Caroline from Pario Gallico talks us through the seasonal food available in Iron Age Britain and some of the cooking methods used, as well as touching on the importance of experimental archaeology and living history.
This was amazing. My mother’s ancestry is Cree and Cherokee. When we would go to re-enactments (or camping with my gran), she would cook around the fire exactly as you did - around the edge, not over the top. She said hanging the pot directly over the fire, the bottom was too hot and would scorch, or someone had to stir the pot frequently (and you could tumble everyone’s dinner into the fire). Pulling the coals to the side and using a pot or using a Dutch oven, you had more control over the heat. She never burned anything, and she actually baked cobblers and made fry bread. What I’d give to have some of that now….Iron Age technology still works, even if you use a cast iron pot. Good memories. Thank you.
that must have been pretty cool to watch. I've watched my husband oaxcan family make dishes this old way. What's crazy is they do it often. they have an outside kitchen which they use and prefer it over the modern kitchen they have inside their home
Well it makes sense that they would cook this way, since they learned how to cook over the fire with iron pots from the people who brought them iron pots...
@@DieLuftwaffelCooking in a pot isnt exactly hard to do, and earthenware pottery to cook in was still a thing in North America prior to European expansion. There were vast trade networks between different tribes so even assuming cherokee didn't make their own pottery to cook in (they did), they would have had access to it by way of neighbors and traders. *Im an Anthropology major. Cooking has existed for a VERY long time and in the absence of pottery, we use hollowed out voids (in logs, rocks, folded bark, large shaped leaves) and hot rocks. Iron pots are great, but this is a time honored skill that no one group would have had to introduce the other to.
@@DieLuftwaffel no, I’m sorry, Europeans were idiots in multiple ways when they arrived in the Americas. If anything Native Americans taught Europeans how to feed themselves/survive in the New World. Stick to what you know. 😂
@@Your-Least-Favorite-Stranger Europeans I Europe used clay pots for cooking all the way till WW2 and fire stoves too. Clay pots would break, but clay was the cheapest material. Cast iron pots and skillets were hella expensive and heavy. Only after industrial mass production of aluminum and steel pots started in the 1950-1970s that metal cookware got cheap
As a Potter, we have always been interested in different ways of firing our pottery. And have tried all the different methods known in the earliest days we think that people might have wrapped food in clay, and then found out sometimes they could save the outer shell of clay and use it as a pot.
I'm trying to put together a winter diet for a larp event that fits an iron age aesthetic so this has been very helpful! I couldn't find anything anywhere about this topic, thank you so much.
Thanks for the awesome video! I find it fascinating that a genetic condition called hemochromatosis where excess iron builds up in the body is the most common in traditionally celtic and other places which relied heavily on dairy. Calcium, largely found in dairy, inhibits the absorption of iron through digestion so they developed in response to the diet to be very efficient at absorbing iron. A great excess of it can cause a lot of problems but the treatment for it is still basically to take blood out of you, so I'm guessing it wouldn't have been much of a problem for say a warrior who gets banged around a lot (or a woman with very heavy periods like myself lol) 😂 This condition also leads to a bronzy or reddish tint to the skin, which I believe some roman authors described some celts having. Sorry for the random fact dump, I just find it incredibly fascinating how traces of our ancient diets are still reflected in our genes. I believe places like Ireland and Finland (which is where I live and was also very cattle reliant place once upon a time) also have some of the lowest rates of lactose intolerance and milk allergies!
I am just surprised that this is 2 years old already and only 500 or so likes; surely there should be more for something this great and informative? What a remarkable woman. If the lights went out and we had to go back to basics, I for sure would go find this woman; basic survival.
Thank you, thank you, thank you, Caroline for this wonderful and insightful video! I am in the long processes (years!) of writing a British Iron Age historical fiction story. I love to come across anything related to food, which can easily be replicated by most (unlike handmade clothing and tools), and thus, makes us feel closer to the past and our ancestors. I love experimental archaeology and living history so much! I'm a big fan of Time Team and the BBC 4 Living History Farm Series with the lovely Ruth Goodman, Peter Ginn, Alex Langlands, and Tom Pinfold. I specialized in American and Medieval Histories in University.
Very interesting! I always thought they cooked in iron pots/cauldrons too. I thought clay pots would explode for cooking in! I never thought about the pots being placed in embers. I would imagine that a lot of cooking would've been done outdoors in dry warm weather to reduce the amount of smoke in the round house, plus it would be lighter to see what one was doing. I reckon in those days during good weather people spent much more time outdoors. I'm very glad potatoes eventually made their way to this island!
I’ve got most of my cooking and eating utensils for Iron Age cooking, but I don’t yet have a proper pot or knife, this is an excellent way to show what I may want to look at and get for my own Iron Age cooking! Thank you for sharing!!!
fascinating video. I'm glad you mentioned the importance of seasonality. With possibility of IT outages, learning how to go lower tech is really important
I am so glad to have found this video. I studied this period of time from the art history viewpoint, but I am also interested in how the people lived. I love to garden and am curious as to whether there are any indications of a kitchen garden, near the house. Were there temporary outdoor kitchens in the summertime for processing the vegetables, for drying, or for immediate feasting. You would need a shady awning over the processing area, a place to hang herbs for drying and use later as seasoning and remedies, I am also curious about fruit trees, and whether there were some in the village, or maybe they would travel a day or two to a wild orchard,. Hope I am not bombarding you with questions, What impresses me is the carefully considered use of resources. Thank you for your work, very inspiring.
You do have a bit of an accent. You must come from the Little Britannia of course! Jokes aside, so much can be learned from an Iron Age cooking video, it's amazing!
take into account there were two sleeping periods during the night, first and second...in the very busy interval you could revive the fire, make some cooking, look after the animals beside or below etc.
That's actually true (depending on who you were, your living situation, etc.). Where men lived in close quarters and there was danger (which was many places for most of history), men would have shifts doing the night watch. Also during harvest you would be so exhausted from working as hard as possible all day, that you would go straight to sleep when the sun set, and often wake up in the night to have some wifey time or devotional prayer, and then go back to sleep for a bit before sunrise.
I was worried about your sleeves and that flame . I am sure they had some horrific events because of this. Very informative and good advice for survival.
SO well explained! 🙂 Thought you did a really good job balancing the level of information needed & explaining the reasons behind things... esp. taking into account that many viewers may not ever have cooked with fire, grown their own food, or lived without electricity? Even for somebody who has some familiarity with those things, there's still great wee nuggets here like not tapping one's stirring-spoon for fear of cracking the pots... Presenter is very natural & fluent too, interesting & entertaining to listen to. Brava! 👏
only if you forget supermarkets and refrigerators, keep your own seeds and have only the few animals you can feed without buying anything...and of course live with several other people doing the same!
@@user-vm3bo6eq1dHappily. Small communities, homegrown produce, artisan goods, local festivities - modern conveniences are overrated and over-relied upon. Fermentation preserved foods are better for us anyways
Wonderful video. An open fire in the middle of the room seems very dangerous, both to the home and the cook. I imagine it was even more dangerous than Elizabethan hearths.
They would put it outside if at all possible Rainy days or winter they would have inside Can u imagine all the child burns? Maybe they assigned a kid to keep a baby out of fire n then taught a toddler about HOT. And kicked out kids if they got running around!
@YeshuaKingMessiah Yep they would have been very tough with youngsters by today's standards but it was necessary to keep them from getting hurt or dying.
Solcherart gelebte Geschichte oder Institute oder Vereine, die sich mit so etwas beschäftigen, muss es doch in Deutschland auch irgendwo geben. Weiß da jemand etwas?
the iron age people dint eat much pork or chicken tbh, pork only started to be eaten all over after the roman conquest because the roman are known to love pork and poultry.
Her accent, French or Belgian as I can tell, is absolutely minimal. She's had to work hard for this. Can't understand the English of most walloons and French, I dare you to try hahah :)
❤ love the video❤ love the explanation❤ even love the accent… from Continental Europe❤ there is an issue with language @2:06 Please say it correctly, it is “Fewer eggs” NOT “less eggs”.❤ One man/woman & fewer men/women. - NOT “less men/women” Many people & fewer people - NOT “less people” and NOT “alot of people”
@@YeshuaKingMessiah i suggest you learn hebrew too, or is that all too much for you? if jebus was the messiah to bring peace, why did everyone get burned and tortured in his name? he did not bring peace, he brang destruction.who is called the morning star, satan or jebus, or both? the nt warns of itself as the anticrisp is explained as not liking women, jebus wasn't interested in women either. you have been decieved and need to look again.
I have a hard time believing a copper caldron would have been too expensive for the average household 4.5 grams of silver or 1 denarii a day was low end of pay in Roman times they worked 7 days in a 8 day week that’s over an ounce of silver a week yes a caldron would be expensive but not out of reach
@@YeshuaKingMessiah the video title states iron age i include the Roman invasion if we’re talking pre Roman yes society would’ve been a lot more communal the stone soup fable comes to mind
