A Forgotten Empire - Foods of Ancient Carthage

The centre of Mediterranean. The true centre of the ancient world. The Phoenicians, from what is modern day Lebanon, from a small coastal strip of land, sailed away and never looked back! They and their descendants went further away than any other ancient civilization perhaps even circumnavigated Africa westwards as fasr south as Gabon in the equator! They also gave us the alphabet! Greeks, Etruscans and Romans then adopted it and we're still using it to this day. it's rather tragic then, that we don't have almost nothing surviving from their libraries and their literature and of course their foods and recipes.Carthage was perhaps the most significant culture connecting the far west of the Med -even beyond the pillars of Hercules- with the East; Mesopotamia and even beyond. True sailors, navigators, explorers and merchants perhaps are somehow forgotten in our age -unfairly in our opinion- about their contributions to the worlds history.In today's episode we explore the agricultural impact, the foods and important discoveries that played a significant role in the rise of the first truly global trade network in the ancient world.Is there anything surviving from the golden era of Carthage that tells us about their food?Greeks and Romans followed where the Phoenicians and Carthaginians lead the way.To support the podcast go to Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thedeliciouslegacyMusic by Pavlos Kapralos.Enjoy!Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/the-delicious-legacy. If you love to time-travel through food and history why not join us at https://plus.acast.com/s/the-delicious-legacy. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Om Podcasten

A Greek Gourmand, travels through time...Imagine yourself dining with Socrates, Plato, or Pythagoras! What tasty morsels of food accompanied the conversations of these most significant minds in Western philosophy?Now picture yourself as you sat for a symposium with Cicero, or Pliny the Elder or Julius Caesar. The opulent feasts of the decadent Romans!Maybe, you're following Alexander the Great during his military campaigns in Asia for ten years. Conquering the vast Persian empire, while discovering new foods. Or try and picture the richness of fruits and vegetables in the lush Hanging Gardens of Babylon.What foods did our ancestors ate?How did all begin? Who was the first to write a recipe down and why? Sauces, ingredients, ways of cooking. Timeless and continuous yet unique and so alien to us now days. Staple ingredients of the Mediterranean world -as we think now- like tomatoes, potatoes, rice, peppers, didn't exist. What did they eat? We will travel far and wide, reconstructing the diet, the feasts, the dishes of a Greek Philosopher in a symposium in Athens, or a Roman Emperor or as a rich merchant in the last night in Pompeii.....Lavish dinners, exotic spices, so-called "barbaric" traditions of beer and milk, all intertwined...Stay tuned and find out more here, in 'The Delicious Legacy' Podcast!Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/the-delicious-legacy. If you love to time-travel through food and history why not join us at https://plus.acast.com/s/the-delicious-legacy. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.