Subscribe to Talltanic: Watch Our MOST Popular Videos:
15 Bizarre ancient foods
Dining can be a very personal experience, and you probably know one or two people who eat some pretty bizarre foods, or odd combinations that you think could never surely go… but those are nothing compared to what was eaten in ancient times. Let’s take our palettes on a taste adventure and sample some of the most bizarre foods from long ago.
15 - Flamingo Flambe
Poor Flamingo’s had it rough in Roman times when they were considered a representation of the wealth of the owner. Not only were they kept as a little “lawn pond dressing” but the Romans preferred a rather strange part of their anatomy as a treat.
Nothing was quite as delicious and sought after at the Roman table as Flamingo tongue. This luxury was a must-have amongst the Roman upper class. The delicacy was not only tasty but considered such a luxury because of the expense of Flamingoes. To sacrifice the bird just to fry up its tongue was the ultimate sign of wealth.
Thankfully, the rest of the bird didn’t go to waste, as flamingo recipes were uncovered with instructions on how to best prepare the bird for the banquet table.
14 - Nuts about Dormice
The bigger the better is not always true, but in the case of dormice consumption in ancient Rome, none a truer word were spoken. The obsession to outline your wealth to guests was so intense that a scribe was employed just to record the weight of the dormice served at a feast.
The reason is the extreme rearing of the dormice delicacy that was a direct link to one’s wealth. Each dormouse was hand-reared in its own individual clay pot. There, in the near darkness of an artificial burrow, it was fed with acorns and chestnuts to its heart's content. It was an immediate assumption that the longer the wealthy were able to dedicate the space, time and nuts required to rear a dormouse, the more lavish their wealth was.
Once they were chunky enough, they would be cooked and served, usually with honey and poppy seeds, stuffed with another meat, or roasted in a casserole. The ancient “food bloggers” of the time, always made mention of the quality and the size of the dormice served at such elite occasions.
13 - Irresistible Onions
Nowadays, most of us wouldn’t dare consume onions on a first date for fear of bad breath. In ancient Egypt, it seems onions had the opposite effect. Onions were considered to have an aphrodisiac effect, so much so that celibate priests were banned from consuming them lest they are tempted to err on their vows.
12 - Peacock for your thoughts
Peacock was a popular meat in ancient Rome, often made into meatballs by the wealthy.
While the peacock was exotic to Rome, it was kept fairly commonly among the rich, and because meat was not as easy to come by as today, the poor pet peacock was soon sent to the pot.
11 - Street Urchin
Ancient Roman street food included some awesome sea food favourites far more exotic that your average fish and chips. On the regular, the lower class could enjoy a tasty snail snack, or slurp up an oyster and even order up some sea scorpion. But most surprising is that sea urchins were also on the street cart menu.
The Sea Urchin was considered a delicacy of the wealthy in ancient Roman cuisine, but here it was, the highly praised sea food, available at the lowly street food vendor. The archaeological digs at Pompeii unveiled a startling reality that all classes enjoyed slurping up a sea urchin prepared in olive oil, sweet wine and pepper by the corner street cart.
10 - Pie’s alive!
We guess entertainment was limited in the 15th and 16th century, so it became a custom to entertain oneself by combining the menu with a sort-of performance.
No lowly dry-ice effect was enough for a royal feast. Rather, an elaborate show piece included baking a seven-year old dwarf into a pie. When the pie was served during the feast in 1626, the tiny man, called Jeffrey Hudson, broke through the pie crust wearing a tiny suit of honour and hastily bowed to the queen.
The guests were delighted, as was the host, Queen Henrietta Maria, who added him as a staple menu item from then on.
0 Comments