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A timeline of human cuisine
Humans have eaten many things, cooked many things, and each culture of our species has their own foods, cuisines, and ingredients. While the intricacies of cuisine cannot be thoroughly explained with a few lines of ink, here I will try to make a list of the major achievements in human cooking.
8 mya (million years ago): Our ancestors switch from a leafy diet to a more fruits and nuts based diet. (such as tamarinds, berries, etc.) Many modern-day fruits did not exist (such as oranges) and those that did were smaller, less sweeter, and contained more seeds.
3 mya: The first apes start to scavenge for meat and start crushing bones with flint to eat the nutritious marrow inside
2 mya: The first stone axes and wooden spears are made; humans start hunting game animals like antelope and eland
1.8 mya: Soon after, humans discover the use of fire; all humans start cooking food and have an explosion in brain growth for the next 500,000 years.
300 kya (thousand years ago): Humans start picking wild grasses like oats and roots such as yams and cassavas to eat; fire gives humans the ability to cook these foods and digest.
60 kya: Dogs are domesticated; Dogs are used to help in hunting and meat becomes easier to procure.
20 kya: First domestication of horses, sheep and goats; nomadic groups still rely on these animals for food, wool and transportation.
12 kya: Agricultural Revolution, different human groups start farming certain crops (barley and wheat in Europe and the Middle East, rice in East Asia, yams in West Africa, squash, corn and beans in Mesoamerica, and potatoes in South America). Fruits started to be bred
7 kya: First evidence of cheese-making in Europe, the process was most likely discovered much earlier.
6 kya: Sumer, Egypt, and the Indus Valley become major civilizations and beer becomes a staple drink. Sesame seeds are also harvested and made into wine. Both leavened and unleavened bread made from barley are eaten frequently. Chickens are domesticated in India and make their way into Egypt, where they are revered for a while as foreign curiosities with supernatural powers. However, soon enough chickens are one of the most widely available food sources
4 kya: The Mycenaean civilization reaches its height; Olives, olive oil, grapes, and wine are popular among the Mediterranean civilizations. The Chinese start farming rice as a staple and make iron plows, which are faster than the independently developed stone or copper plows that were used by the Mesopotamians.
500 BCE: Roman Republic starts trading with the Chera Perumals of India for black pepper, silk, muslin (fine cotton cloth), and gold. As a result, the Indian cities of Kozhikode (Calicut), Kochi (Cochin), and Kollam (Quilon) become rich and prosperous. Many cuisines start incorporating pepper into their foods.
300 CE: Ghana Empire founded in Koumbi Saleh, Mauritania; Mandinka people of Ghana start setting a monopoly on the salt and gold trade, with gold and salt being roughly the same value at times. Salt is an extremely valuable, but necessary commodity and salt is more widely procured around the world, although at a higher price. The English word ‘salary’ comes from the Latin word ‘salarius’ or salt which refers to the fact that during periods of time soldiers would be paid with bags of salt instead of money.
1208 CE: Mongol Empire solidarized under Genghis Khan; the Pax Mongolica that followed was so famous for its security that it was said that ‘a young woman or a man carrying a donkey-load of gold could walk from the Black Sea to Beijing, China without once being molested or robbed.’ The Silk Route booms during this time and everywhere around the world spices such as nutmeg and cinnamon become parts of the daily cuisine.
1492 CE: Columbus ‘discovers’ the New World (the Vikings had reached Canada but never set a trading route to and from North America). The following years will spark ‘The Columbian Exchange’, in which animals, plants, diseases, religion, and languages mixed between the Americas and Europe. For exampes, syphilis (an STD) passed from the Native Americans to Europe, while smallpox decimated the American population. On more savoury terms, though, tomatoes, beans, squash, corn, chili peppers, and potatoes all went to Europe and Asia, leading to a blast in spiciness in Asian cuisine and the sudden use of potatoes EVERYWHERE. Potatoes were a staple in Peru, India, and Ireland at the same time.
1869 CE: Henry J. Heinz invents tomato ketchup, starting the H.J.Heinz Company
1886 CE: John Pemberton invents Coca-Cola syrup, but sells it to businessman Asa Candler and dies shortly thereafter. Today, the recipe for Coca-Cola is a guarded trade secret.
1894 CE: William and John Kellogg invent wheat flakes. William wins the rights to the food and the family name and starts the Kellogg’s Company, which would go on to produce many breakfast cereals and cereal products, revolutionizing the American breakfast.
Anay Ganesh 