Food and Evolution: The History of Homo Sapiens on a Plate

Food plays a huge role in our lives. We eat several times a day, come up with new recipes, study the culinary arts of different countries—but usually we don’t think about how closely the history of food is connected to the history of humankind. Yet this connection exists, and it’s extremely important. Our food evolved alongside us. There is a vast difference between ancient dishes and modern ones, but at the same time you can trace a kinship. Religious beliefs, trading animals in markets, and the use of various ingredients—all of this influenced the cuisines of different peoples. For example, Indian cooks used yogurt to make foreign dishes purely Indian, and Japanese emperors, despite prohibitions, fed soldiers meat. The development of sea trade also affected the cuisine of Italians and Byzantines. Purchasing food became a major expense at the court of Louis XIV, while the October Revolution destroyed a centuries-old tradition of making Russian dishes.