r/AskFoodHistorians

Did they come directly from Denmark, or via the USA (or elsewhere) when did they come and were they in any way different from what we now call a pain aux raisins?

Thank you

Let’s assume I keep a strictly kosher diet. What is my bread like? Do I have access to kosher wine or am I making it by myself? What vegetables am I growing in my garden

In general I'm curious about ancient salad dressing.

I was wondering how a grain that has to be so highly processed before consumption as wheat was domesticated and its processing discovered. Domestication would make sense if it could be consumed raw and then other uses were found.

Thanks and sorry for the corny title 🙈.

Cabbage, lettuce, etc.

For most of human history (and still in many places today) it was a challenge to provide enough food to keep people alive and give them enough energy to work to contribute to society. That being said, why did we ever grow crops with little or no caloric value? Given all of the time and effort it takes to do so, it's a net negative expenditure of energy and a terrible return on investment. I know those foods sometimes have other nutritional benefits, but those are low on the list of priorities when you're just trying to give the most amount of fuel to the most amount of people.

In your country, are there traditional dishes that people still associate with regional identity or historical traditions? Why are they important?

What does a traditional dish from your country mean to you?

Is it something you eat regularly, a special occasion food, or more of a traditional dish that people know about but don't actually eat very often?

I'm a Japanese middle school student doing a school presentation about European food culture, and I'm interested not only in the history of traditional dishes, but also in how people today actually perceive and eat them.

I'd love to hear from people from different European countries or people who have grown up with these foods. What does this dish represent to you? Has the way you eat it or think about it changed over time?

I'd also be interested to know whether there are any common misconceptions foreigners have about this dish or your country's food culture.

I've been looking through old menus and noticed that under "Entremêts" there will often be two or so sweet dishes. Since someone of these menus end with entremêts, I assumed they were dessert. However some more elaborate menus list entremêts, then sometimes ices (which i get, ice creams were considered a separate kind of dessert), and THEN "dessert", under which then nothing is listed. So, which is the dessert course? And why is nothing usually listed under dessert?

I am talking specifically about the time right before the discovery of the new world and food that comes with it and the decline in the cultural use of spices after control of the spice trade, around 1300-1500 CE. I always wondered, was the aristocratic food relational with aristocratic south asian cuisine with high use of spices with meat, or something else? also specifically looking for information regarding italy (specficially central-northern like Genoa or Venice)

I am looking to make the festival as authentic as I can. I want it to feel like the magic is real. In order to do that, I am hoping to serve food from the Middle Ages. I have a recipe of pottage to try out. What food did the peasants eat for celebrations or village gatherings in the Middle Ages?

However, I need foods that are alpha gal friendly, so no mammal meat or dairy.

All help welcome! 🙏

After binging documentaries about ancient Greece, I was surprised to discover a lack of "common-folk recipes" from Grecian writers. From what I can tell, most literature originating from pre-Hellenistic eras just reference dishes rather than describe them. Do we actually know of any written recipes for common staples, and if not, why?

I know that's a big ask, especially without providing specific timeframes or regions. I'm particularly interested in the Classical Period, but if we know of anything older I'd love to learn about it.

I've always been amused by the fact that the phrase "drinking the kool-aid" caught on, even though it was technically Flavor-aid infamously used at Jonestown. Are there any stories about how Kool-aid's execs have tried to combat this reputation? Are they still fighting it or do they just ride the "any publicity is good publicity" wave?

I'm mostly a medical historian, so the nature of my research has been trying to figure what people considered beneficial in coffee. Like the health properties? I know the big one I keep finding over and over is energy. But I haven't found anything else...well other then all of the lawsuits over the centuries against caffeine, which have been entertaining, I'm not complaining 🤣

Has anyone else looked into this? What are some of the reasons you've found people listed for drinking coffee? The nature of my research is American, up to about the 1930s.

Hola, estoy escribiendo una historia de fantasía medieval, me gusta incluir realismo aunque sea fantasía, como flora y fauna, vestimenta y estructuras.

Tambien me gusta la idea de dibujar platillos y comida, estaba pensando en poner mis platillos favoritos y agregar alguna cosa inventada pero como dije me gusta el realismo, quiero que la gente que lo vea quiera hacer el platillo.

Por eso pregunto por sugerencias, alguna recomendación o simplemente consultar del tema.

Gracias de antemano.

I love historical cooking and am a lacto-ovo vegetarian.

Can anyone recommend cookbooks that are either wholly or mostly vegetarian?

I have a few 1920-1930s books that have small sections for meatless recipes. I have heard there was a meatless cookbook written towards the end of the American Civil War, but I don't have that one or know the title (or if it's been reprinted).

I'd be interested in books from any era before the 1960s or region, as long as the books are available in English.

Thanks.

These are cooking spices I think of when I automatically think of New England

Was there a system? A pool of volunteers? Did they take a vote, or seek council from others among them? Don’t know if there’s any record of this, but always been curious.