Ever wonder about the origins of certain foods? Who was the first person to eat an oyster and why? What hardened meringue was used as medicinal candy to soothe children's sore throats? What food was served to those first Olympians in 776 B.C? What has been found in pits where human settlements lived 8,000 years ago? The origins of food are varied, ingenious and ever evolving and have not only made history, but are history.
One of the oldest known foods is credited for bringing cavemen together to live in communities rather than herd and hunt as nomads. Civilizations found various ways of growing, preparing grain and baking dough to become bread, a staple which was plentiful in summer and sustained them during winter. Excavated cities dating back to Pompeii have revealed the secrets of the ancient bakery where rich and poor alike, came together over bread. Wheat has been discovered in the remains of settlements from over 8,000 years ago stamping today's main grain as a link to our past.
One of the most delicious or dangerous delicacies on our menu is the Latin mussirio, or mushrooms. Like bread, fungi may also date back to prehistoric times and are marked throughout Greek, Roman, Chinese, Japanese and European culinary history. Mushrooms lack chlorophyll and therefore must grow from other things such as dead plants, tree roots or animals. We think of fungus as a bad thing, but where would be without yeast? We'd miss bread, truffles and the beer for our BBQs.
Then there's the poor, misunderstood mollusk. Many people shy away from their gray, shiny, slippery surfaces. Archeological evidence would point to oysters as coming out of their shells around the same time as dirt but details on this are as murky as the beds in which they're found. Oyster farming was well documented during the 4th century but was interrupted by the barbarian invasion and does not surface again till the 14th century as a privilege of the rich. It wasn't till the 19th century when oysters became more plentiful that dishes such as stew, fried oysters, oysters Florentine and oyster shish kabob began to emerge.
When Harvard graduate students Herbert Dick and Earle Smith went digging in a New Mexico bat cave, little did they know they would end up with 5,600-year-old popcorn. Smith and Dick unearthed various well-preserved corn cob fragments including several that were partially or completely popped. When dropped in oil, a few of the kernels still had a spark and exploded into white puffs. Throughout the centuries, popcorn has been used as food, in ornamental headdresses, as breakfast cereal during colonial times and as an attraction inside and out in front of department stores. During the depression, when other businesses went bust, popcorn, well, popped. What would a movie theater be without popcorn?
What were the first Olympians dining on between chariot races? You guessed it: cheesecake. Well, maybe not but historians believe it to have been on the first games' menu. It has also been traced back to 2,000 B.C through unearthed cheese molds. If the internet had been invented in 200 BC, cave-wives all over the world could have been sharing Marcus Porcius Cato's recipe for cheese libum, or cheese cake. From there, cheesecake spread from Greece to Europe then finally to America. This confection is celebrated by every region and culture and is one of the world's most popular desserts.
Originating in ancient Egypt, the marshmallow started out as a honey candy that was thickened and flavored with the sap of the marsh-mallow plant. This goo-filled growth appeared on banks near large bodies of water and in salt marshes. Nineteenth century doctors creatively extracted the plant's juices, boiled it with egg whites and sugar and whipped it into a meringue, that when hardened, was used as a children's sore throat lozenge. When gelatin replaced the plant's sap, its medicinal values as a cough suppressant, immune system booster and wound healer disappeared. The production process evolved as well with the invention of the cornstarch mold method which later gave way to the more modern extrusion process. This involved piping the sugary mixture through long tubes to be cut into pillowy, equal-sized shapes.
Years from now when archeologists unearth our society, we wonder what they'll learn from specimens such as pork floss, beef pizzle or the much loved Now and Later variety of pull-your-teeth-out candy chews. One can only wonder.....and keep good notes.
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