At Table with the Lord: Foods of the First Century

By EG Lewis

Readers say — “A great read that makes the First Century come alive. I particularly liked the recipes”...“Everything is well-documented with surprising depth of detail. I feel like I’ve lived there alongside these ancient peoples.”...“This little book, so chocked full of information, is deeply-researched. Serious at times and humorous at others...” “A wonderful resource for the home-schooling Mom...”
Relying upon the Bible and extensive research for his popular Seeds of ChristianityTM Series, E. G. Lewis presents an interesting and informative study on foods, cooking and day-to-day life in the early Christian era. All major food groups are covered in the book with specific chapters devoted to Spices & Herbs, Fruits & Nuts, Grains, Vegetables, Salad Greens, Fish & Fowl, Meat, Milk & Cheese, Sweets and Sweeteners, and more. It even has one on What They Didn’t Have. Includes bonus chapters on Aviculture, Apiculture, Ancient Beers and Wines, Olive Oil, Manna, the Gladiator’s Diet and lots of Recipes you can try at home.

• Language: English
• Publisher: EG Lewis
• Release date: Nov 1, 2010
• ISBN: 9781452461212

EG Lewis

E. G. Lewis lived, worked, and traveled the back roads of Kentucky's Appalachian hill country for many years. Memories of this wonderfully wild place of mountains and hollows, creeks and rivers, with its hardscrabble life and whitboard churches became the inspiration for his novel Promises. A former newspaper editor and publisher, his articles have appeared in many national and regional magazines. He is the author of five novels and lives with his wife, also a writer, on the Southern Oregon Coast.

Book preview

At Table With the Lord

Foods of the First Century

by

E. G. Lewis

Published by Cape Arago Press

Copyright 2013 by E. G. Lewis

All rights reserved. Except for short phrases used in a review, no part of this book may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form without prior written permission.

Scripture texts are taken from the Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright 1952 [2nd edition, 1971] by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

1. History of Foods in Biblical Times

2. First Century Life

3. Early Christianity

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INTRODUCTION

Hello My Friend and welcome to this study of Foods of the First Century.

Some have asked about the title of this eBook. At Table is a common expression in a number of translations of the Bible. Although the NIV inserted the into the phrase for the benefit of modern ears, the RSV or Revised Standard Version uses at table exclusively. Mt 26:7 "…as he sat at table. Mk 14:18 And as they were at table… Lk 14:15 When one who sat at table with him heard this…" Jn 12:2 "…Lazarus was one of those at table…" The New American Bible also makes use of the term at table in the above chapters and verse.

One of my primary goals when creating The Seeds of Christianity™ Series was to portray the Holy Family, the Apostles and others as the real men and women they were rather than reverting to the stylized and idealized way they are typically represented. To do this required research into their dress, customs, foods, housing, social structure and day-to-day life. I happily share the fruits of my labor with you in the hope that knowing these unique individuals as real people will enhance your understanding of the New Testament era, deepen your faith, and lead to a greater appreciation of their remarkable achievements.

Each chapter has been re-edited, revised and expanded in light of new research. I would also like to emphasize that while our basic resource in this study is the Bible, we utilize it as a historical reference rather than a religious document and move freely between Old and New Testament, Jewish and Christian eras. We also use many other historical sources, archaeological discoveries and writings from the period.

It would have been easy to allow the multitude of facts and factoids to overwhelm this presentation. Hopefully, I’ve provided a sufficiently clear explanation while giving those interested in deeper study a good jumping off point. It’s my belief that our lives have much more in common with these First Century dwellers than is generally recognized. As much as possible I’ve tried to relate the ancient to the modern in an effort to bring things into better focus.

I hope you enjoy your time spent At Table with the Lord. For your enjoyment, I’ve included Bonus Chapters containing Ancient Recipes to try at home, insights into Aviculture, Apiculture, Ancient Beverages — Beer and Wine, Dining with Caesar Augustus and Nero, Olive Oil Production, a Modern Look at Manna, and The Breakfast of Champions — a Gladiator’s Diet.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Chapter One — Dining in the First Century

Chapter Two — Spices & Herbs

Chapter Three — Fruits & Nuts

Chapter Four — Vegetables

Chapter Five —Salad Greens

Chapter Six — Grains

Chapter Seven — Fish & Fowl

Chapter Eight — Meat, Milk & Cheese

Chapter Nine — Sweets & Sweeteners

Chapter Ten — Foods They Didn’t Have

Chapter Eleven — Beverages - Beer

Chapter Twelve — Rediscovering Ancient Beers

Chapter Thirteen — Beverages - Wine

Chapter Fourteen — Roman Vintages

Chapter Fifteen — Aviculture in Ancient Israel

Chapter Sixteen — Apiculture in Ancient Israel

Chapter Seventeen — Malta Honey

Chapter Eighteen — Dining at Caesar’s Palace

Chapter Nineteen — Living Large with Nero

Chapter Twenty — Olives, Oil & Gethsemanes

Chapter Twenty-One — A New Look at Manna

Chapter Twenty-Two — Breakfast of Champions

Chapter Twenty-Three — Ancient Recipes

Chapter One

Dining in the First Century

As in modern times, most people in the First Century ate three times a day. In addition to designated times for eating, most cultures have a name for them as well. (In the case of Rome, starting with breakfast, it was ientaculum, prandium, and cena.) Sometimes this naming extends beyond the traditional three squares a day. For instance, you have the American coffee break and brunch, or the English teatime. There are also regional differences in terminology in the United States. Whether the midday meal is lunch or dinner and the evening meal dinner or supper often depends upon one’s locale.

Most people in the First Century pretty much lived by the sun, rising at daybreak and retiring again after it grew dark. Breakfast as we know it was pretty much non-existent. The phrase, Breakfast is the most important meal of the day, hadn’t been invented yet. Most people of that era ate very little upon rising…usually a little bread with water to drink. In Rome the government welfare program distributed free bread and laborers often picked up a flat loaf and nibbled on their way to work. The rich might supplement their bread with some fruit. Prandium, eaten around noon, was equally light — more salted bread with perhaps fruit, eggs, meat or fish, vegetables, or cheese if one could afford it.

The only meal of the day that moderns would recognize was cena. The upper class arranged their day so that all business was transacted in the mornings. Following prandium, any remaining obligations that carried over were quickly dealt with leaving time to hobnobbing at the public baths with friends before the evening meal. Over time, the customary cena became two courses, a main entree and dessert. These could be as simple or as elaborate as one’s budget allowed. Those at the bottom of the economic ladder had to make do with a porridge known as puls made from cooked whole grain seasoned with salt and fat.

People of that time had two utensils, knives and spoons. For Caesar the spoon would be gold or silver; for the common man it was most likely carved from wood. Pieces of flat bread were torn off and curved in the hand to supplement the spoon. Regardless of a person’s station in life, the greatest difference between them and us would not be the schedule or amount of food, or even the utensils. As strange as it sounds to modern ears, people generally ate while reclining.

Definitely Not How People Ate

The dining room of that era was called the triclinium since it typically contained three or more klinai, or dining couches. The most basic layout required three couches arranged in the shape of a U. However, wealthy individuals who entertained more lavishly added additional couches, widening and extending the basic design. High government officials who hosted elaborate balls even went as far as having multiple dining rooms. Each couch served three persons lying next to each other at roughly 45 degree angles. They supported themselves on their left elbow, which freed the right arm and hand for the business of eating. One is forced to wonder what, if any, accommodations were made for lefties.

The design of the triclinium becomes clearer in this excerpt from my novel, Disciple. "Atticus had clearly prospered in his years with the Legions. Moving up in rank, he amassed both wealth and power. After time in Byzantium and Thessolinica, he returned to Antioch where he served as Medicus Primus, chief medical officer and supervisor of the medical staff serving the four Syrian Legions stationed there.

After introductions, he escorted his guests to the triclinium. Frescos decorated the walls and ceilings of the dining room, and the smell of roasting meats filled the air. Servants bustled in and out, arranging silver table service, candelabras, wine goblets, and platters heaped with fruits, nuts, sliced melons and other tidbits. Bread, still warm from the oven, arrived in large baskets.

Though large, the room followed the classic Roman design with six klinai arranged in a U-shaped configuration around low tables. Each dining couch served three diners. On the floor in the open center between the tables was a pair of large mosaics. These trickinia, decorative figural panels for the diner’s viewing pleasure, displayed fruits, vegetables and herbs on the left and game and domestic animals on the right. Above them, aligned to face someone entering the room was a row of three smaller mosaics.

A series of arched windows ran across the triclinium’s exterior wall providing a view of the distant mountains. Several empty plates awaited each guest. Made of molded glass, they had images of seashells pressed into their underside and visible through the translucent glass."

Triclinium Unearthed at Pompeii

We gain a better understanding of the ancient dining process by looking at this room found buried in the ashes of Mt. Vesuvius at Pompeii. The dining couches, angled stone structures that once supported diners is still intact. The cushion itself would consist of a flat mat.

Definite rules of etiquette existed. Diners reclined at only one side of the table ,the back, leaving