What did our distant ancestors eat when their fresh meat ran out, before they worked out a way of curing meat to make it last longer? When did they discover that curing it made it taste different? When did they realise that the eggs of chickens, ducks, turtles etc.
Bacon : Pigs were first reared as domestic animals in the Middle East some 9, years ago, and became a staple food, even for poorer people, throughout Europe. Their popularity was principally because pigs would eat anything, gain weight easily and produce large litters. Furthermore, as has long been established, every bit of the creature except the squeak!
The ancient Egyptians had worked out how to cure pig meat so it could be eaten all year round possibly because they were used to preserving bodies for the afterlife!
Some cultures and religions banned the eating of pig meat altogether, possibly since pigs were dirty unclean and eating it could cause diseases. In mediaeval times this led to a grand fry-up the day before Lent began, when people would use up all their leftover bacon and eggs - Greg Jenner suggests this was a forerunner of the Full English Breakfast! Eggs : It seems the ancient Egyptians were keen on eggs, and on keeping hens specifically for the purpose of using their eggs, though the Chinese and Indians had already discovered the benefits of domesticating fowl.
Omelettes were also a popular food for the Romans. Baked beans : As with so much food, the problem for people through the ages was how to keep it fresh, or at least edible. During the Napoleonic wars armies on both sides became used to having to eat food riddled with maggots by the end of their campaign. In a Frenchman partly solved this problem by sealing food inside a glass jar and then boiling it. This proved to be a great success, except for one thing: getting into the tins to get at the contents.
