Neanderthals were dab hands at lentil hotpot

Neanderthals cared about flavour and cooked their vegetables to make them more tasty, a study has found.

Analysis of charred remains of food in two caves, one in Greece and one in Iraq, revealed complex cooking techniques in prehistoric Homo sapiens as well as Neanderthals. The Iraqi site showed evidence plants that were cooked 70,000 years ago, the study in the journal Antiquity showed. Prehistoric hunter-gatherer used pulses such as lentils, which they soaked and leached to remove their naturally bitter taste.