What if our cooking methods are over 70,000 years old? A new study shows that our ancestors prepared complex dishes from a variety of ingredients. Obviously, they did not practice the “paleo diet” popular today.

What if our fascination with cooking and good food dates back to prehistoric times? Far from the image of man NeanderthalNeanderthal It seems that our ancestors had a very early habit of seasoning dishes and mixing ingredients while devouring a barely cooked piece of meat at the bottom of its cave. This is stated in a new study published in the journal Antiquity.

For at least 70,000 years, theNeanderthal man etc A wise man So they would prepare real food that was shared within the group. A meal that requires several stages of preparation and includes many ingredients, some of which serve the sole purpose of enhancing the flavor of the dish.

Complex cooking 70,000 years ago

These results were obtained thanks to the analysis of fossilized food remains found at two Paleolithic sites. One is located in Greece at Franchti Cave. The sedimentary deposits make it possible to go back to a period between 13,000 and 11,500 years ago. Another cave, that of Shanidar, is in Zagros, Iraqi Kurdistan. This refuge would have welcomed the first modern humans 40,000 years ago, but also Neanderthals 70,000 years ago. Previously, the oldest food remains were 14,400 years old. So these new paleontological discoveries represented a minor revolution and made it possible to study diet in particular Early huntersBut also the way they prepare food.

Two rock shelters revealed the presence of remains of complex plant-based preparations. At the Franchati site, the remains look like charred bread, flat bread, or remnants of fine porridge, decorated with seeds. LegumesLegumes rough ground On Shanidar’s site, old, it is mustard seeds PistachioPistachio The wild animal that accompanied the culinary preparations. They even show remains related to Neanderthals The hominidsThe hominids A preparation is made with wild grass seeds and alfalfa and heated in water. A previous study found traces of grass seeds in the tartar coating the teeth FossilsFossils Neanderthals.

Seasoning dishes, a gesture older than we thought

Thanks for the analysis Electronic scanning microscopeElectronic scanning microscope, the researchers were able to clearly identify the nature of these seeds. Their results also show that mixtures produced by prehistoric humans had a bitter taste. If we use these same seeds in cooking today, we soak them and heat them in the husk to reduce and remove the bitterness. Toxic substancesToxic substances, very visibly, our ancestors did the same! Food remains, however, show that the seed coats were not completely removed, suggesting that prehistoric humans preserved them partly to preserve the bitter taste and certainly to comfort their dishes.

Our recipes So would have been born tens of thousands of years ago. This study also favors Neanderthals A wise man They had a very varied diet, including a variety of plants such as seeds, herbs, roots, legumes, etc. nutsnutsBerries … carefully prepared before they mix with meat or them the poisonthe poison. Because if our ancestors did indeed eat plants, isotopic analysis of their skeletons shows that their main source was ProteinProtein It was meat. Neanderthals would have been its big consumers. on timeA wise man There would have been a more varied diet.