The predynastic cuisine differed from later eating habits due to changes in climate. Egypt went from being a lush region to a drier climate. Initially, there was plenty of game such as antelope, gazelle, hippo, crocodile, ostrich, waterfowl, and fresh and saltwater fish. Smaller game like sheep, goats, cattle, and even hyenas were eaten. However, by dynastic times (around 3000 BC) the availability of game had decreased considerably and was by then primarily a sport of the affluent, even though small game often would supplement the diet of the poor. The New Kingdom was a period with innovations in diet due to foreign trade and warfare. Pomegranates were introduced and almonds were imported. It is also possible that apples and apricots were imported on a small scale, and by Greco-Roman times quinces, pears, plums, peaches, filbert, walnut, pine nut, and pistachios were introduced.
Honey was the primary sweetener, but was rather expensive. There was honey collected from the wild, and honey from domesticated bees kept in pottery hives. A cheaper alternative would have been dates or carob. There was even a hieroglyph (nedjem/bener) depicting a carob pod that bore the primary meaning of "sweet; pleasant." Oils would be made from lettuce or radish seed, safflower, ben, balanos and sesame. Animal fat was employed for cooking and jars used for storing it have been found in many settlements.
Meat came from domesticated animals, game and poultry. This possibly included partridge, quail, pigeon, ducks and geese. The chicken most likely arrived around the 5th to 4th century BC, though no chicken bones have actually been found dating from before the Greco-Roman period. The most important animals were cattle, sheep, goats and pigs (previously thought to have been taboo to eat). Beef was generally more expensive and would at most have been available once or twice a week, and then mostly for the royalty. However, excavations at the Giza worker's village have uncovered evidence of massive slaughter of beef, mutton and pork, such that researchers estimate that the workforce building the Great Pyramid was fed beef every day. Mutton and pork were more common. Poultry, both wild and domestic and fish were available to all but the most destitute. The alternative protein sources would rather have been legumes, eggs, cheese and the amino acids available in the tandem staples of bread and beer. Mice and hedgehogs were also eaten and a common way to cook the latter was to encase a hedgehog in clay and bake it. When the clay was then cracked open and removed, it took the prickly spikes with it.
Honey was the primary sweetener, but was rather expensive. There was honey collected from the wild, and honey from domesticated bees kept in pottery hives. A cheaper alternative would have been dates or carob. There was even a hieroglyph (nedjem/bener) depicting a carob pod that bore the primary meaning of "sweet; pleasant." Oils would be made from lettuce or radish seed, safflower, ben, balanos and sesame. Animal fat was employed for cooking and jars used for storing it have been found in many settlements.
Meat came from domesticated animals, game and poultry. This possibly included partridge, quail, pigeon, ducks and geese. The chicken most likely arrived around the 5th to 4th century BC, though no chicken bones have actually been found dating from before the Greco-Roman period. The most important animals were cattle, sheep, goats and pigs (previously thought to have been taboo to eat). Beef was generally more expensive and would at most have been available once or twice a week, and then mostly for the royalty. However, excavations at the Giza worker's village have uncovered evidence of massive slaughter of beef, mutton and pork, such that researchers estimate that the workforce building the Great Pyramid was fed beef every day. Mutton and pork were more common. Poultry, both wild and domestic and fish were available to all but the most destitute. The alternative protein sources would rather have been legumes, eggs, cheese and the amino acids available in the tandem staples of bread and beer. Mice and hedgehogs were also eaten and a common way to cook the latter was to encase a hedgehog in clay and bake it. When the clay was then cracked open and removed, it took the prickly spikes with it.
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