If I were to have lived in ancient Egypt, what type of food would I eat regularly?

by [deleted]

[deleted]

cleopatra_philopater

Well I will try taking a crack at this one.

For most of Egypt's dynastic history, the general diet of the common man was probably fairly consistent. Breads and cakes made from barley, spelt or emmer wheat, as well as thick soupy beer, which might be likened to a shake more than a traditional ale, were important staples as they were by far the most widely cultivated crops and were prepared both domestically by homemakers and on a larger scale for sale. Grain pulses and porridges were also a cheap and filling staple that was easy to make.

The most common bread was round flatbread made of emmer or barley, these were sometimes sprinkled with seeds like sesame before baking. Cakes were also made and were flavoured with honey, palm nuts, tiger nuts, figs or dates to sweeten them, and apparently a kind of pastry was also made with a looser dough to produce a kind of pasta-like bread by flattening it out. In most households the bread and beer would be produced in house but for labourers on work sites these were prepared for them in nearby bakeries for just this purpose. The upper classes similarly would have had their food prepared for them as you can imagine.

A commonly invoked offering prayer for the soul asks for bread and beer in the afterlife, as the dead would still require nourishment, this inclusion also points to its importance in the Egyptian diet. That said, bread is basically the basic food in many cultures, and the Egyptian diet was much more varied than has been previously assumed.

Various other crops such as beans, peas, lentils, and onions made their way into pulses and soups. Lettuce, onions, garlic, cucumbers, and leeks were also an important part of the diet. (fun fact: Lettuce was considered an aphrodisiac because the variety found in Egypt was of a somewhat stiff phallic shape and it produced a milky latex when rubbed, it plays a role in several Egyptian myths because of this >_>) Vegetables were eaten raw, but also included in recipes such as pulses, soups, baked goods, cooked on their own, or in the stuffing of roasted birds or other small animals.

Mustard, cumin, flax, lotus, capers, tigernuts, sesame, palm nuts, origanum, aniseed and various flowers such as lotus were used in cooking as well. The main oils that you would have had access to would be olive, castor, safflower, linseed and sesame, although the last four would have been slightly more expensive. Figs, dates, grapes, olives, melons, and various berries were also cultivated. Honey was not just a sweet treat however, like many other culinary ingredients it was used extensively in medicine, and it gained increasing prominence as a preserving agent in the Hellenistic and Roman periods. In the Hellenistic and Roman periods peaches, apricots and plums would have brightened up the menu but were reasonably more expensive.

Cooking ware was often made of stone, such as pots, bowls, mortars and pestles, or some baking pans. Specialized clay ovens were made for bread, and pottery was used for storing food items. Bronze and iron was used for cauldrons, pots, pans, knives, and various other tools for baking but these were more likely to be found preparing the meals of a wealthy individual than in your hypothetical Egyptian villager's kitchen. Most likely you would have to settle for stone and earthenware cookware and flint knives, which were (and still sometimes are) astoundingly sharp mind you, as these were easy to make and inexpensive.

Despite the domestication of oxen, goats, cows, pigs, donkeys, sheep and antelope, livestock was eaten less often, and in particular cattle and pork was rarely consumed by the lower classes. It has been claimed that pork was never eaten in Egypt due to religious concerns although some parts were used in medicine but there is plenty of archaeological evidence for their consumption and it is possible that this taboo only applied for certain groups such as priests or in contexts such as offerings.

The preparation of meat was a familiar enough process: First, the animals legs would be bound and it would be brought to the ground, then another would man would cut its throat widely and allow the blood to drain, before flaying and gutting/cleaning. Once slaughtered, livestock would be butchered into cuts and joints of meat and roasted over fires or (less often) on a spit, grilled or most often boiled in large brazen pots and cooking vessels. Oxen were the primary source of beef, as unlike cows they were not valuable producers of dairy, and their tender meat and docile nature made them preferable to bulls or cows. Most people would have eaten these meats only rarely, but they are frequently attested to in sacrificial or feasting contexts.

Sources of large game included antelopes, gazelles and hippopotamus (yes, people do eat hippopotamus which apparently resembles pork). More common sources of meat were from fish like the Oxyrhyncus, carp, catfish, or Nile salmon, but eels were also consumed occasionally. Fish was typically dried or smoked to preserve it but was also prepared by boiling, and was caught in large nets designed for the purpose. Oh, and stuffed hedgehog was a thing, making Egyptian cuisine that much more exotic than Roman which featured...stuffed dormice.

In addition to domesticated poultry, water fowl such as geese, ducks and quails, were also often captured in nets or with throwsticks. These birds were stuffed, baked, roasted, grilled or boiled in a variety of ways as well as eggs being collected for hatching or cooking. Birds were usually slaughtered by strangulation and not drained of blood.

Thanks to cows, goats and sheep, we can add milk, butter, cheese, and cream to the list. Both archaeological and literary evidence supports the idea that dairy was an important part of the Egyptian diet from the Early Dynastic into the Roman period. Evidently milk was drunk and used in recipes but there were also apparently different types of cheeses the number of which only expanded over time but the Pharaoh probably would have been sampling a good deal more variety than that Egyptian everyman.

Wine was produced in Egypt but on a small scale relative to Greece or Italy, and Egyptian wine evidently had a poor reputation abroad. The way it was produced was by placing the juices of the grape into jars which were sealed with clay, allowing only a small hole(s) to allow gases to escape while fermenting and these were labeled with relevant information about the vintage. Higher quality wines were also imported, and both the importation of wine from Greece, Italy and the Near East and its domestic production increased during the Hellenistic era so if you were more of a wine drinker the reign of Cleopatra would be a better fit than the age of the pyramids. The vineyards planted and the wine produced was intended to resemble Greek cultivars more closely than Egyptian and much care was invested in them with some estate owners even importing vines for this purpose. Cleopatra herself apparently favoured Mareotic wine which was cultivated near Alexandria.

Now in the Hellenistic period this traditional cuisine stuck around, but now had to compete with new cultural influences, and pressure to cultivate new crops. There is papyrological evidence that tenant farmers were incentivised and/or pressured into raising new types of wheat such as Syrian wheat and durum which was of a higher quality and would sell better in place of emmer or barley. Alexandria in particular developed its own very distinct cuisine with strong elements of Greek, Roman and Egyptian culinary tastes. Ovens and grills of Greek style are naturally found in predominantly Hellenic settlements as the Graeco-Macedonian immigrants brought their traditional style of cooking with them. Known for its variety as well as its use of seafood Alexandrian cuisine was unsurprisingly cosmopolitan given the city's status as a commercial hub.

The Hellenistic upper class did not share the Egyptian disdain for pork which was not associated ir depicted in feasting scenes or literature as well as sacred settings. Plutarch in his Life of Marc Antony lists an anecdotal story told to him by his grandfather about his good friend who, being a physician to Antony's son, was invited into the kitchen which prepared one of Cleopatra's banquet dinners

Accordingly, he was introduced into the kitchen, and when he saw all the other provisions in great abundance, and eight wild boars a-roasting,

Not only a pig but a boar at that, which is not attested to as a game animal in pre-Hellenic Egypt, especially not that of the aristocracy. But given the boar's prominence in Greek and Roman culture this is hardly surprising.