Edible History (and more)

I am open to interesting creative collaborations!!!

The Edible History Project is a sequence of historical dinners and food talks. The 2011 series took place at Evmaros Cultural Associaton (Athens).

a) Going Hellenistic (Friday, November 19): Flavors and tastes of what rich and fashionable Hellenistic Greek society might have eaten.

 The dinner~

When Macedonian Caranous gave his wedding banquet, early in the third century, only 20 men attended as his guests. As soon as they had sat down, a silver bowl was given to each of them as a present.
When they had drunk the contents of the bowls, then there was given to each of the guests a loaf of bread on a bronze platter of Corinthian workmanship, of the same size; and chickens, ducks, pigeons, and a goose and lots of other items. Each guest took the food and gave it, platter and all, to the slave who waited behind him. Many other elaborate dishes were also served. And after them, another platter came, this one was made of silver, on which was placed a large loaf, and on that geese and hares and kids, bread curiously made, and doves, and turtledoves, and partridges, and a great abudance of many other kinds of birds..... TO LEARN MORE ABOUT THE DINNER PLEASE CLICK HERE




b) Going Byzantine: A glimpse into the diet of the rich and poor of Constantinople in Komninoi time (11th – 12th century AD) (Saturday, January 15, 2011).

 

As the capital of a powerful and rich empire, Constantinople was a bustling city of a population from 100.000 to 500.000 people, centre of the domestic and foreign trade of the Byzantine state.* Grain, wine, salt, meat, cheese, vegetables and fruits flowed from the provinces into its markets. From the 9^th until the late 12^th century the capital was also a most important entrepôt of the eastern and northern luxury trade. Spices and high -luxury foods (like black caviar) were imported.

Merchants on a boat. Early 11th century, Cynegetica.

Of course, luxury foods were cherished so dearly by both poor and rich, though only the wealthy landowners, the officials of the state and church and the rich members of the new urban middle class, the "mesoi", could afford them. The "mesoi" were for the most part traders, craftsmen and businessmen and bankers but some of them made a considerable fortune and enjoyed their purchasing power demanding fine quality foods.**For a wealthy merchant the entry into elite was the ideal. Where this was impossible he emulated the tastes of the aristocrats, food included.

 

IN A FEW WORDS

If the hagiographers of 11th and 12th century maintained the traditional ideal of fasting, less conservative sources give a wealth of information about both the increased interest on eating and the greater availability of foodstuffs. The variety of vegetables, fruits and condiments- black pepper, caraway, honey, olive oil, vinegar, salt, mushrooms, celery, leeks, lettuce, chicory, spinach, turnips, eggplant, cabbage, white beets, almonds, pomegranates, nuts, apples, lentils, raisins, etc. -listed as food of the poor of Constantinople by Prodromοs (d. c. 1166, Poèmes prodr. nο.2.38-45) mirrors both the interest on good eating and the availability of dishes. Of course above all, the food in Constantinople of Komnenoi existed as a synthesis of what had gone before, but a synthesis enriched by new ingredients and many innovations.

The "Byzantine dinner" menus

MENU of the rich

sfungaton (spongy omelette)

apaki

wine flavoured pork liver

rabbit cooked with red wine and spikenard

roast pork basted with a mixture of vinegar and honey

silignites, a very white wheat bread

rice and honey pudding

quince spoon sweet

konditon

thassorofon

MENU of the poor

capers in honey - vinegar sauce

black olives with mustard seeds

braised endives with garos and olive oil

cabbage with garos, olive oil and vinegar

fava made with black-eyed beans served with vinegar and honey

different kinds of bread made with inferior grains or legumes

TO LEARN MORE ABOUT THE DINNER PLEASE CLICK HERE



c) To the prokritoi's taste: What did the Greek leading class of prokritoi eat in the Ottoman occupied Greece?

Edible Narratives: Food as symbol, as metaphor and allegory.

a) Edible carpeting: 4 Dinners for 15 people designed to interpret the act of Greek carpet making. The dinners took place at modern houses in Athens and at a traditional carpet workshop in Chania (Crete)


b) My life on a plate: exploring the immigrant experience and some of the influences of immigrants on cuisine.



Food in Art: A food and art project designed for schools and museums. The kids view artworks depicting cooked food and then eat the food that is contained in the artworks. Thus, other senses - such as smell and taste- are used in art education.

For information please contact mkavroulakis@gmail.com