Turns out the history of food is the history of the world. And the history of fermentation is the history of civilization.
I got into reading about food and drinks history because I picked up this library book couple of months ago on ancient brews. It piqued by interest enough to check out other similar books, and from there the web expanded to form this huge network of academic work on culinary cultures, traditions, history of restaurants, and so on. It's also piqued the desire inside me to research the history of Tibetan and Nepali cuisines.
This is all so crazily fascinating, I'm fortunate enough to have found myself in the middle of this. What do the gods eat in the holy books, and how do they interact with their food and drinks? Why do certain cultures do things a certain way, and other cultures very differently, with regards to food, even though they started with the same shared history and are genetically and geographically similar. How do foods get into the popular culture, and become a part of a cultural, national identity? If our food defines us, then what is it that defines the food to be our culture?
Super curious about all these questions and more, and this still fits in my interest with fermentation, brewing, and the history of South Asian and particularly vedic mythology perfectly well.
It's good fortune for one to find themselves in such a blessed situation, that is for sure.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Tell me what you think. I'll read, promise.