Food is one of the basic human needs. Its preparation is one of the most important areas of human activity. The history of the development of culinary skills is inextricably linked with the development of civilization, the emergence of various cultures.
First experiments
The art of cooking, the history of which is discussed in this article, originated along with human civilization. The researchers found that already an ancient man, who did not yet know how to make fire, began to mix various ingredients. Our ancestors liked to eat some plants together with meat, others ate with larvae, and still others acted as an independent dish.
The role of the invention of fire
The brain of a primitive man required high-calorie food for full functioning. Before fire was first invented, man ate roots, fruits, raw meat. Culinary history researchers believe that nobody invented fried meat on purpose. Animals that died during the fires were simply more to the taste of primitive people. They tasted better and were digested faster.
In the history of the development of cooking, a new stage began with the invention of fire. Food is no longer dangerous. The high temperature that the ingredients were now treated with helped destroy dangerous helminth larvae. In addition to fried meat, people began to bake fish and cakes on coals. With the advent of fire, there was also a leap in the development of agriculture and animal husbandry.
Forerunner of bread
Scientists also discovered that primitive people ate a special dish, which they conventionally called "polenta". It looks like a Romanian hominy. Polenta was later adopted by Roman soldiers. To prepare this dish, water was mixed with seeds of various herbs. Then the seeds were crushed to obtain a homogeneous paste. The resulting mass was fried on stones until it was covered with a golden crust on top. It is believed that this is how the first bread appeared.
Drinking of ancient people
The first drink of ancient people was milk. At first, it was given only to children to stimulate growth. But raw milk was not always useful, because after drinking it there was a risk of contracting various infections. In some cases, this resulted in death.
Hunters in ancient times rarely stayed in one place. They constantly wandered from one territory to another, and therefore did not store milk or other liquids. The same tribes that led a settled way of life faced epidemics due towater pollution.
Cultural exchange and cooking
Then things changed when people began to use s alt, sugar and various spices. Each nationality has its own culinary passions, which were passed down during travels and geographical discoveries. For example, the viking campaigns of the Vikings to the south, the creation of the Great Silk Road, became important events for the history of culinary. Cultures began to mix, habits were adopted. There is still no consensus on who first came up with the idea of creating pasta, ice cream and other dishes.
Where was flour invented?
Those who are interested in the history of the origin of cooking often ask this question, because flour is one of the oldest fundamental ingredients in any kitchen. As for flour, as a rule, the championship is awarded to three states - China, Italy and Egypt.
By and large, any of them could become the discoverer of these dishes. Dried pieces of dough were the forerunners of pasta, in the past they were the most optimal food for travelers. After all, they are not subject to spoilage, and by cooking them, you can quickly satisfy your hunger.
Rich Eastern cuisine
Historians suggest that culinary art first reached its peak among the Persian peoples, the Babylonians, and also the ancient Jews. While the neighbors of the listed nationalities were forced to be content with a modest cuisine, their eastern comrades had long inventedmany different dishes.
The first of those who succumbed to the temptation of Eastern traditions were the inhabitants of Ancient Greece, who had close contact with the listed countries. Gradually, the Greeks began to adopt luxurious gastronomic traditions, and later even surpassed them. Then the culinary relay race was transferred to Ancient Rome. Historians believe that it was the Greeks who first began to record culinary recipes. At first, doctors did this, creating special culinary drawings for diets and investigating the benefits or harms of certain foods. And after a while there were also literary sources. Entire books about the culinary arts began to be created. They were written by such authors as Homer, Plato, Herodotus and many others.
During ancient Greece, cooking was a purely feminine affair. The mistress of the house and all the slaves in it disposed of the kitchen. Until the beginning of the 4th century, male cooks simply did not exist. Only for very large feasts were male chefs invited.
The sad story of Mytaikos, the Greek chef
In the history of cooking, an interesting case is described, connected with a certain Mitaikos. He was one of the first authors of books on culinary arts. In the 4th century, he came to Sparta to demonstrate his incredible skills there. But he was simply expelled from the country, because Mitaikos tried to accustom the Spartans to gourmet dishes. And excesses, even in food, were condemned in Sparta. The hapless chef had to leave the country.
Early Greek cuisine
The food of the inhabitants of Ancient Greece was not luxurious. According to culinary history, an Athenian's daily lunch looked something like this: 2 sea urchins, 10 oysters, some onion, a piece of s alted sturgeon, and a slice of sweet pie. Lunch could have been: hard-boiled eggs, small birds roasted on a spit, a few pieces of honey biscuits.
Food storage
When they began to invent masterpieces of culinary skills, for the first time the acute question arose about the possibility of their storage. This issue was resolved only in the era of technological progress. Until that time, people had to go to various tricks to keep food at least for a short period of time. Food was kept in cellars, food was canned. Smoking and s alting were popular. To preserve meat and fish, they were sprinkled with salicylic acid.
Vegetable oil was poured into dark glass bottles. A small amount of vodka was poured on top. She did not allow air to penetrate into the vessel, which increased the shelf life. Our ancestors kept sauerkraut for a very long time - until the next summer. To preserve the product, it was enough to stick a birch stick into the tub. Even champignon mushrooms were stored for several years. For this purpose, they were filled with dilute sulfuric acid. If necessary, the mushrooms were removed and washed. Cucumbers were placed in clay pots, sprinkled with sand and buried in the ground - so they could be stored for up to several months. This is briefly, but in the history of cookingthere are dozens more ways to save cooked food.
From the history of Russian cuisine
The researchers call the period from the 10th to the 16th century the time of the emergence of Russian cuisine. Conventionally, this time is called Old Russian cuisine. At this time, a large number of dishes made from yeast dough arose. The "head" of the then Russian cuisine was rye bread, which to this day does not disappear from the tables of our contemporaries. This bread is considered very useful for those who are on a diet for both weight loss and he alth improvement.
The first stage in the history of culinary in Russia was characterized by the appearance of almost all currently known national flour dishes. These are pies, donuts, pancakes, pancakes. At that time, all kinds of kissels were very popular - oatmeal, rye, and also wheat. Now they are very rare, more famous today are berry kissels.
Porridges have always been famous, considered both an everyday dish and a festive one. Mushrooms, vegetables, fish were served with them. As for meat products, they rarely met on the tables of ancient Russian cuisine. Of the drinks, the most common were kvass, sbiten.
Lenten dishes were also popular, as most of the days of the year, ordinary people did not eat fast food. All sorts of spices were often used in cooking: onion, garlic, horseradish and others. Gradually, imported products and seasonings began to be used.
Class stratification andkitchen features
The next stage in the history of Russian culinary development falls on the 16th-17th centuries. One of the main features of this time is that the dishes began to differ in accordance with the classes of society. The boyars had the opportunity to eat more sophisticatedly, and simple, poor people were content with ordinary dishes. Among the nobility, meat dishes became popular: fried pork and lamb, ham, poultry.
Then the Russian table gradually began to be enriched with dishes of oriental cuisine, which is associated with the accession to Russia of such peoples as the Tatars and Bashkirs. Tea and candied fruits, cane sugar appeared on the tables. But all these innovations were available only to the we althy stratum of the population. The peasants did not have the opportunity to eat like that. While the nobility spent eight hours a day at the dinner table, the average person could not dream of such variety even in their wildest dreams.
As for the subsequent stages of the history of world cuisine, at that time there was a borrowing of dishes from Western and Eastern cuisines. A significant contribution was made by culinary masters from Germany and France. Their dishes were brought to Russia as curiosities.
Currently, the cuisine of each country is enriched with a variety of recipes. Thanks to globalization, people have the opportunity to enjoy dishes that have come to the culture of their country from the farthest corners of the globe.
