Annabel Langbein
It’s fun to explore the world of gastronomy, whether in person or via the hashtag
Our culture’s obsession with all things new, bizarre or extravagant in food is quite overwhelming, not least via the all-documenting eye of Instagram. As l write, the number of images bearing the hashtag #foodie stands at 128 million, #foodporn has 203 million images and #food comes up with a staggering 348 million image posts. And by the time you read this the numbers will have shot up even higher.
From the artful swirl of milk in their lattes, through to the latest fashionable dish of fried insects, people are documenting every edible moment of their lives.
But while Instagram may be the latest phenomenon to feed and drive our hunger for new tastes and flavours, the globalisation of food and food culture has been around for thousands of years.
Back in the first century AD, Rome was an epicentre for gourmands. De re Coquinari (On the Subject of Cooking ) is a cookbook dated to the late fourth or early fifth century, purportedly written by Apicius Caelius. I have a copy of the English translation, entitled Cooking and Dining in Imperial Rome, which was published in 1977 by Dover Publications.
Much of the book’s content is thought to be attributed to one of the world’s greatest gourmands (and gluttons), Marcus Gavius Apicius, a wealthy man who lived in the first century AD and was famous for his elaborate tastes. Throughout the book are recipes and references to all kinds of exotic and bizarre foods — dolphin meatballs, boiled parrot, roasted ostrich, sow’s womb and flamingo, to mention but a few. Apicius was known to commission ships to sail to faraway places in search of gourmet delicacies. He even went as far afield as Libya in the pursuit of prawns he had heard were exceptional but upon tasting them, caught by a local fisherman, he decided they weren’t good enough and so turned the ship around and went home without making a single purchase.
This desire for new experiences, including tastes and flavours, is known as neophilia. Through eating new foods from other cultures, people express their sophistication and worldliness. On the other side of the ledger, neophobics like everything to remain the same.
Throughout my life I’ve loved exploring the new as well as the old. But at this time of year when it’s cold and miserable outside, nothing beats the comfort of a slow-cooked meat dish — warming, undemanding and deeply satisfying.