Tag: farming

HOF Episode 27: A Day in the Life (of a Peasant Farmer)

Have you ever wondered if there’s more to history than dates and major events, what some of the stories and daily lives of regular people looked like? Do you need a reminder that history is populated with real people, who had lives just like we do?

Come take a sweeping journey back into the past as we explore the entire history of civilization, but on a more intimate level, examining as closely as we can the daily lives, challenges, and of course foods, of your average subsistence farmer living in any time and culture.

AVAILABLE ON ITUNES,   SPOTIFY, and GOOGLE PLAY.
Please leave a review to help spread the word!

Theme music by the incredible Michael Levy of Ancient Lyre.  “An Ancient Lyre” and much more is available from all major digital music stores and streaming sites.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Bret Devereaux, A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry; Bread: How Did They Make it

Rachel Laudan; Cuisine and Empire: Cooking in World History

Robert Garland Ph.D Colgate University; The Other Side of History: Daily Life in the Ancient World

Special thanks to the show’s patrons:

JAKE PENZELL
BENAY O’CONNELL
LILI
RASMUS
DUNCAN MCHALE
REBEKA DAVIDSON
HALEY LEWIS
DECEMBRIANA
ANNE URBANCIC
KAYKE J
RYAN GERRY
RYAN DE BOER
MELODY ROSS
AMY EDMUNDS

HOF Episode 24: The Feeling of Fullness (Sub Saharan Africa)

Is good cooking defined by ingredients, skill in preparation, style of cuisine, or is it something even more fundamental and deeply human?

We left out of Africa all the way back in Episode 1, and rarely looked back, but in this episode we finally return to the vast continent, specifically south of the Sahara desert, where more than any other qualities, feeling full and satisfied are what make a great meal, and a great chef is one who can evoke that feeling the most.

Come listen for this and other perspectives on food and dining we so rarely hear about in western history.

AVAILABLE ON ITUNES,   SPOTIFY, and GOOGLE PLAY.
Please leave a review to help spread the word!

Music from this episode: Traditional Nigerian as well as Zulu drums

Continue reading “HOF Episode 24: The Feeling of Fullness (Sub Saharan Africa)”

HOF Episode 18: Crusades and Plagues (later Middle Ages)

How did Europe get out of its dark ages? It’s not a wholesome story, as the secret to their success was mainly the conquest and plunder of other peoples’ luxury goods, namely their foods and spices. Classic Europe.

Would it surprise if I told you that the Black Death did a lot to help as well? Come take a culinary journey through the High and Late Middle Ages, and see why.

AVAILABLE ON SPOTIFY, ITUNES and GOOGLE PLAY.
Please leave a review to help spread the word!

Continue reading “HOF Episode 18: Crusades and Plagues (later Middle Ages)”

HOF Episode 17: The Power of Tradition (China revisited)

What makes humans special? What makes us rise above all the other animals across the planet, to discover and make great things? Before you answer with the obvious, ” our big brains and intelligence”, take a listen to this episode, for the surprising truth behind humanity’s success.

In short, it’s not smarts that drive us, but our rituals, myths, and superstitions. We find evidence for this in society’s all across the planet, but one place shows it better than any other. Come with me back to the far east, as we take a tour through the cities and restaurants of Medieval China, to explore the true power of our culture and traditions.

AVAILABLE ON SPOTIFY, ITUNES and GOOGLE PLAY.
Please leave a review to help spread the word!

Guzheng music for this episode performed by   musician Bei Bei in Los Angeles, California and by Sound of China Guzheng Instruments

Continue reading “HOF Episode 17: The Power of Tradition (China revisited)”

HOF Episode 3: Early Farming Around the World

Come travel around the world and follow the Neolithic cultures that spread across it, including very early farmers of Egypt, China, and Old Europe. Then come across the oceans to Mesoamerica, one of two places in the world civilization was invented from scratch, a whole society built on what became the number one crop of all time: corn.

At last, the third episode of the History of Food is here!

Come travel around the world and follow the Neolithic cultures that spread across it, including very early farmers of Egypt, China, and Old Europe. Then come across the oceans to Mesoamerica, one of two places in the world civilization was invented from scratch, a whole society built on what became the number one crop of all time: corn.

An, ahem, “ancient” poem about it:

Three beans for the Mayan Kings, under the sky
Seven squash for the Olmec lords, with their heads of stone
Nine avocados for Aztec men, doomed to die.
And one for the corn lord on his corn throne.

One crop to rule them all
One crop to find them
One crop to bring them all,
And in the milpa bind them.

Theme music by the incredible Michael Levy of Ancient Lyre. This rendition of the Hurian Hymn, the oldest known piece of sheet music, and the whole album “An Ancient Lyre” and much more is available from all major digital music stores and streaming sites.

AVAILABLE ON SOUNDCLOUD AND ITUNES.
Please leave a review to help spread the word!

Continue reading “HOF Episode 3: Early Farming Around the World”
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