The Oldest Food Still Being Eaten Today Might Surprise You
Some foods on your plate have a longer, stranger history than most historical monuments.
A look at some of the oldest foods still commonly eaten today, from ancient bread recipes to ancient cheese, and what archaeological evidence reveals about them.
Some of the foods sitting in a modern kitchen have culinary histories that stretch back thousands of years, far longer than most people would guess.
Bread
Archaeological evidence has pushed bread's origins back tens of thousands of years, with charred remains found at sites that predate the widespread rise of farming itself.
Cheese
Residue analysis on ancient pottery has confirmed cheesemaking dates back at least seven thousand years, making it one of humanity's oldest preserved dairy techniques.
Honey
Archaeologists have found sealed jars of honey in ancient tombs that remained genuinely edible after thousands of years, thanks to honey's uniquely low moisture and acidity.
Beer
Some of the earliest known written recipes, dating back roughly five thousand years, are for beer, suggesting fermentation was one of the very first food technologies humans mastered deliberately.
Noodles
A bowl of noodles discovered at an archaeological site in China has been dated to around four thousand years old, preserved by a specific set of burial conditions.
Olive Oil
Evidence of olive oil production stretches back thousands of years around the Mediterranean, with some archaeological presses still intact enough to study the original technique.
Dried Meat
Preserving meat through drying is considered one of humanity's oldest food preservation methods, predating written history entirely and still directly reflected in modern jerky.