Sweet moments with Ms. B

Whatever, whenever or however food is taken, it is undoubtedly an essential part of our life or anyone's, for that matter. What then is food’s historical behind and how did it affect us all before? What is food’s role now in our society?

Part I - Food story

Prehistoric Times - I learned as i searched through books and other reading materials that in the early years of man’s existence, people ate anything they could find whether plants, fruits, mushroom, root crops, nuts and even edible seeds. They hunt for wild animals too through the wild forest and sometimes ate the beasts straight up right after killing them. Their ways and norms on those times were kind of rudimentary because in those early days they don’t have the knowledge yet of cooking food . They even ate the meat of dead animals that they find while hunting. It was not until they discovered how to make fire themselves when they roast, boil or stew their food and also when they knew the art of making pots.

Some early tools used for food hunting

As my research led me to more intriguing facts, it was during 8000 B.C. when people started to cultivate plants and raised animals for their food needs. It was then when a method of food production -farming- came to be. It helped much in providing a more consistent food supply at that time. Hunting was no longer the ultimate tool to acquire food anymore due to the fact that the people need not roamed around or moved further in order to get food. Farming made them stay a while longer in one place while they sow their crops and harvested them. A group of people once called the ‘nomadic shepherds’ traveled from one place to another while they brought along their raised animals on the road which consisted of camels, goats, and flocks of sheep thereby fulfilling their need for milk and meat as their main diet.

On the Ancient period:
In these times as i scanned a little more the pages of history books, between 3500 and 1500 B.C. the civilizations managed to have their valleys and riverbanks developed, which had fertile soil and favorable climate thus helping the early farmers to produce rich foods abundantly. More so it was said in those areas along the Nile River, i learned that they grew more than two crops every year on the same fields. I can say food indeed was already a very precious commodity even during the times of the Greeks. Many ancient Philosophers then were said to be interested in the kind of food they ate. As Hippocrates stressed out that: three categories of nutriments required for life: Solids, Beverages and air. Health, he explained, was the state of balance of elements and humors whereas disease represented imbalance .

A rather interesting theory about food and its effects transpired in the Eastern part of the globe particularly China. As commonly known, the Chinese followed an age-old system of belief and philosophies, which were handed down from generations thousand of years ago for their existence with that of the ‘Yin- Yang” Philosophy. It was told then by their great Philosopher, K’ung Fu-tzu (Confucius) on proper diet. Let me qoute it here: “Do not… eat your fill of polished rice, nor finely minced meat; eat not rice that has gone sour, or fish and meat that has spoiled…Do not eat except at proper times… never drink wine to the point of becoming confused…never consume wine or dried meat brought from a shop.” I can't fully explain the reason behind this last part. Anyway, in the later years of toil, the Greeks as well as the Romans were not able to supply food enough for their fellow country men which grew unprecedentedly in big numbers, so what they did was worked a feasible plan to elevate the adequacy of food supply by importing food from other neighboring countries in large quantities even doing rude deeds resulting into the taking over of wide land areas which had ample food supplies across Europe. That was the time when the Roman Empire subjugated Persia - now Iran- for fruits and gone farther more to the Orient like China and Japan for their spices, and even traversed the vast deserts of Egypt just to acquire their most important basic diet, which is wheat.

In the Middle Ages
Through the course of time, Food remained a great need. By this time, there were many wars to be fought and more lands to conquer. Most of the properties in Europe were now fought through feudal force. Then the Roman Empire fell (400’s A.D.) and their trading with the international market went down to a very low mark. By this time almost all of the land areas were divided into manors- the term used to a large property with the ‘Lord’ as head and the workers were called peasants. Each manor supplied food enough for the entire community, including the clergy or Church leaders.

When the other wars have to be fought, the troops conquered more lands extending to the Middle East, and fought the holy ward called the Crusades or the war with religious objective especially with the intention of freeing the Holy Land. These crusaders got a taste of new herbs and spices which made their mouth water and in turn intensified their craving for exploring more new lands helping a great deal in the renewed international trade industry which were now flourishing. High Middle Ages as it was called then, the economy was recovering; European trade went to a high blossom. The great entrepreneurs called merchants exchanged goods at great international trade fairs. They brought forth not only goods but also great ideas about new methods of farming, told stories of new industries and exchanged views on special events taking place in that part of Europe and in the rest of the world.

These Modern times
When most of the colonization and conquest were rising, Spain and Portugal took the lead in search for more food spices and eventually landed on a vast land mass on the other side of the globe, which they called America (Western Hemisphere) or the New World. These were the “Voyages of Discovery” years. They conquered the Americas (North, Central and South). It was the dawn of Industrialization. Huge structures were built and massive use of iron was establised as the prime hot item. There were no spices found but nevertheless, new food species were being introduced by the American Indians or the natives of America. These foods include avocados, chocolates, corn, peanuts, peppers, pineapples, sweet and white potatoes, squashes and tomatoes.

Presently, quite a few varieties of foods are now available. The Americans have their breakfast cereals from barely, corn, millet, oats, rice, rye, sorghum and the very important wheat; France have their rich and elaborate dishes; the famous pizza, spaghetti and macaroni of the Italians; the pancakes and pastries of the Belgians; the frankfurters or fondly called sausages and the famous hamburgers of the Germans; the shish-kebab or cubes of lamb, tomatoes, peppers, and onions roasted on a spike-like skewer of the Middle East countries; the hundred-year-old eggs and won-ton which is a kind of dumpling of the Chinese; the sashimi or thin slices of raw food; tofu or soybean curd of the Japanese; the curry or stew-like dish of eggs, fish, meat, or vegetables and cooked in a spicy sauce of the Southeast Asians; Scandinavian’s herring or fish food with cheese and bread; Mexican’s famous tortillas or flat corn-meal breads; Southern Europe’s pretzels and least not forget, England’s sandwiches, roast beef and Yorkshire pudding or a batter pudding baked in beef juices. Yummy!

On the other hand in the local scene, food had quite a story to tell...

History of Filipino Foods in Philippine Setting There is no specific written account on when Filipinos established our own local taste of food. Over 300 years ago, even long before the Spaniards landed on our shores, we were on a system of rowing out to the deep sea in petite boats or bancas, toiling the rugged hillside rice paddies, planting vegetables and fruits out in the fields, and managed to hunt for wild boars deep into the virgin forests. Land and sea were amply supplying nutritiously rich resources and natural wonders. The Filipinos were into boiling or broiling and roasting their food in open fire. Anything that comes in handy when it comes to food was welcomed specially the freshly jerking prawns of the brackish sea and any other seafood stuff they can find. The freshest of fish was made into Kinilaw “cooked” by immersion in vinegar and salt with ginger, onions and red peppers.

However, a certain statement declared that early Filipinos actually cooked food to a minimal point by roasting and steaming only. But with some exceptions too, other Filipino consumers showed some distinct preference for the sour and salty flavored ones like the famous Sinigang- a lightly boiled fish in a sour stock with vegetables and fish sauce. Where these flavors came from varies not only from vinegar or salt but also from fruits which were not ripe enough and were picked like our very own Tamarind, mango and even guava which when extracted gives out a very sour taste. The same thing goes with the Kalamansi -a tiny citrus specie - a breed halfway between an orange and a lime. Still there is one food source which contains salty powers- our bagoong or shrimp paste. These flavors, though pungent in odor, are typically Filipino.

When international or foreign trade improved, various Asian groups of people visited our country. They were the Malaysians, Indonesians, Arabians, Indians and not the least, the Chinese who brought over all sorts of spices and settled their families here, thereby handing down cooking methods which helped much of the natives’ local knowledge of food preparations.

Part 2 - PART II- Global intrests on Food Influences