The Delicious Legacy

Hello! Have you heard of Avgotaraho and Trahana? Two very different, interesting ingredients and dishes from Greece's vast menu. Let me take you into a journey with the nomadic transhumanism shepherds of the Balkans and down to the labyrinthine lagoons and wetland of West Greece in Messolonghi where Lord Byron made a heroic last stance giving his life for Greece's independence and freedom. There a...

London. Mid eighteenth century. A busy, raucous city, capital of a growing economic power. Wars abroad. Art, theatre, music. Plotting. What better symbol of English manliness, in the face of all the difficulties, winning against all enemies, than beef? And what better meal than a steak? And where do you get your steak with your mates and your cigars and your politics and plotting? Welcome to the S...

FROM THE ARCHIVES Welcome back to another episode! An exclusive interview with author, food writer and all around brilliant human Sejal Sukhadwala, where we talk about Indian food, Indian history, the word curry, and the spread of said food but also Indian cuisine around the world and especially UK. We've met at the British Library Member's Area -hence the background chatter- and talking for nearl...

Hello my lovely archaeogastronomers! Today we'll explore the traditional Greek charcuterie, how is it made, what meat is used, and what continuation and connection has with the Byzantine and the ancient past. I grew up eating bacon, ham, salami (danish style, milano style) and not much in the more traditional local Greek charcuterie. We were never famed for it in our modern cuisine as one knows Gr...

Volcanoes... Ancient sacred rituals... Cheese matured at the bottom of wine barrels. Cheese steeped in olive oil for months. Today's adventure in the eastern Aegean islands of Greece, is an unusual one. The islands have their own unique, unusual and tasty cheeses that defy specific categorizations. Greece. Cheese. What can possibly else be said? Enjoy today's adventure! This weeks recommendations...

Hellenistic Egypt: A land of opportunity. A rich, ancient, fertile land where anything is possible. Hello! Welcome back to another episode of The Delicious Legacy Bustling and busy cities with their markets and food stalls, and sellers hollering theirs goods isn't a new phenomenon exclusive to our metropolis of New York or London. These markets and people existed as long as cities existed! But how...

From Neolithic hunter-gatherers, to ordering food via an app on our phone and getting delivered with our groceries the English Table went through an extraordinary travel. For access on the extra content subscribe on my Patreon page... Food writer legend. Award winning author. Editor at Penguin Publishing. The lady is extraordinary! Elizabeth David and Jane Grigson. Two names that might not resonat...

Hello! Fermented food is literally everywhere. Why do we love fermented foods so much? When did we start making them intentionally and crucially are they good for us? Today's special guest on the podcast is James Read, author of the book "Of Cabbages & Kimchi" James Read is on a mission to smuggle bacteria into our kitchens. In  Of Cabbages & Kimchi , he takes the ten greatest ‘living...

Hello! Sushi and sashimi are now global sensations. But how sushi begun? The book Oishii reveal the deep history of sushi which began perhaps in China and mostly as a sour fermented food. On this episode i have the honour to have as a guest Professor Eric C Rath of the University of Kansas to explain to us the history of sushi in Japan and how it conquered the world! Our discussion is based of cou...

Hello! In any discussion of French cheese, it is impossible to avoid that exasperated question from President De Gaulle "how can you govern a country that has more than 246 varieties of cheese?" I'm Thom Ntinas and this is The Delicious Legacy Podcast! This week, continuing our adventure with Ned, we taste and explore through the cheeses some forgotten corners of France and French history for that...

Cheese: A story of place and people. How is that cheese is so universal, yet so unique from one little place to the next few miles down the road? Ned went for an adventure all over France to find an answer on "what is French Cheese?" and "why do we love it so much?" while looking for the most representative cheeses that tell this story. Along the way, he discovered many more extraordinary and surp...

Hello! Autumn! The weather's finally turning and it's time to prepare the pickles, preserves and chutneys with the abundance of summer harvest! But what did our ancestors do to prepare for the long cold, dark northern winter months ahead? How did they survive the scarce food resources of Europe's dormant nature? What traditions and superstitions persisted through the ages? What food was eaten in M...

Hello! Welcome back to another archaeogastronomical adventure! Today's episode is all about ancient vegetarianism. And the philosopher Pythagoras is the central figure on all the stuff we talk today. Pythagoras, the father of mathematics, was born and raised in Samos. around 580BCE. Even though Pythagoras spent more than forty years in his birthplace, he eventually decided to set sail for new seas...

Hello! When did the word 'Barbecue' appeared in our language? As a technique it has been used under various guises from all humans, throughout the planet... This early appearance from 1709:  I have been often in their Hunting-Quarters, where a roasted or barbakued Turkey, eaten with Bears Fat, is held a good Dish; Or this from 1707 "The Three Pigs of Peckham, Broiled Under an Apple Tree" ...t...

Have you ever wondered how common or rare the ovens once were? What was the original mince pie? And what was the first EVER bread humankind invented? Hello! Welcome back to another archaeogastronomical adventure! Today I have as a guest an old friend of the podcast; Dr Neil Buttery and we have a good long chat about his new book, all about baking! The book will be released on 12th of September and...

What is with vinegar? Why it is so popular as an ingredient in our cooking? Why do we love the sour taste so much when mixed in our dishes? In the ancient Mediterranean vinegar was practically always made from wine, hence the epic epithet oininon oxos 'winy vinegar' employed by Archestratus. Vinegar is most often used as a culinary ingredient and as a preservative. Numerous medicinal uses are list...

Hello! Pickled food through the ages and continents! We will go to the ancient lands of China, India, Mesopotamia, Greece, and Rome, and through them to Persia, the Arab world, Spain and Latin America! I think a history of civilization is a history of pickles, and fermentation! Without fermentation we wouldn't have beer, wine, cheese, miso, kimchi. sauerkraut and pickled herrings! Where would we b...

Hello! With the arrival of the Olympic Games in Paris, we have a reached a peak of reminders of the ancient Greek Olympic games and with them, a tonne of misinformation and misconceptions about the ancient Olympians! Well, the most important thing, was left out however from most of these articles; The food and the drink and the partying in Ancient Olympia! What was it like? How did an ancient Olym...

Hello! Part two of our archaeogastronomical adventure is out! How the myth of Marco Polo bringing "pasta" back to Italy started? What's the truth behind it? What are the origins of tea and tea drinking ceremonies? How important are dairy products, milk and cheese in Chinese culinary history and what's the impact today? All this and a lot more on our episode today! Excited to have as a guest Profes...

Hello! Excited to have as a guest Professor Thomas DuBois introducing us to his new book, an adventure through China's culinary history "China in Seven Banquets, A Flavourful History" , published by Reaktion Books: https://reaktionbooks.co.uk/work/china-in-seven-banquets You can purchase Professor Thomas DuBois book from many online shops like here: h ttps://www.waterstones.com/book/china-in-seven...

Enjoy a nearly three thousand year exploration of Persian food, culture and inventions that made our culinary pleasures, even more pleasurable! Info if you want to find out about yakhtchal, the ancient Persian refrigerators check here; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yakhch%C4%81l The Shahnameh (“Book of Kings”) By Ferdowsi -the Persian epic poem https://sdbiblestudy.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/T...

An early fourteenth-century Baghdadi cookbook begins thus: “The pleasures of this world are six: food, drink, clothing, sex, scent, and sound. The most eminent and perfect of these is food, for food is the foundation of the body and the material of life.” What is a "rhyton"? What's a yakhtchal? And how is that Persian walled gardens are connected to Christian paradise? I am Darius, the great king,...

Hello! Burmese food writer turned activist MiMi Aye has been raising awareness about the crisis in Myanmar since the coup in February 2021. MiMi’s award-winning book ‘MANDALAY: Recipes & Tales from a Burmese Kitchen’ is loved by Nigella Lawson and was chosen by The Observer, The FT, and The Mail on Sunday as one of their Best Books of 2019. MiMi also co-hosts the food and culture podcast The M...

' Many other improprieties a good servant will avoid. ’ ... Rules for health, hygiene and manners in Middle Ages... Yes! They existed. People were worried about manners, and food poisoning and etiquette. Yes people washed their hands before they sat on the table. And much, much more! Listen to todays fascinating episode! Voiceover on "The babees book" by Lucy Davidson. https://www.linkedin.co...

Hello! Rice is a very ancient food…People ate rice perhaps from 12000 BCE gathered with other seeds and nuts. Today every third person on earth eats rice every day in one form or another. Rice is grown on about 250 million farms in 112 countries. But one dish more than any other, defines the global reach of rice and how it is claimed by many nations and has a deep, complex history: Biryani! From P...