# Food in the Bible **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 19, 2010, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-in-the-bible/533032 "2010-03-19T16:53:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2010, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-in-the-bible/533032/21 "2010-03-19T22:18:08Z")
> [@](#): > > When teenage Jesus turned the water into wine at the wedding the host was accused of saving the good stuff for last. Good stuff = stronger in many peoples book. “In many peoples’ book” including the Bible. When the butler tastes the wine, he compares it to the usual custom of serving the good wine first to get the guests too drunk to care about the wine quality later. Back to the OP, if you go into the Old Testament and in particular the five Books of the Law, there’s a fair bit of detail on how Kosher meat is to be prepared, and there’s even more detail in the traditions parallel to the Law itself, in the Talmud. I’d imagine that the stuff you’d get from a Kosher butcher today would be pretty close to what was eaten back then, since they’re following the same Law. ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2010, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-in-the-bible/533032/22 "2010-03-20T01:00:26Z")
> [@](#): > > What kind of fish would they be pulling in? And then, how would they prepare it? Dried? Smoked? Salted? Eaten fresh? Cooked whole, filleted, grilled, boiled in stew? Gefilte. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2010, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-in-the-bible/533032/23 "2010-03-20T16:23:45Z")
> [@md2000](#): > > First, although the beer-makers might have known “boil first” there’s no guarantee in the days before they knew about microbes, that they would associate boiled water with healthy. Boiling the water when making beer is done to assist with extraction of the malt from the grains. That it also sterlilises it is convenient, but a secondary objective, at best. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2010, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-in-the-bible/533032/24 "2010-03-20T16:32:02Z")
> [@toadspittle](#): > > **- The fish that Peter & co. were netting.** The Sea of Galilee is a freshwater lake, right? What kind of fish would they be pulling in? And then, how would they prepare it? Dried? Smoked? Salted? Eaten fresh? Cooked whole, filleted, grilled, boiled in stew? John 21 describes the resurrected Jesus appearing on the shore while the disciples are out fishing - there’s a bit about a miraculous catch of fish, but pertinent to your question, Jesus calls them to join him for breakfast, described as bread and fish cooked on the embers of a wood or charcoal fire. I imagine that’s talking about dough baked on a rock either heated in the fire, or placed to face it, and fish cooked either directly on the embers, or on sticks propped over them. ---
**Author:** ![Tethered\_Kite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a5b964/32.png) [@Tethered\_Kite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tethered_Kite)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2010, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-in-the-bible/533032/25 "2010-03-20T16:50:56Z")
> [@Speak\_to\_me\_Maddie](#): > > I’ve always wondered about the “cakes” that get mentioned so often during the early kingdom of Israel days. In Biblical times cakes were baked on coals. 1Kings, 19:6. Chances are good they bore little resemblance to what we think of as _cake._ But some ambitious person has developed a fruit cake recipe based on items of food mentioned in the Bible: Mix: 2-1/2 C. flour (Leviticus 2:2) 1t. salt (Job 6:6) 1t. each cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg (Genesis 43:11) 1t. instant coffee Add: 1 C. honey (Genesis 43:11) 1 C. milk (Genesis 18:18) 1/ 2 C. melted butter (Genesis 18:8) 1 T. water (Mark 9:41) 1 t. soda 2 well-beaten eggs (Job 6:6) Mix well and add: 1/2 C. almonds, chopped (Genesis 43:11) 1/2 C. walnuts, chopped (Genesis 43:11) 1 C. raisins (1Samuel 25:18) 1/2 C. dried apricots (Genesis 3:6) Mix well. Pour into 10x14" greased and floured pan. Bake @ 350 degees for 1-1/2 hours. (Yikes! This sounds too long.) ---
**Author:** ![MarcusF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/67e7ee/32.png) [@MarcusF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MarcusF)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2010, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-in-the-bible/533032/26 "2010-03-20T16:58:49Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > Boiling the water when making beer is done to assist with extraction of the malt from the grains. That it also sterlilises it is convenient, but a secondary objective, at best. Recent experimental archeology result about [brewing in pre-historic Ireland](http://www.britarch.ac.uk/ba/ba110/news.shtml#item1) - not Guinness though! ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2010, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-in-the-bible/533032/27 "2010-03-20T21:20:38Z")
> [@](#): > > But some ambitious person has developed a fruit cake recipe based on items of food mentioned in the Bible: Interesting that someone would put in the time to specifically make a Biblically-based recipe, and then add an unnecessary ingredient like coffee that certainly _wasn’t_ available in the Middle East in Biblical times. ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2010, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-in-the-bible/533032/28 "2010-03-20T21:29:06Z")
Don’t forget they lived in a land flowing with milk and honey (and some tasty insects). 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Lust4Life](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ecc23a/32.png) [@Lust4Life](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lust4Life)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2010, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-in-the-bible/533032/29 "2010-03-20T23:40:22Z")
My two pennorth,Palestine was part of the Roman Empire at the time,international trade was very common and according to some T.V. documentaries the Last Supper for example was conducted Roman style in a Triclinium style setting. It is quite likely that the wine drunk was imported and that the oil was olive oil. Roman and Greek wine were drunk in Brittania at the time,the internationalism around the Mediterrainen sea and Europe in general can not be over estimated,Europe wide trade had been going on even before the Pyramids were built. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2010, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-in-the-bible/533032/30 "2010-03-21T16:57:38Z")
> [@kanicbird](#): > > Why do you assume (actually you state that you know for sure) that the watered wine down for kids? We in modern society see it as something to keep kids away from, but back then was that a issue at all? > > The Bible states many times about people getting drunk, If anything I would WAG that the wine and other drinks back then would be 1: more variable and 2: generally stronger (and no government regulations stating what levels of alcohol can be in certain drinks. What I meant was I specifically remember reading that. I was a bit tired when I wrote that. I can’t find my source, so I’ll retract it. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2010, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-in-the-bible/533032/31 "2010-03-21T22:15:57Z")
“Cakes” mostly referred to barley cakes. These were round and baked thin (which conserves fuel). They were essentially cookies that tasted like crackers. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2010, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-in-the-bible/533032/32 "2010-03-21T22:24:30Z")
Naked Archaeologist Simcha Jacobovici did a show on biblical food. Here’s a preview. [![]( " - YouTube") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jRFyk-AQpS0) ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2010, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-in-the-bible/533032/33 "2010-03-21T22:52:42Z")
> [@toadspittle](#): > > I was thinking about the food that we see described in the Bible. We all have some stereotypical impressions of it, but what was it all really like? For instance: > > **- The fish that Peter & co. were netting.** The Sea of Galilee is a freshwater lake, right? What kind of fish would they be pulling in? Probably tilipia (the most common food fish in the lake). > [@](#): > > And then, how would they prepare it? Dried? Smoked? Salted? Eaten fresh? Cooked whole, filleted, grilled, boiled in stew? All of the above. Broiling over open flames was probably the most common. Salting and smoking were also common. Fish in the ancient mediterranean could also be use in soups or stews. > [@](#): > > **- The bread.** The Last Supper was a Passover Seder, so I’ve heard most people say that it would have been unleavened bread. But is that similar to modern matzoh (essentially, a dry cracker)? Or would it have been more like pita or other flatbreads? Matzo is the traditional unleavened bread of Passover. It’s made with only flour and water. > [@](#): > > **- Other bread.** When Jesus fed the multitudes, what kind of bread would he have used then (i.e., on a not-necessarily-Kosher occasion)? Again, a pita-like substance? Or a more subsantial, leavened loaf? Just wheat, or other grains, too? How coarse? Pretty simple. Wheat, water, leavening. Sometimes ingredients like raisins or nuts or fruit juice might be added for flavor, or eggs for richness. This was baked both as loaves and as flatbreads, with varying quality and coarseness, depending on the quality of the ingredients, the ovens and the bakers. > [@](#): > > **- The wine.** What kind of wine was this? I’ve heard it said that the wine of this era had about half the alcohol (say, 5-6%) of wine today (discounting those big Calif. reds, which can top 15% easy…), making it more like drinking beer. Is this true? What kind of grapes would they have used? Where did the wine come from—locally grown and made, or shipped from Italy and Greece? If the latter, was it more like retsina (since such wine was often shipped in amphorae coated with pine resin)? I’ve also heard of wine then being mixed heavily with vinegar (even the Colonials in the US had vinegar-based drinks: they were called “shrubs.” Blech.). True? Would they have mixed the wine with anything at the table (water, honey, spices, etc.?). Local vinyards. As has been mentioned, wine was watered for basic hydration needs, and consumed unwatered to get intoxicated. Yes, it could be honeyed or spiced. > [@](#): > > Any other major Biblical food groups I’m missing? Bread and fish would have really been the main peasant foods, also olive oil, grapes, raisins and dates. but some people were lucky enough to get poultry or beef. The Canaanites, and Philistines and Greek gentiles (depending on the particular Biblical era) raised pigs, but, obviously, these were not consumed by Jews. > [@](#): > > **ETA: The oil,** used for anointing, lamps, etc. (Was it ever mentioned as something they ate…?) What was the source? I assume olive oil, but I could be wrong. Olive oil. Olive oil had a great number of uses, and was highly valued. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2010, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-in-the-bible/533032/34 "2010-03-22T00:06:44Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > > [@](#): > > > > - The bread. The Last Supper was a Passover Seder, so I’ve heard most people say that it would have been unleavened bread. But is that similar to modern matzoh (essentially, a dry cracker)? Or would it have been more like pita or other flatbreads? > > Matzo is the traditional unleavened bread of Passover. It’s made with only flour and water. A plain unleavened dough can be made to come out as dry crackers or soft flatbreads - depending on the method of cooking. How far back is the tradition of modern-stlye matzoh verifiably traceable (specifically as passover bread) ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2010, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-in-the-bible/533032/35 "2010-03-22T01:40:19Z")
The factory made matzo is obviously 20th Century, but flat bread baked with only four and water goes back to antiquity. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2010, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-in-the-bible/533032/36 "2010-03-22T01:44:27Z")
Of interest is the novel _Millroy the Magician_, about someone who starts a health food movement based on eating only foods mentioned in the Bible. Millroy was not a believer in religion, but thought the Bible gave the instructions for health food. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2010, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-in-the-bible/533032/37 "2010-03-22T01:55:59Z")
> [@](#): > > The factory made matzo is obviously 20th Century, but flat bread baked with only four and water goes back to antiquity. Yes, but was the ancient flat bread with only flour and water a crispy cracker, or a flexible tortilla? ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2010, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-in-the-bible/533032/38 "2010-03-22T02:06:21Z")
I don’t know for sure, but, from what I’ve read, in the time of Jesus it was baked against the sides of ovens that were heated from the inside with burning dung. Precisely what kind of result (and aromatic influence) that would yield, I don’t really know. Just from my knowledge as a cook, I’ll say that I doubt the results were very pliable. Dry and crispy would be far more likely, but possibly with varying degrees of thickness. ---
**Author:** ![Blake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a9a28c/32.png) [@Blake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blake)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2010, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-in-the-bible/533032/39 "2010-03-22T02:56:35Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > I don’t know for sure, but, from what I’ve read, in the time of Jesus it was baked against the sides of ovens that were heated from the inside with burning dung. Precisely what kind of result (and aromatic influence) that would yield, I don’t really know. Just from my knowledge as a cook, I’ll say that I doubt the results were very pliable. Dry and crispy would be far more likely, but possibly with varying degrees of thickness. Doesn’t the addition of oil keep the bread flexible? ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2010, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-in-the-bible/533032/40 "2010-03-22T03:19:07Z")
Yeah, but matzo doesn’t have oil in it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-in-the-bible/533032.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-in-the-bible/533032.md?page=3)