Tasting the Past, Recipes from Antiquity by Jacqui Wood is a magical book. A real page

turner for many reasons. Without stating the obvious, it shows us what we used to eat, and

when we started eating certain foods. Britain has been influenced by many other countries

over the years. France, Italy, Germany and other further away places. The invasions of

Romans, Saxons, Vikings and Normans brought with them their cultures and food. Spice

from the crusades must have been an amazing addition to a possibly bland dish, but only for

those who could afford them. And of course, the British colonies introduced us to new foods,

The Civil War brought restrictions and eating a mince pie on Christmas Day was against the

law! Georgians took on chocolate and coffee with gusto but it was the Victorians who

seemed to bring all this together, truly global, I suppose.

This book provides us with some great recipes from our past, perhaps avoiding dishes we

won’t ever cook such as cows udders and stuffed fish heads. There are some good ideas

here that I will be stealing, and I will use this book for reference as I grow greyer and greyer.

Fascinating reading beans and peas were eaten by the Celts. Herbs were used a lot and

foraged items too, like ramsons and wild garlic for flavour. Interesting to read that pigeon,

and black and red grouse carcasses were found in a midden in Glastonbury during the Iron

Age. We use a lot of pigeon today. The Romans ate well it seems with plenty of stews using

lamb, lentils and lots of fruits. But the first Christmas feasts were Roman, as it was banned in

the first few centuries here. And jumping around a bit, cooking food in clay seemed all the

rage in Iron Age times, a method used today, but in a salt pastry crust. With so much to talk

about in this book, its best you just go and buy a copy, it really is very interesting reading.