Before the advent of fast food chains, pesticides and growth hormones, meals were plainly prepared with two things in mind: simplicity and stodginess. In fact, some of the world’s oldest, most basic foods are still enjoyed today! Dates, nuts, rice, potatoes, millets and grains are just a handful of foods that have withstood the test of time for modern-day consumption.
However, do you ever stop to think about food that has defied the test of time against....decomposition? Chances are you haven’t - most people don’t! -- but given the fact that food is easily susceptible to rot, historical hysteria is likely to ensue any time archaeologists discover well-preserved treats with an ancient, expiration date. Below, we present to you the oldest foods, ever uncovered:
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Roman Wine: In recent years, an oxidized bottle of Roman wine -- finely-aged at 1,600 years! -- was discovered by excavators in Germany. The liquid, though void of its original alcohol content, is nonetheless considered to be the oldest known wine, still preserved in liquid state.
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Bone Soup: Discovered in a tightly-sealed cooking pot, this 2,400 year-old Chinese soup’s airtight concealment helped preserve its original liquid state (though the contents have turned green from centuries of bronze oxidation)
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Butter has been around 3,000 years! This 77-lb barrel of butter was cleverly stored (and presumably abandoned) near a Kildare bog until its 2009 discovery in Ireland.
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Noodles: A bowl of 4,000 year-old noodles were uncovered in China in recent years; suggesting this staple, starchy dish actually stemmed from Asian influences.
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Chocolate: Suffer from an incurable sweet tooth? Take a bite of these 110-year old Scottish truffles! Though paling in antiquity to other food items previously mentioned, this tin of chocolates are thought to have commemorated ‘Coronation Day’ of King Edward VII in 1902.
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Beef Jerky: Lastly, we can’t forget about China’s third contribution to this ‘ancient eats’ list: 2,000-year old beef jerky, discovered in the small village of Wanli. A scramble of black and green beef, safely stored within a buried, bronze pot, these millennia contents were oxidized and dried for future consumption (though we strongly advise you admire from afar!).
Has all this mention of food stirred the hunger pangs in you? Visit our homepage at BulkBeefJerky.com to stock up on the world’s original, long-lasting snack!
sources:
http://mentalfloss.com/article/49610/7-world%E2%80%99s-oldest-food-finds
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerky