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 Tac ..read more

Ninkasi, you are the one who pours out the filtered beer of the collector vat, It is (like) the onrush of the Tigris and the Euphrates. Hello! The lines above are from a brilliant Assyrian hymn to the Goddess of the brewing process: Ninkasi. Also a good set of instructions on how to make beer! Aside from beer, there are many other inventions that Sumerians are credited with. But there is not enough time in my lifetime to write everything about Mesopotamian food! From Sumerians, to Akkadians to Assyrians and Babylonians, we're talking about civilizations and empires that lasted roughly four ..read more

Deep in a mountain in the Pontic Alps, North-East Turkey, there's a monastery reminiscent of Tolkien's Minas Tirith; the seven-walled fortress city built on the spur of a mountain. Nestled in a steep cliff at an altitude of about 1,200 metres (3,900 ft) and facing a beautiful wooded mountain valley is Panayia Soumela Greek Orthodox monastery, dedicated to Virgin Mary. This is the heartland of the Pontic Greeks. And my journey today begun from a church with the same name, near my home town of Veria, in Northern Greece, 1800 Km away from Trabzon, deep in a forested mountain on a similar altitude ..read more

Hello....! Who hasn't heard of feta cheese among us? Now I'm not saying that you necessary need to like it, but most of us know about this white, tangy & salty Greek cheese served with your Greek salad on your favourite holiday destination. But is the feta cheese we eat a "fait accompli"? (or feta accompli?) What is Sfella or "Feta of the Fire"? On today's episode we look at the facts currently and finds out that this is by far not the truth. A lot of deception happens from the rugged mountains in the north west of Greece till the final product reaches your table in faraway lands... Here ..read more

Helloooooo...! Easter in UK and Western Europe (Catholic or otherwise) is nearly upon us! Traditionally the most important celebration of Christianity. On this episode from the archives, from April 2020, I'm re-publishing the episode about Eastern Orthodox Easter where I describe in some general terms what is happening during the Lent and Easter Sunday. As is the most important date of the religious calendar and as such, is celebrated in style! The Lent lasts 40 days and then follows the Holy Week (another lent period) and the the Easter Sunday celebrations! What is tsoureki? What do the Gree ..read more

Hello! Welcome back to another archaeogastronomical adventure! I think you'll enjoy this one! Sweet and complex and full of myths, legends and symbolism! Honey is a revered food the world over and bees a sacred and important insect. Let's find out about the first ever apiary, the ancient egyptian practises, mesopotamian myths and ancient greek myths of honeybees. Plus why the Romans hated Sardinian honey so much?  Enjoyyyy! Thom & The Delicious Legacy Music by Pavlos Kapralos. Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/the-delicious-legacy. If you love to time-travel through food ..read more

Hello! I have a genuinely exciting episode from the archives of The Delicious Legacy! Even though this is a re-run I have added some extra bits on the intro and outro with bonus ancient recipes! And it's massive! Labyrinth, Minotaur, Talos, and many other myths and legends, Gods and kings and pirates and poets! This is the sun-kissed, sea-guarded Crete everybody! I had the great honour to talk with food archaeologist Jerolyn Morrison who is in the island of Crete. For the almost 3 decades now, with teams of dedicated, hard working archaeologists from different fields, she explores and excav ..read more

Hello! Self-Exploding nuts! Now this is fact for the ages! Sadly they haven't been used as a weapon in the ancient past so I can't claim it's known for millennia.. But...Pistachios! Evidence so far points to farmers having domesticated the pistachio during the first millennium BCE “somewhere within its wild range,” which spanned southern Central Asia, including Tajikistan, Uzbekistan as well as northern Iran and northern Afghanistan. But how did they spread throughout the world? And where can we find the best tastiest ones? And a little bonus on the history of peanuts, another misunderstood ..read more

A huge volcanic explosion... An city buried under tonnes of pumice and ash... No, we are not talking about Pompeii or Herculaneum, but another place and volcano, at least one thousand five hundred years before... An island civilization destroyed by a cataclysmic eruption around 1600 BCE, roughly 3600 years ago! Akrotiri, a town on the Greek island of Thera, (what we call now Santorini) was buried and forgotten till the 20th century. This unfortunate event for the Minoans, was great luck for us, as archaeologists unearthed an almost intact city. Amongst the many discoveries were many frescoes ..read more

Hello! According to some definitions, "Globalisation is a term used to describe how trade and technology have made the world into a more connected and interdependent place." But this is not a new phenomenon. For many centuries, this process was happening driven partly or mostly because of the lust for spices. Rare, highly prized and expensive. Today we will explore the history of three of these spices which are so important to the story of our globalised world. But most importantly this story is also a story of the Spice Islands; Deep in Indonesia, there where the amazing local sailors and mer ..read more