The tastes of the seasons By Jessica
Bread and beer! Supplemented by onions (or other vegetables) and dried fish!
Food on special this week in the market:
Food on special this week in the market:
- 1 sack of wheat only 5 deben!
- 1 sack of barley only 1.5 deben!
- 1 litre of oil only 0.5 deben!
- 1 litre of beer only 0.5 deben!
- 50 fish only 1 deben!
Cooking and the kitchen
The all-new kitchen corner!
Thinking of moving your kitchen? Well here's some top advice for you!
Kitchens need space and air, and what better place to set them up than on the roof or in a corner of the courtyard? You could even lightly shelter them from the sun with branches!
How to cook: The Basics
Food Preparation
Kitchens need space and air, and what better place to set them up than on the roof or in a corner of the courtyard? You could even lightly shelter them from the sun with branches!
How to cook: The Basics
- First of all, cooking should be done in your clay ovens or over open fires. For fuel, wood or charcoal should be used.
- To light the fire you need a special type of wood. It is imported from the south and very precious.
- Even the important temples are only allowed sixty pieces of this special wood per month, so use it carefully!
Food Preparation
- You could cook your food by boiling baking, frying, grilling, roasting or stewing.
- To add flavour to your food, use salt and oil; or onions, radish, and garlic. You could also soak your meat and fish in beer or wine.
- Here are a few condiments you could try: cumin, dill, coriander, vinegar, lettuce seeds, mustard, cinnamon, rosemary, wild marjoram.
- To sweeten foods you can use honey, syrup made of unfermented grape juice, or fruit like dates, raisins, carob, figs, and chuba root.
Vegetables
Egyptian melon
You should have a garden next to your house, where you grow vegetables and fruit.
Vegetables should be grown all year round, watered by hand, and get the right amount of sunshine to grow because they form an important part of our diet.
Make sure you plant lots of onions! They are very good for you! (Celibate priests aren't allowed to eat onions- ha!)
Don't forget the garlic! Not only are they used to add flavour to your food, but they can repel diseases and make you live longer too!
Lettuce! This, as you know, is dedicated to the god Min (although it doesn't really matter now because we have to worship Aten).
Here are some other vegetables you might like to plant:
Beans are used to cure constipation, sick tongue or in treatments for male urinary complaints. Lupins, lentils, chick peas and peas are also eaten. Lentils are easy to keep while dry, and, -guess what- you can use them in trading!
According to the story of Wenamen's journey, 21 measures of lentils were given from Egyptian ambassador to the ruler of Byblos for a shipload of timber! What a bargain!
Vegetables should be grown all year round, watered by hand, and get the right amount of sunshine to grow because they form an important part of our diet.
Make sure you plant lots of onions! They are very good for you! (Celibate priests aren't allowed to eat onions- ha!)
Don't forget the garlic! Not only are they used to add flavour to your food, but they can repel diseases and make you live longer too!
Lettuce! This, as you know, is dedicated to the god Min (although it doesn't really matter now because we have to worship Aten).
Here are some other vegetables you might like to plant:
- Leek
- Radish
- Celery
- Cabbage
- Endive
- Cucumber
- Wild radish (if you haven't eaten it already, just to let you know, it tastes like turnip!)
- Lotus
- Mallow
Beans are used to cure constipation, sick tongue or in treatments for male urinary complaints. Lupins, lentils, chick peas and peas are also eaten. Lentils are easy to keep while dry, and, -guess what- you can use them in trading!
According to the story of Wenamen's journey, 21 measures of lentils were given from Egyptian ambassador to the ruler of Byblos for a shipload of timber! What a bargain!
Fruit
Making wine
Rich in sugar and protein! Very good for sweetening your food! Yes, fruit is the best!
Here are some ideal fruit trees that you can grow:
Many of these fruit are able to be dried and preserved, but some of these are best to be eaten fresh.
Our climate is not suitable for growing olives, as you may have noticed; so olives and olive oil will continue to be imported.
Here are some ideal fruit trees that you can grow:
- Apple
- Olive
- Pomegranate
- Mulberry
- Pear
- Peach
- Almond
- Cherry
- Fig
- Grape vine
- Sycamore fig (April-December)
- Coconut (these are very expensive. They are imported; only the rich can afford it)
- Dellach palm
- Mimusop
- Jujube (Chinese date)
- Balanite (has date-like fruit and its leaves are good for making feed for goats)
- Watermelon plant (you can try, but it's very hard)
Many of these fruit are able to be dried and preserved, but some of these are best to be eaten fresh.
Our climate is not suitable for growing olives, as you may have noticed; so olives and olive oil will continue to be imported.
Meat
Mmmmm, meat. Very expensive and delicious: not affordable by many of us; eaten only on festivals... Though I think we get along okay with our geese, ducks, quails, cranes, and other edible bird species.
And guess what?
You can have fowl as pets now (and kill them for food later)! This is much more convenient!
Each type of meat is prepared differently: some are to be roasted and some are to be stewed.
Whatever you can't eat fresh has to be preserved quickly, either by salting and brining, drying or smoking; or kept in clay jars.
And guess what?
You can have fowl as pets now (and kill them for food later)! This is much more convenient!
Each type of meat is prepared differently: some are to be roasted and some are to be stewed.
Whatever you can't eat fresh has to be preserved quickly, either by salting and brining, drying or smoking; or kept in clay jars.
Poultry
You can also keep chickens at home.
They lay eggs and the eggs hatch into chickens! Which means more chickens! Yum!
Remember to let the chickens grow bigger first, though, before you slaughter them, otherwise you'll only get a tiny bit of chicken to eat.
Don't eat them as eggs; it's not worth it!
They lay eggs and the eggs hatch into chickens! Which means more chickens! Yum!
Remember to let the chickens grow bigger first, though, before you slaughter them, otherwise you'll only get a tiny bit of chicken to eat.
Don't eat them as eggs; it's not worth it!
Fish
We eat fish everyday, so it's considered an important part of our diet (duh!).
You can catch most fish from the Nile but watch out for the genera Lepidotus and Phragus... they are connected to Osiris! Some tasty ones include: the perch, catfish, carp, mullet, eel, tilapia, elephant-snout, tiger and moon.
Perch, catfish (even the electric variety), carps, mullets and eels were especially important. Tilapia, elephant-snout fish, tiger fish, moon fish and many others were also eaten.
To cook fish, you boil or roast it; but you can also salt, preserve and dried it in the sun.
You can catch most fish from the Nile but watch out for the genera Lepidotus and Phragus... they are connected to Osiris! Some tasty ones include: the perch, catfish, carp, mullet, eel, tilapia, elephant-snout, tiger and moon.
Perch, catfish (even the electric variety), carps, mullets and eels were especially important. Tilapia, elephant-snout fish, tiger fish, moon fish and many others were also eaten.
To cook fish, you boil or roast it; but you can also salt, preserve and dried it in the sun.
Oil
Before we had any olive trees, we had the Moringa tree for oil. These were used in food preparation.
You can use nut oil, animal grease or vegetable grease to make ointments.
You can also use kikki oil (castor-berry oil) to anoint yourself.
There are also other types of oils, pressed from: almonds, linseed, raphanus, cole-seed, seemga, sesame, safflower, colocynth, radish seed, and horseradish.
You MUST have horseradish oil! It's the best!
You can use nut oil, animal grease or vegetable grease to make ointments.
You can also use kikki oil (castor-berry oil) to anoint yourself.
There are also other types of oils, pressed from: almonds, linseed, raphanus, cole-seed, seemga, sesame, safflower, colocynth, radish seed, and horseradish.
You MUST have horseradish oil! It's the best!
Bread
Making bread
Bread is very popular here in Egypt; it forms the backbone of our diet! And we've heard that the rich like this food as well!
There are a lot of different types of bread, as you may have noticed already, with different shapes and sizes and with different ingredients mixed in with the dough. Some even say we have over forty varieties of bread and cake!
To make bread, use utensils made of quartz, felspar, mica, ferro magnesium and the like.
Some magicians do say, though, that these stones may be dirty. Did it affect us? I don't think so! We're continuing to use these tools like there's no tomorrow!
The basics of making bread
If you don't have an oven, you can make wafer-thin bread and bake it on the hot sand.
You could also make thick loaves, with hollow centres, so you can fill them with vegetables after you've baked them; or make the bread with raised edges so they can contain eggs or other ingredients. Yum!
As the scribe Any said, Do not eat bread while another stands by without extending your hand to him. Be generous with your food and share it with those who don't have it!
There are a lot of different types of bread, as you may have noticed already, with different shapes and sizes and with different ingredients mixed in with the dough. Some even say we have over forty varieties of bread and cake!
To make bread, use utensils made of quartz, felspar, mica, ferro magnesium and the like.
Some magicians do say, though, that these stones may be dirty. Did it affect us? I don't think so! We're continuing to use these tools like there's no tomorrow!
The basics of making bread
- Start by mixing the dough (flour, water, leaven) and kneading it with both hands (or feet) in a large container. You may add yeast, salt, sesame seeds, honey, fruit, herbs, milk and/or butter and eggs to the dough to flavour it if you wish.
- Pat the dough into any shape and leave it to rise in a warm mould.
- Make several loaves of the dough, then put them all into the oven to bake.
If you don't have an oven, you can make wafer-thin bread and bake it on the hot sand.
You could also make thick loaves, with hollow centres, so you can fill them with vegetables after you've baked them; or make the bread with raised edges so they can contain eggs or other ingredients. Yum!
As the scribe Any said, Do not eat bread while another stands by without extending your hand to him. Be generous with your food and share it with those who don't have it!
Beer
The mouth of a perfectly contented man is full of beer.
Beer is the best drink around. Everyone drinks and loves it, especially when it is cool.
But the teachers have warned us of the overindulgence of beer.
When you have eaten three loaves of bread and swallowed two jugs of beer, and the body has not yet had enough, fight against it.
Beer is an important part of the wages we receive from our masters. We get two jars daily if we work hard.
The basics of brewing beer
You may also add some sweeteners if you wish.
Beer is the best drink around. Everyone drinks and loves it, especially when it is cool.
But the teachers have warned us of the overindulgence of beer.
When you have eaten three loaves of bread and swallowed two jugs of beer, and the body has not yet had enough, fight against it.
Beer is an important part of the wages we receive from our masters. We get two jars daily if we work hard.
The basics of brewing beer
- Grind wheat, barley or millet coarsely. Soak a quarter of the grain and leave it in the sun for a while.
- Make the rest of the grain into bread and lightly bake it.
- Crumble the loaves and mix it with the soaked grain.
- Add some water and beer to the mixture. Leave the mixture to ferment.
- Strain the liquid.
You may also add some sweeteners if you wish.
Water
Water in the Nile is rarely in short supply, but who knows? Maybe the gods are angry and will take away all the water... There are rumours that the Nile won't flood next year! NOOOOOOOOO! Are they true?
There are also some rumours regarding the cleanliness of the water in the Nile. Apparently it's dirty, so to be on the safe side, we should pray to the gods who will remove the pestilence from the river.
Water is used in the making of bread and beer, so it is as important. But beer is still the best for drinking!
There are also some rumours regarding the cleanliness of the water in the Nile. Apparently it's dirty, so to be on the safe side, we should pray to the gods who will remove the pestilence from the river.
Water is used in the making of bread and beer, so it is as important. But beer is still the best for drinking!
Wine
Wine is drunk by everyone on festive occasions and used in rituals and the everyday use of priesthood, but most of it is consumed at the pharaoh's court and by the rich and powerful. Their children follow the elders, and tend to get drunk a lot. Poh! At least we our children don't get that problem.
Wine is drunk from shallow bowls with a short stem and sometimes we add a little bit of sea water to enhance the flavour.
The basics of wine production
Wine is drunk from shallow bowls with a short stem and sometimes we add a little bit of sea water to enhance the flavour.
The basics of wine production
- Handpick the grapes from the vine and carry them in baskets to a low and wide vat made of stone.
- Hold onto the ropes or the bar above the vat and tread on the grapes. The grape juice drains through a hole.
- Put the grape skins into sacks and press out as much juice as possible in a winepress.
- Pour the mash into sack. Tie poles to the sack's corners and turn it to squeeze out the rest of the grape juice.
- Pour the juice into jars and seal them up with vine leaves and straw and clay.
- Mark the jars with the date, name of the vineyard and the name of the chief gardener responsible for the wine.
And here we are! At the bottom of the page!
Thank you for taking this wonderfully interesting food journey with us. We hope you had fun and learnt a lot about how we cook here.
Why not learn more about our lifestyle, [foreigner]?
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Why not learn more about our lifestyle, [foreigner]?
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