The Delicious Legacy

Helloooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!! Welcome back to another episode of our archaogastronomical adventures! I hope you're all well and healthy and had a lovely Easter. Today's episode is all about ancient vegetarianism. And the philosopher Pythagoras is the central figure on all these talk today. Pythagoras, the father of mathematics, was born and raised in Samos. around 580BCE. He is one of the most...

Hello all! What fabulous frolics and food fantasies are we exploring today? Ones made of figs and foie gras! Well these two items might seem unrelated to begin with, but there is a very close connection! Let's trace the history of figs in Ancient Greece and Rome, and foie gras - a technique for force feeding geese and duck - all the way back to Ancient Egypt, around 2500 BCE. (A controversial food...

Hello! What could call itself the first ice cream cup was found in Egypt in a tomb from the Second Dynasty (2700 BC). This was a kind of mould, consisting of two silver cups, one of which contained snow (or crushed ice) and the other cooked fruit. “Icehouses”, where snow was stored and ice deliberately formed, were undoubtedly an extremely ancient invention. Around AD300 in India they found a way...

The Greek playwright Euripides said; "What is abundance? In a word, and no more, the wise are content with what is necessary". And we can all agree, what could be more necessary than bread, oil and wine? Hello!  My name is Thomas Ntinas and this is the Delicious Legacy Podcast! Today I will sing the praises of bread! We'll see the history and myths and techniques of this delicious, nourishing...

Firstly, Apologies for some pronunciations! I think I've 'murdered' some words or place names. So sorry. Below, you'll find the a list with the food stuff I'm talking about on the podcast. Dorset Blue Vinney Elvers Bath Chaps Forntum Black Ham Brawn Head or Pork Cheese Gloucester Old Spots Pig Hogs Pudding Apple Cake Blueberry Pie Chilli Mustard Thanks to the detailed research by Laura Mason and C...

This August just passed, I had a wonderful chat with chef Gianni about all things food. Giancarlo Vatteroni aka Gianni, is an amazing Italian chef that has been cooking his delicious family recipes -and other yummy stuff- in London for over 25 years, working in Moro, Sugar Club, Salt Yard Group / Dehesa, The Modern Pantry, The Union Cafe amongst many. We go through all the troubles and tribulation...

Cheese! Greek Cheese in fact! Today, on this episode I am taking you on a virtual curd-y tour of Greece, through the medium of ...cheese! We'll travel across each region, each county, each geographical province that comprises Hellas today, and we're going to see one or two (or more!!!) cheeses that must be celebrated, known and tasted! In fact, while certainly Greece doesn't have the immense varie...

What makes a recipe or a particular ingredient to withstand the test of time? What P.G.I and P.D.O. foods can one discover in England? On this episode I tried to explore a few unknown -or at least relatively unknown- ingredients of traditional English cuisine; specifically from the North of the country. Recipes or food items that intrigued me, that sound delicious, unique or at least deserve...

Back in 2009 I had the idea to record some of my grandmother's old stories. For posterity reasons, but mainly for me to document some of the so many different stories that she used to tell us since we were kids, and over the years, during the family gatherings, be it Christmas, Easter or other holidays and celebrations. She was a natural story teller, and she was from an interesting family that li...

The most comprehensive archaeological excavation in Istanbul’s history, took place very recently in the 21st century; a 58.000 square meter area in Yenikapi region. Here was revealed one of the biggest harbours known in the ancient world dating back to the Byzantine Era, the Theodosius Harbour. Amongst the group of findings there were 36 shipwrecks dating between 5th and 10th century which is...

History's first ever gourmand, foodie, hipster of the Ancient Greco-Roman world! The question of Archestratus life story had me puzzled for ages! I wanted to write an episode for a while now, but the more I looked for information about his life and works the more unanswered questions I have had! Admittedly, countless classicists, historians and food writers have been puzzled through the ages...

Hope everyone is well in these strange times and keeping safe and healthy! Let's talk a bit about Roman Britain and how the Romans viewed these mysterious lands... But, before that let's get some anecdotal accounts from our Mediterranean cousins about UK: Cold. Wet. Foggy. Miserable. These are probably the main descriptions -unfair of course- that one gets from modern Italian (and Greek!) students...

Apparently the first recorded fish sauce was produced by the ancient Greeks of the Black Sea colonies. Clearly the abundant fish resources of the Black Sea played a role in the production of this extremely popular condiment!  The sauce we know from Martial's verse - "here is lordly garum, a costly gift made from the first blood of a still-gasping mackerel!" was almost certainly a table condim...

Today's episode is all about cheese! I had the pleasure - and it was such a fun interview- to talk about cheese with Cheesemonger and Author Ned Palmer! A history of cheese. From the first discovery in Neolithic times in Mesopotamia through Europe and Britain, to ancient Greece and Rome and the Dark Ages, Medieval Europe and the monastic cheeses...All very intriguing! We are talking about cheese o...

Hello! This is a bonus episode; I had interviewed -a few months back- a chef that I known for a long time and I rate him highly. Relatively "new" in the scene, I find his creations and food fascinating. An amalgamation of the essential Greek and Middle Eastern cuisine; A fresh perspective that gives a really really mouthwatering result! We talk about the influence of Ottoman and Arabian cuisines i...

Hello! This is 'The Delicious Legacy ' Podcast and I'm Thom Ntinas Thanks for tuning in! This is Episode zero, of sorts! An introduction to how I came about -by accident- cooking these amazing recipes! This is a brand new podcast where we discuss everything about...ancient food and gastronomy! Tantalising recipes and luxurious ingredients from Classical Greece and ancient Rome. Where do lore, myth...

Hello! I'm Thom Ntinas and I delve into archaeogastronomy for reasons of greed (mainly!) but also curiosity about the foods of our ancestors, and how little or much our taste buds, ingredients and methods have changed, since the dawn of the civilisation! Feasting was an important activity of the ancient Greeks and in general of all the Aegean societies and I believe in our modern day and age these...

This is 'The Delicious Legacy' Podcast and I'm Thom Ntinas! The first episode here is a personal journey and an introduction to the world of ancient cooking. Specifically what caught my eye from the foods and ingredients of Ancient Greece and Rome from 2500 years ago, and why I started cooking it! What foods did our ancestors eat? How did it all begin? Why am I so hooked on ancient recipes and ing...