Thu, Aug-22-13, 16:03
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Experimenter
Posts: 25,865
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Plan: DDF
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BF:
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Location: San Diego, CA
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Stone Age Chefs Spiced Up Food Even 6,000 Years Ago
Stone Age Chefs Spiced Up Food Even 6,000 Years Ago
Quote:
Pottery shards that date back to about 6,000 years ago — or right before farming was well-established in northern Europe — contain microscopic fossils of crushed mustard seeds, archaeologists report this week in the journal PLOS One.
"It's the earliest known use of spice," says the University of York's Hayley Saul, who led the study.
The tiny black seeds have a hot, wasabi-like flavor, but they have negligible nutritional value. So the only reason they would end up in a Stone Age crockpot is for taste and flavor, Saul says.
In other words, eating wasn't just about getting calories for hunter-gatherers in northern Europe. "They were definitely valuing the flavor in the food, too," Saul tells The Salt. "Cooking and producing food was a very creative process for them."
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