Since the beginning of time, man has lived off of food, but in more than a literal sense. Every civilization has had its own set of customs and beliefs surrounding food. The cultural significance of food goes as far back as man himself. Although on the surface it may seem like the history of food is irrelevant to the bigger picture of ancient civilizations, it has quite a bit of scholarly value. Through the history of food, we have learned much about social life, social hierarchy, religious beliefs and obviously, cooking in these civilizations.
When you really look into it, there is more to the history of food than the food itself. We also know how it was eaten, who it was eaten with, when certain foods were eaten, what festivities could be surrounding the food, and more. These all fall under the category of social life, and what we know about it through the history of food. A great example of the social function of food are the banquets of early Mesopotamian society. The Mesopotamians often held banquets to celebrate special occasions, or mark a significant event. Banquets were always held to honor a wedding in Assyria in order to promote bonding between families. Drinking from the same cup, and sharing salt “symbolized a bond between individuals”. At the same time, refusing to share food could be taken as a hostile action, and was looked down upon. According to Francis Johannes, “The sharing of food mattered more than the ingredients of the meal, since these were of the most basic sort” (33). At the banquets, it was not the food that was the main focus, they were about coming together as a community, and making connections with one another. At these banquets, people were able to bridge the gap between social classes, and celebrate the things they had in common.
The study of food in ancient civilizations gives us a great deal of insight into the social hierarchy and social class systems of those societies. Just as some foods are more available to the privileged today, like caviar and truffles, many types of food were exclusively available to the royal and wealthy. If we look at the different types of bread in medieval Europe, the distinction between the classes becomes apparent. During that time, three different types of bread were popular: white bread, brown bread, and whole wheat bread. The white bread was of the highest quality, made with premium grade white flour. As you can imagine, this bread was “prized by people of privilege”, and only available to first class citizens. The brown bread was of slightly lower quality, and widely available to the middle class, which included government officials, and “other with regular sources of income” such as merchants. The whole wheat bread was bottom of the barrel, eaten only by peasants and other lower class citizens (281). Observing these three breads, we can see that there was a clear social distinction between the classes, and that not all classes were treated equally within the medieval European society. We see another example of this in thirteenth century Italy. During that time, pasta was spreading throughout the country, appearing in Naples, Sicily, Genoa and other Ligurian cities. Although pasta wasn’t quite as luxurious as the white bread, it was still “reserved for the tables of the wealthy” (283). So, those who indulged in pasta on a regular basis were clearly of higher standing within society. These examples show that simply studying the types of food people ate tells us about their standing in society, and allows us to infer how their class was treated and looked upon based on the quality of the food.
Just as each civilization had their own set of beliefs when it came to food, so did each religion. Most religions had some sort of celebratory feast for certain holidays, and some religions even had restrictions on their everyday diet. A distinct example of this is the Jewish society in medieval Europe. Miguel-Ángel Motis Dolander wrote a very in depth piece on Jewish traditions during this time period. He says “Food, its interdicts and exhortations, informed the daily life and special holy days and festivals of the Jews, revealing much about the cultural uniqueness of this embattled minority…” (224). According to Dolander, we have learned a great deal about Jews in the Middle Ages, simply from studying their food customs, most notably their holidays. For most of their holidays, Jews eat special foods or combinations of foods to symbolize different things. For example, during Rosh Hashanah, the Hebrews eat apples with honey, dates, pomegranates, nougat, leeks, and other vegetables to symbolize fertility. On Yom Kippur, the Jews “observe rigorous fasting as a sign of expiation and reconciliation” (225). They believe that fasting on this holy day will repent their sins for the previous year. Aside from holiday traditions, the study of food also tells us about the basic moral values of Judaism. Jews abide by heavy restrictions in the realm of food in their everyday life. They saw it as morally wrong to eat certain animals, or certain parts of animals. All blood had to be drained before any meat was eaten, because they believed that “blood is life” and that it contains the soul. Jews also would not eat the suet or lard of sheep, cattle and birds because it would violate sacrificial laws, by consuming parts that were “destined for the altar” (230). As is evident by the example of Judaism, food played an enormous role within religion. Not only does it tell us about special occasions and holidays, but it also gives some insight into the core moral and ethical values of the religion.
Lastly, studying food in ancient civilizations tells us a great deal about the cooking processes and ingredients used during those times. In ancient Europe, dishes tended to be very simple, mostly utilizing wheat or wheat ingredients, and various types of meats. Foods tended to be very salty, which both gave them a better taste and helped to preserve them. However, cane sugar was brought by the Arabs to the Mediterranean, and in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries a sugar craze spread across Europe (383). At first it was used primarily as a medicine, but when people began to develop a taste for it, dishes sweetened with sugar became very popular. On special occasions, desserts were even sculpted in sugar in England. This sugar rush in Europe was very significant, because it caused sailors to take the plant with them to the New
World, where they planned to set up means of growing it, and manufacturing it into refined sugar (384). This ultimately led to the making of American chocolate and in turn, the popularity of the cacao plant. Sugar is a great example of how the use of ingredients spread between civilizations. Studying ingredients like this allows us to trace the influence of certain societies on others, and learn the origins of popular foods such as chocolate.
Upon deeper inspection, it is abundantly clear that the history of food has a huge significance and a great deal of scholarly value. Studying the foods of ancient civilizations tells us much more than what people ate, but also how it helped them to bond as a community, defined their social classes, about religious beliefs and moral values, and how certain ingredients came about and were utilized. Even further, it can tell us about trade between civilizations, and how surges of a certain type of food in one society had an influence on others.
Works Cited
Sonnenfeld, Albert, Jean-Louis Flandrin, and Massimo Montanari. Food: A Culinary History. New York: Columbia UP, 1999. Print.