Take the samosa - or, if you like, sambusah, sambusa, or samasa. But while specific foods may have been born in particular regions, trade and conquest soon spread them to other cultures. Miller’s search for ancient edibles takes him around the globe, to the historical empires of Asia, the Middle East, Europe, and the Americas. “He convinced Drusus (Julius Caesar) the son of Emperor Tiberius, to shun cabbage sprouts and cabbage tops, as they were fit only for the common folks, and instead urged his guests toward flamingo tongue, or pork liver from a pig fed on the finest dried figs and made to get drunk on honeyed wine on its way to slaughter.”Įasily influenced foodies followed his instructions, but there may be more pleasure in the old snob’s simpler recipes - like mussels steamed with leeks, two kinds of wine, herbs, and cumin (and that inescapable fish sauce). “When it came to dictating what was and was not acceptable to eat for the upper classes, Apicurus’ word was practically law,” Miller writes.
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