Appam, Puttu, pathiri, dosai, idli and vadai.

Spanish foods such as tumbet and many polentas and tapas dishes

Mexican foods such as salsa & guacamole with chips, rice & bean burritos (without lard in the refried beans or chicken fat in the rice), many quesadillas, bean tacos, some chilaquiles and bean-pies, chili sin carne, black beans with rice, chiles rellenos, cheese enchiladas and vegetable fajitas.

Italian foods such as most pastas, many pizzas, eggplant rotini, eggplant crostini, bruschetta, many risottos

Continental cuisine such as ratatouille, braised leeks with olives and parsley, many quiches, sauteed Swiss chard, vegetable-stuffed mushrooms, sauteed Brussels sprouts with mushrooms and squash

In Germany, Frankfurt Green sauce, different Kle with vegetarian sauces (e.g. Chanterelle), combinations of Quark (cheese), spinach, potatoes and different herbs provide some traditional vegetarian summer dishes. Traditionally on fridays, southern Germany broad variety of sweet dishes may be served as a main course, so Germkndel and Dampfnudel. Potato soup and plum cake is a traditional Friday course in the Palatinate.

Sauted tempeh with green beans, an Indonesian dish

Many Balkan dishes, such as dolmas and spanakopita

Russian cuisine developed a significant vegetarian tradition in czarist time, based on the example of Leo Tolstoy. The orthodox tradition of separating meat and vegetables and as well between specific meals for Fasting and other holidays contributed to a rich variety of vegetarian dishes in Russia and Slavic countries, such as soups (vegetable borscht, shchi, okroshka), pirogi, blini, vareniki, kasha, buckwheat, fermented and pickled vegetables, etc.

Many Ethiopian dishes[vague]

Mideastern food such as falafel, hummus (mashed chick peas), tahini (ground sesame seeds), minted-yogurts, and couscous.

Egyptian cuisine in particular is rich in vegetarian foods. For reasons ranging from economics to the religious practices of the Coptic Orthodox Church, most Egyptian dishes rely on beans and vegetables: the national dishes, kushari and ful medames, are entirely vegetarian, as are usually the assorted vegetable casseroles that characterize the typical Egyptian meal.

Chinese (and other far-Eastern) dishes based on the main ingredients being mushroom, noodles, eggplant, string beans, broccoli, rice, tofu and/or mixed vegetables

Japanese foods such as tempura, edamame, name kojiru, and vegetable sushi; in Japan however, vegetarian often means no meat, which however includes fish. Miso soup is made from fermented white or red soy bean paste and water, garnished with scallions and/or seaweed.

Korean have many dishes that are entirely composed of vegetarian ingredients. It includes bibimbap, rich in vegetables and low-fat, jeon, which can be easily understood as Korean version of pizza, made with kimchi, or with seafood and leek, Sundubu jjigae, a spicy stew made with soft tofu and shellfish, and many others.

Some Thai cuisine, including dishes such as pad kee maow and many Thai curries.

Creole and Southern foods such as hush puppies, okra patties, rice and beans, or sauteed kale or collards, if not cooked with the traditional pork fat or meat stock.

Some Welsh recipes, including Glamorgan sausages, Laverbread and Welsh rarebit.

Indonesian, including tempeh orek, tempeh bacem, tofu bacem

Palatschinken with ice cream, fruits and fruit compote from Austria

Desserts and sweets

Most desserts, including pies, cobblers, cakes, brownies, cookies, truffles, Rice Krispie treats (from gelatin-free marshmallows, or marshmallow fluff), peanut butter treats, pudding, rice pudding, ice cream, creme brule, etc., are free of meat and fish and thus are suitable for ovo-lacto vegetarians. Oriental confectionery and desserts, such as halva, Turkish Delight, are mostly vegan, while others such as baklava (which often contains butter) are lacto vegetarian. Indian desserts and sweets are mostly vegetarian like peda, barfi, gulab jamun, shrikhand, basundi, kaju katri, rasgulla, cham cham, rajbhog etc. Indian sweets are mostly made from milk products and are thus lacto vegetarian; dry fruit-based sweets are vegan.

Cuisine that uses meat analogues

These are vegetarian versions of popular dishes that non-vegetarians enjoy and are frequently consumed as fast food, comfort food, transition food for new vegetarians, or a way to show non-vegetarians that they can be vegetarians while still enjoying their favorite foods. Many vegetarians just enjoy these dishes as part of a varied diet.

Some popular mock-meat dishes include:

Veggie burgers (burgers usually made from grains, TVP, seitan (wheat gluten), tempeh, and/or mushrooms)

Veggie dogs (usually made from TVP)

Imitation sausage (soysage, various types of ‘salami’, ‘bologna’, ‘pepperoni’, et al., made of some form of soy)

Mockmeat or ‘meatyballs’ (usually made from TVP)

Vegetarian or meatless ‘chicken’ (usually made from seitan, tofu or TVP)

Jambalaya (with mock sausage and mock chicken, usually made from TVP, seitan, or tempeh)

Tomato Omelette where tomatoes and a paste of flour is used to produce a vegetable omelette without the use of eggs.

Scrambled eggs where tofu is mashed and fried with spices (often including tumeric, for its strong yellow color) to produce a dish that strongly resembles eggs.

When baking, eggs are easily replaced by ground flax seeds, applesauce, mashed bananas, or commercial egg replacer

Mycoprotein is another common base for mock-meats, and vegetarian flavorings are added to these bases, such as sea vegetables for a seafood taste.

Morningstar Farms tomato and basil pizza veggie burgers garnished with onion, ketchup and Cheddar.

Commercial products

In Australia, various vegetarian products are available in most of supermarket chains and a vegetarian shopping guide is provided by Vegetarian/Vegan Society of Queensland .

See also

Indian Vegetarian cuisine

Chinese Buddhist cuisine

Korean vegetarian cuisine

Vegan cuisine

References

^ a b Peter Brang. Ein unbekanntes Russland, Kulturgeschichte vegetarischer Lebensweisen von den Anfngen bis zur Gegenwart (An ignored aspect of Russia. Vegetarian lifestyles from the very beginning till the present day). Bhlau Verlag, Kln 2002 ISBN 3412079022

^ Vegetarian/Vegan Society of Queensland. “Vegetarian/Vegan Supermarket Shopping Guide”. http://www.vegsoc.org.au/products.asp. Retrieved 7 May 2009. 

v  d  e

Vegetarianism

Diets

Sattvic diet  Veganism  Raw veganism  Fruitarianism

Semi-vegetarianism

Flexitarianism  Pescetarianism  Pollotarianism

Animal byproducts

Lacto-ovo-vegetarianism  Ovo-vegetarianism  Lacto-vegetarianism

Basic topics

History of vegetarianism  Vegetarianism by country  List of vegetarians  Environmental vegetarianism  Economic vegetarianism  Ethics of eating meat

Vegetarianism and religion

Buddhism  Catharism  Christianity  Hinduism  Jainism  Jewish vegetarianism  Sikhism  Tolstoyanism

Food and drink

Cheese analogue  Meat analogue  Plant milk  Vegan cuisine  Vegan organic gardening  Vegan wine  Vegetarian nutrition  Vegetarian cuisine  Veggie burger

Organizations

and events

American Vegetarian Party  Christian Vegetarian Association  European Vegetarian Union  Food for Life  International Vegetarian Union  Massachusetts Animal Rights Coalition  Boston Vegetarian Society  PETA  Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine  Toronto Vegetarian Association  Vegan Society  Vegetarian Network Victoria  Vegetarian Society  Veggies  World Vegan Day  World Vegetarian Day

Categories: Vegetarianism | Vegetarian cuisine | CuisineHidden categories: All Wikipedia articles needing clarification | Wikipedia articles needing clarification from December 2009

I am taking my mom there next week, just for a day, and I thought it will be a good idea to try some nice Welsh food)))
So if anybody can recommend a best/very good restaurant of a sort with nice, traditional interior it will be great!

cheers ))

In the scottish footie section, Il go for a nice sea food paella, and a nice bottle of Red from Espana
Either or Wee Ger both are yummy., do you not fancy some of Polands fare. ha ha
Shazbat get stuck in to some nice Polish Golonka, ha ha. You will be right as rain.
what a adventurous lot you are. Do you mean none of you lot have tried, Zurcher Eintopf, from Switzerland, tut tut. ha ha