A History of Food Culture in Ireland with Regina Sexton Part 1

Pomponius Mela, a Roman geographer, who hailed from the Roman province of Baetica (now Andalusia) in southern Spain writing in 43AD, he described the Ireland and Irish people as “a people wanting in every virtue, and totally destitute of piety”. And yet this country was so “luxuriant in grasses” that if cattle were “allowed to feed too long, they would burst”.Hello! The ancient Greek geographer and explorer Pytheas of Massalia while exploring north west Europe named the land of Ireland "Ierni" and from there Claudius Ptolemaeus ("Ptolemy") called the island Iouerníā . The Roman historian Tacitus, in his book Agricola (c. 98 AD), uses the name Hibernia. It meant "land of winter", and he modern name Eire derives from here.So today's episode, part 1, is all about the food history and food culture of ancient Ireland. I've talked with food historian Regina Sexton who is based in Cork to give me all the fascinating details of the rich ancient food history of Irish people.Regina Sexton is a food and culinary historian, food writer, broadcaster and cook. She is also a graduate of Ballymaloe Cookery School holding a Certificate in Food and Cookery. She is the Programme Manager of UCC's Post-graduate Diploma in Irish Food Culture. She has published widely at academic and popular levels. Her publications include A Little History of IrishFood (Gill & Macmillan, 1998) and Ireland’s Traditional Foods (Teagasc, 1997)I hope you'll enjoy my discussion with her and join me soon for part 2!See you soon,Thom & The Delicious LegacySupport 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.

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Imagine yourself dining with Socrates, Plato, or Pythagoras... maybe even Cicero and Julius Caesar...being a soldier marching with Alexander's the Great army in the vast Persian empire 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? Why am I so hooked on ancient recipes and ingredients? Is the food delicious? Wholesome? Do you need to know? I think so! Recipes, 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 and imagine how it was to eat like a Greek Philosopher in a symposium in Athens, as a Roman Emperor or as a rich merchant in the last night in Pompeii......Lavish dinners, exotic ingredients, barbaric elements, all intertwined...Stay tuned and find out more here, in 'The Delicious Legacy' Podcast!Find all out, right here!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.