Lion in St. Mark’s Square is from China
A recent study at the University of Padua finds that the winged-lion in St. Mark’s Square – the emblem of medieval Venetian statehood – was once a Tang Dynasty tomb guardian.
View ArticleSour Cherries, Gooseberries, and Currants from 18th Century America
Over the past few months, archaeologists at George Washington’s Mount Vernon have uncovered some 35 bottles of preserved berries from the mansion’s cellar. The bottles have been buried for...
View ArticleThe Oldest Bread in the World – Was Fermented!
A team of researchers from Anadolu University were excavating a bakery at the ancient city of Çatalhöyük, uncovered an artifact that has been identified as an unbaked loaf of bread from around 6600...
View ArticleOmani Kofta with Zucchini Sauce
After last month’s post about the Harappan jewelry found in a Bronze-age tomb in Oman, I wanted to share a delicious, modern Omani recipe from my collection with you. With summer’s abundance of...
View ArticleHarappan Jewelry Found in a Bronze-Age Omani Tomb
A bronze-age group tomb in the Dahwa region of Oman has yielded several pieces of silver jewelry with Harappan designs – indicating period trade between the Indus Valley people and the Umm al-Na...
View ArticleCod with Hannah Glasse’s 20-Year Catsup
Following up on a previous post on the Catchup to Keep 20 Years from Hannah Glasse’s 1770 edition of the Art of Cookery cookbook, is the meal we cooked a few days ago. I cracked the jars of catsup made...
View ArticleA Taste of Pompeii
Have ever wondered what sort of wine was served in an ancient Roman banquet? You know, the kind made famous by TV dramas like I Claudius, where guests lounged for hours, picking at sumptuous...
View ArticleWhat to do with Leftovers – Roman Style
I love dishes that blend meat and fruit. From Kyrgyz Beef with Apples to Bhutanese Fish with Mandarin Oranges, and Iranian Fish with Sour Cherries. As some ancient Mesopotamian archaeological...
View ArticleCatchup to Keep Twenty-Years
Over the weekend we made an interesting colonial American recipe. Its from a chapter for sea captains in Hannah Glasse’s 1770 edition of the Art of Cookery. Called Catchup to last Twenty Years, I...
View ArticleWalnut: The King of Nuts
The common walnut is anything but common. As stories tell us, its recent spread in Europe – through the ancient Grecian empire – happened in the early centuries BCE, when saplings were sent as gifts...
View ArticleSilk Road Sites in Ancient Myanmar
French archaeologists have recently uncovered some assemblages on Myanmar’s lower Kra isthmus that shed light onto maritime Silk Road trading communities beginning in 400 BCE. Given the geographic...
View ArticleTurkish Cevizli ARE Mesopotamian Mersu
Sometimes, perception can be like a flash of lightning that changes the world forever. Once something is seen and understood, there is no unseeing or unknowing. A few years back, I had such a...
View ArticleGreat Szechuan in NYC’s Theatre District
We visit New York City a lot, usually to catch a Broadway play or two, or an exhibit at one of the city’s great museums. However much we love doing this, dining in the theatre district can be...
View ArticleAn International Diplomatic Row Over Mango Mousse
The world is waiting with baited breath to see the outcome of the inter-Korean Summit this Friday. Some are predicting an announcement that will end the 1950s Korean War, others are hoping for...
View ArticleOlympics, 이해, and More Delicious North Korean Food
Like Christmas Truce in World War I, the recent Olympics allowed for a temporary warming of relations between north and south Korea, between people still locked in a conflict that is decades old. To...
View ArticleA New Yuan Shipwreck
A shipwreck dating from the Mongol-led Yuan dynasty (1271-1368 ACE), has recently been analyzed by a team of archaeologists from the Shandong Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology in China. The...
View ArticleBack in Black
I’ve been away. A long time as a wandering, mendicant scholar – or something like that. But now I’m back, and trying to get back to the blog and to the next volume of The Silk Road Gourmet. But good...
View ArticleMiranda’s Lemon Pickle
We packed our first born off to college this past weekend. Even though we are still here with our son, the house is eerily quiet. My daughter was noisy enough to be twins or even triplets. No more loud...
View ArticleSpring on the Silk Road Means: Black Locust Blossoms
Spring has finally come to the Central Atlantic and all the leaves have opened out into a sea of green. In our area, dairy cows graze and suckle their young in fields of buttercups and the first...
View ArticleThe Silk Road at the The Corning Museum of Glass
I love glass and glassmaking. Glass is fire and imagination combined. Long have I loved watching craftsmen at historical sites blow air into a molten mass to form a useful bowl or bottle, or see the...
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