Grains Breads, cakes and biscuits , c. 500–475 BCE,
National Archaeological Museum of Athens Cereals formed the staple diet. The two main grains were
wheat (
sītos) and
barley (
krithē). When Greece was conquered by Rome during the 2nd century B.C., commercial bakeries were well known and spread. In fact
Pliny the Elder suggests that the production of bread moved from the family to the "industrial" thanks to the work of skilled artisans (according to Pliny, starting from 171 BCE).
Plato favored home production over commercial production and in
Gorgias, described Thearion the baker as an Athenian novelty who sells goods that could be made at home. This was a generic term which referred to anything which accompanied this staple food, whether meat or fish, fruit or vegetable. Cakes may have been consumed for religious reasons as well as secular.
Philoxenus of Cythera describes in detail some cakes that were eaten as part of an elaborate dinner using the traditional
dithyrambic style used for sacred
Dionysian hymns: "mixed with safflower, toasted, wheat-oat-white-chickpea-little thistle-little-sesame-honey-mouthful of everything, with a honey rim".
Athenaeus says the
charisios was eaten at the "all-night festival", but John Wilkins notes that the distinction between the sacred and secular can be blurred in antiquity.
Melitoutta (), was a honeycake and
oinoutta (οἰνοῦττα) was a cake or porridge of barley mixed with wine, water, and oil.
Placenta cake was a thin, flat cake of flour, mixed with cheese and honey.
Itrion (ἴτριον), was a biscuit/cake made with sesame seeds and honey, similar to the modern
Sesame seed candy.
Kopte sesamis (κοπτὴ σησαμίς), sometimes called simply κοπτὴ, was a cake made from pounded sesame.
Psamiton (Ψάμιτον) was a kind of a cake.
Crepis (Κρηπίς) was a type of cake or pancake filled with fruit.
Diakonion (Διακόνιον) had multiple meanings in ancient sources. Some described it as the crust of a pastry. The writer
Menekles explained that during the Athenian festival for
Apollo, when the
Eiresione was made, round pastries were included and called diakonion. Similarly,
Amerias noted that diakonia (διακόνια; plural of diakonion) were pastries prepared for Apollo during this ritual. However, other sources describe it as a type of broth, while some say it was a kind of barley cake.
Elater (Ἐλατήρ) was a flat, hand-pressed cake or pastry, named from being flattened with the hands. It could also be a hollow loaf of bread used to hold bean stew for offerings at altars. The genitive form ἐλατῆρος denotes a kind of unleavened cake, which Euripides calls pepta (πεπτά). There were also flattish cakes named
lagarοdeis from lagaron (λαγαρόν; "hollow"), while Euripides used the term pelanoi (πέλανοι). Philoxenean flat cakes (Φιλοξένειοι πλακοῦντες), named after Philoxenus. Popanum or Popanon (Πόπανον) was a type of
sacrificial cake. Arester (Ἀρεστήρ) was a sacrificial cake, its name coming from ἀρεστόν, meaning "pleasing".
Wheat Wheat grains were softened by soaking, then either reduced into
gruel, or ground into flour (
aleíata) and kneaded and formed into loaves (
ártos) or flatbreads, either plain or mixed with cheese or honey. The small loaf was called
artidion (ἀρτίδιον).
Leavening was known; the Greeks later used an
alkali (
nítron) and
wine yeast as
leavening agents. Dough loaves were baked at home in a clay oven (
ipnós) set on legs.
Bread wheat, difficult to grow in Mediterranean climates, and the white bread made from it, were associated with the upper classes in the ancient Mediterranean, while the poor ate coarse brown breads made from
emmer wheat and
barley. A simpler baking method involved placing lighted coals on the floor and covering the heap with a dome-shaped lid (
pnigeús); when it was hot enough, the coals were swept aside, and dough loaves were placed on the warm floor. The lid was then put back in place, and the coals were gathered on the side of the cover. The stone oven did not appear until the Roman period.
Solon, an
Athenian lawmaker of the 6th century BCE, prescribed that leavened bread be reserved for feast days. By the end of the 5th century BCE, leavened bread was sold at the market, though it was expensive.
Barley Barley was easier to grow than wheat, but more difficult to make bread from. Barley-based breads were nourishing but very heavy. Because of this, it was often roasted before being milled into coarse flour (
álphita). Barley flour was used to make
maza, the basic Greek dish. Maza could be served cooked or raw, as a broth, or made into dumplings or flatbreads.
Millet Millet was growing wild in Greece as early as 3000 BCE, and bulk storage containers for millet have been found from the
Late Bronze Age in
Macedonia and northern Greece.
Hesiod describes that "the beards grow round the millet, which men sow in summer." Millet is listed along with wheat in the 3rd century BCE by
Theophrastus in his "Enquiry into Plants"
Emmer Black bread, made from
emmer (sometimes called "emmer wheat"), was cheaper (and easier to make) than wheat; it was associated with the lower classes and the poor. Lentils and chickpeas are the most frequently mentioned legumes in classical literature. •
Broad beans •
Lupin bean •
Garden peas – Peas are commonly found in some of the earliest archaeological sites in Greece, but are rarely mentioned in classical literature. However
Hesiod and Theophrastus both include them as food eaten by Greeks Legumes would have been important crops, as their ability to replenish exhausted soil was known at least by the time of
Xenophon.
Hesiod (7th-8th century BCE) describes many crops eaten by the ancient Greeks, among these are artichokes Poor families ate oak
acorns (
balanoi).
Olives were a common appetizer. In the cities, fresh vegetables were expensive, and therefore, the poorer city dwellers had to make do with
dried vegetables. Lentil soup (
phakē) was the workman's typical dish. Cheese, garlic, and onions were the soldier's traditional fare. In Aristophanes'
Peace, the smell of onions typically represents soldiers; the chorus, celebrating the end of war, sings
Oh! joy, joy! No more helmet, no more cheese nor onions! Bitter vetch (
orobos) was considered a
famine food.
Fruits, fresh or dried, and
nuts, were eaten as
dessert. Important fruits were
figs,
raisins, dates and
pomegranates. In Athenaeus'
Deipnosophistae, he describes a dessert made of figs and broad beans. Dried figs were also eaten as an appetizer or when drinking wine. In the latter case, they were often accompanied by grilled
chestnuts,
chick peas, and
beechnuts.
Animals Meat ; tondo of an
Attic kylix by the Epidromos Painter, c. 510–500 BCE,
Louvre. In the 8th century BCE,
Hesiod describes the ideal country feast in
Works and Days: Meat is much less prominent in texts of the 5th century BCE onwards than in the earliest poetry, but this may be a matter of genre rather than real evidence of changes in farming and food customs. Fresh meat was most commonly eaten at sacrifices, though sausage was much more common, consumed by people across the economic spectrum. In addition to the flesh of animals, the ancient Greeks often ate inner organs, many of which were considered delicacies such as
paunches and
tripe.
Hippolochus (3rd Century BCE) describes a wedding banquet in Macedonia with "chickens and ducks, and ringdoves, too, and a goose, and an abundance of suchlike viands piled high... following which came a second platter of silver, on which again lay a huge loaf, and geese, hares, young goats, and curiously moulded cakes besides, pigeons, turtle-doves, partridges, and other fowl in plenty..." and "a roast pig — a big one, too — which lay on its back upon it; the belly, seen from above, disclosed that it was full of many bounties. For, roasted inside it, were thrushes, ducks, and warblers in unlimited number, pease purée poured over eggs, oysters, and scallops" It was famous amongst the Greeks. "Naturally Spartans are the bravest men in the world," joked a Sybarite, "anyone in his senses would rather die ten thousand times than take his share of such a sorry diet". It was made with
pork,
salt,
vinegar and blood. The 2nd–3rd century author
Aelian claims that Spartan cooks were prohibited from cooking anything other than meat. The consumption of fish and meat varied in accordance with the wealth and location of the household; in the country,
hunting (primarily trapping) allowed for consumption of birds and
hares. Peasants also had farmyards to provide them with chickens and geese. Slightly wealthier landowners could raise goats, pigs, or sheep. In the city, meat was expensive except for pork. In Aristophanes' day a piglet cost three drachmas, which was three days' wages for a public servant. Sausages were common both for the poor and the rich. Archaeological excavations at
Kavousi Kastro,
Lerna, and
Kastanas have shown that dogs were sometimes consumed in Bronze Age Greece, in addition to the more commonly-consumed pigs, cattle, sheep, and goats.
Fish Herodotus describes a "large fish... of the sort called Antacaei, without any prickly bones, and good for pickling," probably
beluga found in Greek colonies along the
Dnieper River. Other ancient writers mention
skipjack tuna (pelamys);
tuna (thynnoi);
swordfish (xifiai);
sea raven (korakinoi);
black carp (melanes kyprinoi),
porpoise (phykaina), and
mackerel (scomber). Common salt water fish were
yellowfin tuna,
red mullet,
ray,
swordfish or
sturgeon, a delicacy which was eaten salted. Lake Copais itself was famous in all Greece for its
eels, celebrated by the hero of
The Acharnians. Other fresh water fish were
pike-fish,
carp and the less appreciated
catfish. In classical Athens, eels, conger-eels, and sea-perch () were considered to be great delicacies, while
sprats were cheap and readily available.
Fowl Ancient Greeks consumed a much wider variety of birds than is typical today. Pheasants were present as early as 2000 BCE. Domestic
chickens were brought to Greece from Asia Minor as early as 600 BCE, and domesticated
geese are described in
The Odyssey (800 BCE).
Quail,
moorhen,
capon,
mallards,
pheasants,
larks,
pigeons and doves were all domesticated in classical times, and were even for sale in markets. Additionally,
thrush,
blackbirds,
chaffinch,
lark,
starling,
jay,
jackdaw,
sparrow,
siskin,
blackcap,
Rock partridge,
grebe,
plover,
coot,
wagtail,
francolin, and even
cranes were hunted, or trapped, and eaten, and sometimes available in markets.
Eggs and dairy products Eggs Greeks bred
quails and
hens, partly for their
eggs. Some authors also praise
pheasant eggs and
Egyptian goose eggs, which were presumably rather rare. Eggs were cooked
soft- or hard-boiled as
hors d'œuvre or
dessert.
Whites,
yolks and whole eggs were also used as ingredients in the preparation of dishes.
Milk Hesiod describes "milk cake, and milk of goats drained dry" in his
Works and Days. Country dwellers drank
milk (
gala), but it was seldom used in cooking.
Butter Butter (
bouturon) was known but seldom used: Greeks saw it as a culinary trait of the
Thracians of the northern
Aegean coast, whom the
Middle Comic poet Anaxandrides dubbed "butter eaters".
Cheese and yogurt Cheesemaking was widespread by the 8th Century BCE, as the technical vocabulary associated with it is included in
The Odyssey. or perhaps to
yogurt. Most of all, goat's and ewe's
cheese (
tyros) was a staple food. Fresh cheeses (sometimes wrapped in
dragon arum leaves to retain freshness) and hard cheeses were sold in different shops; the former cost about two thirds of the latter's price. Cheese was eaten alone or with honey or vegetables. It was also used as an ingredient in the preparation of many dishes, including fish dishes (see recipe below by
Mithaecus). However, the addition of cheese seems to have been a controversial matter;
Archestratus warns his readers that Syracusan cooks spoil good fish by adding cheese.
Spices and seasonings The first spice mentioned in Ancient Greek writings is
cassia:
Sappho (6th-7th Century BCE) mentions it in her poem on the marriage of
Hector and
Andromache. The ancient Greeks made a distinction between
Ceylon cinnamon and cassia. one of Aristotle's students,
Theophrastus, in describing the plants that appeared in Greece as a result of
Alexander's conquest of India and Asia Minor, listed both
black pepper and
long pepper, stating "one is round like bitter vetch...: the other is elongated and black and has seeds like those of a poppy : and this kind is much stronger than the other. Both however are heating...".
rue, (Book 11 of the
Iliad) One fragment survives of the first known cookbook in any culture, it was written by
Mithaecus (5th Century BCE) and is quoted in the "
Deipnosophistae" of
Athenaeus. It is a recipe for a fish called "tainia" (meaning "ribbon" in Ancient Greek - probably the species
Cepola macrophthalma), :"Tainia": gut, discard the head, rinse, slice; add cheese and [olive] oil.
Archestratus (4th Century BCE), the self-titled "inventor of made dishes", describes a recipe for paunch and tripe, cooked in "
cumin juice, and
vinegar and sharp, strong-smelling
silphium". == Drink ==