Britain's Oldest Recipe Unearthed

Britain's oldest recipe dates back to 6000 B.C. and was a favorite of the Stone Age man. But just what kind of food did the average caveman crave?

It has been revealed that nettle pudding was a firm favorite of the average Stone Age man. It was made by chopping sorrel, watercress, dandelion leaves, young nettle leaves, and some chives and then mixing in barley flour and some salt. Once enough water was added to bind the ingredients together, it was then put on the center of a cloth that was tied securely. This was added to a large pot of venison or wild boar and served up with chunks of bread when the meat was finished cooking.

Those adorably cute creatures known as hedgehogs were not spared from the caveman's burning hunger either. Roast hedgehog was another favorite of our ancestors 8,000 years ago and was served with a wild duck or cinnamon sauce. How they managed to bypass the quills is another matter altogether.

At 5000 B.C., barley bread was wildly popular with the people and meat and vegetable stews came into vogue some 3,000 years later.

It was the arrival of the Romans that brought the incredible edible egg to Britain, and with it the idea that you could use the egg to blend and set foods. The ancients discovered that if you cracked the egg, you could eat custards, pies and pastries. How's that for progress?

All of these recipes were originally passed on by word of mouth and then finally written down in Roman times.

Some of the foods that have stayed popular with the British over the course of time are pies, stews and dumplings. But other foods have fallen by the wayside, and understandably so. Two examples of pastes and sauces that we could all do without are garum and liquamen. These were made in the first century A.D. by Romans using fish guts and heads and were used to spice up dishes and add a zing to meals. I'm guessing that it wasn't a very pleasant zing.

Sources: http://www.dailymail.co.uk, www.celtnet.org.uk/recipes