The ancient Egyptian's diet consisted of a vast amount of grains, fish, vegetables, and fruits. They enjoyed beef and other red meats very much, but the common people could not afford them. The arid land made it very hard to raise grazing animals such as cows, therefore, beef was very expensive and only eaten at special banquets. The primary food of their diet was grain, because it could be used for many different purposes.
Grains offered an endless supply of food to the ancient Egyptians and could be stored with little spoiling. The grain raised in ancient Egypt was taken and stored in local community granaries. The grain could be used for making bread, pastries, and cakes. The process of turning the grain into usable flour was a long and daily process. The grain first had to be pounded, and then ground. The ground grain would be put into a simple mill that would refine the grain even more until it become the consistency of flour. Sour dough was often used in replacement of yeast, and even barm from the last brewing of beer would be used as a replacement. The breads would be flavored by adding honey, fruits, nuts, and oils to the dough before baking.
Fruits and vegetables were a major part of the Egyptian's diet. They could also be grown all year around because of the hot climate and irrigation. The vegetables grown included leeks, onions, garlic, cucumbers, lettuce, cabbage, radishes, and raphanus, a wild radish, to just name a few. Onions and garlic were a major part of their diet because they believed they were especially good for your health. Cabbage was considered to be a delicacy, boiled and eaten before the rest of the meal. Green vegetables were offen served with an oil and vinegar dressing to enhance the flavor. Few fruits could be grown in Egypt because of the hot arid climate, the most popular that did grow were grapes, figs, pomegranates, melons, and dates. Olives could not be grown and were imported for oil. The rich could have other fruits imported such as coconuts, peaches, cherries, and pears, but the common people barely saw these fruits. Some of the imported fruits did become a staple of the region, such as the apple and peach.
Fish, just like grain, was a part of most Egyptian's daily diet. Eating fish was shunned by some of the upper class Egyptians, and fish was never used as a grave offering. Throughout the history of ancient Egypt the eating of some fish was outlawed. Fish was served boiled, fried, roasted, or dried. Drying ws done by lying the meat in the sun, because this was the easiest way to preserve the food.
Meat was eaten by the common people only on special occasions, because of the high price and scarceness of cattle. The rich could afford to have meat with every meal, and did so. The different kinds of meat include beef, pork, geese, duck, various birds, sheep, and goats. Meat would be prepared in many different fashions like boiling for stew, roasting, salting, drying, and smoking.
Honey was a great addition to the Egyptians diet, used for many different applications. It was commonly used as a substitute for sugar, and would be added to different breads and cakes to enhance their sweetness. Honey was also used in many different medicines, because it was believed to have healing powers. The bee's wax was also used for mummification, medicines, ship building, and for other bonding purposes.
HONEY OMELETTE \
4 eggs
275 ml milk
15ml olive oil
45ml honey
pepper
Mix eggs, milk and oil together, pour into frying pan that has been preheated with a little oil and, thoroughly cook on one side. Turn out onto plate, pour the warmed honey over the omelette, sprinkle with pepper, and serve hot.
SWEET WINE CAKES
430g flour
15ml sweet white wine
Pinch of cumin
Pinch of aniseed
50g animal fat
25g finely chopped cheese
1 beaten egg
12 bay leaves.
Add wine to flour, also the cumin and aniseed. Rub in the fat, cheese and bind with the egg. Shape mixture into 12 small cakes and place each one on a bay leave. Bake for about 25-30 minutes at 400F (200C, Gas mark 6)
HONEY CAKES
These can be made from the above recipe using any left over sweet wine cakes. Remove stale crusts, put the remaining cakes into an oven proof dish and steep them in milk. Cook at 350F (180C, gas mark 4) for twenty minutes. Warm 45ml of honey and pour over the cooked cakes, pricking the surface so the honey can be readily absorbed. Finally sprinkle with pepper and serve.
LEAVEN
Taking a small quantity of barley flour mix it with warm water and make a dough shaped into a round mound. Indent in the centre, approximately half the way through, and mark it with a cross using a knife. Place the dough on a plate and fill the dent with water. Leave this in a warm place for a few days to ferment and the dough will split open like a overripe fruit. The dough is then ready to use as yeast to make bread.
TIGER NUT SWEETS
200g of fresh dates are blended with a little water. Then add a little cinnamon and chopped walnuts to taste. Shape into balls, coat in honey, ground almonds and serve.
HUMMUS
225g chickpeas
2 tbs. of wine vinegar
3 cloves of garlic
5 tbs. sesame seed oil
1 tsp. salt
Cook and mash the chickpeas, add lemon juice, chopped garlic and sesame seed oil to make this tasty paste to spread on bread, as popular in Egypt today as it was thousands of years ago.
More About Ancient Egyptian Diet
References:
Pharaonic Egypt. Food. December, 2 2002. <http://www.reshafim.org.il/ad/egypt/timelines/topics/food.htm
Egyptian ancient society. Food. December, 2 2002.
http://www.aldokkan.com/society/food.htm
Tour Egypt. Recipes. December, 2 2002.
http://www.touregypt.net/recipes/
Ancient Nile. Recipes. December, 2, 2002.
http://www.ancientnile.co.uk/recipes.html
Written By: Mitch Oachs, 2002
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