About Ancient Greek Food
What did people like Plato, Aristotle and Homer eat every day? Our information comes from their writings and stories and from what archeological artifacts we can find that still has traces of food and drink in the containers they once filled.
Other People Are Reading
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Time Frame
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The ancient Greeks ruled the Western world from the end of the Persian Empire in about 550 BC until the Roman Empire took over in around 330 BC. While Greece itself is a cluster of islands and a peninsula in the south of Europe, the empire controlled territory all along the Mediterranean Sea coasts.
These are the lands that Odysseus experienced, according to Homer's epic poetry. He encountered all kinds of foods during his journey from lotus roots to cannibalism. Back home, his wife, Penelope, had to feed scores of men who were hoping for the day that she would quit waiting for Odysseus to return and decide to marry one of them.
Identification
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Wealthy Greeks feasted and hosted others at feasts. A banquet would be spread with all sorts of meats including many different varieties of fish, beef, veal, pork, lamb, wild game and poultry. The meats would be grilled or roasted on a spit. The wealthiest Greeks brought ice and snow down from the mountains to chill their foods.
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Features
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The servants would circulate at these banquets with baskets filled with bread. Since the ancient Greeks considered baking one of the arts, the bread would be sculpted into many creative shapes. Guests would be served bowls of wine diluted with water. Sometimes the bowls were goblets made from hammered gold.
Considerations
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Ordinary people didn't eat so lavishly. They ate the same basic foods every day. Usually the main starch was a porridge of cooked wheat or barley. The wheat was imported from Sicily, an island off the southern coast of Italy but regular families and the aristocracy alike also ate foods that were available in Greece. These included honey, olive oil, sesame seeds, thyme, speariment, coriander, parsley, rosemary, lemons, cucumbers, leeks, celery, onions, almonds, beans and bay leaves.
Significance
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Some Greek recipes have been passed down from ancient times. One is a sweet custard called Kikeon. Today, there are also Greek recipes for fritters, cakes with ground almonds and walnuts, grilled fish, and bean soup which resemble foods that the ancients described.
Expert Insight
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Epicurius was an ancient Greek philosopher who believed that the purpose of life is to experience pleasure. His teaching is taken to hyperbole in the saying, "Eat, drink, and be merry for tomorrow you die." People who are considered to be experts in foods and wine are even called epicureans today.
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