# Europe Forum > European Culture & History > European food and recipes >  History of European food

## Maciamo

Europe has a great diversity of food reflecting its linguistico-cultural mosaic. In this age of globalisation we are brought to eat food from more and more countries. But what did our ancestors eat ? When and where were each dish invented ? The purpose of this article is to answer some of these questions. Many dishes are so old, often dating back to ancient times, that their origin is unclear.


*Famous sauces*

- Mustard : most likely developed by the Romans.
- B&#233;chamel sauce : first mentioned by by Fran&#231;ois Pierre La Varenne in 1651.
- Mayonnaise : invented by a French chef in in 1756.
- Bearnaise : likely first made by the chef Collinet in 1836 near Paris.
- Worcestershire Sauce : invented in 1835.

*Famous dishes and snacks*

- Roast beef : Already known of the Romans (military food).
- Lasagna : probably first cooked in England in the 14th century.
- Chicken Kiev : invented by French chef Nicolas Fran&#231;ois Appert in the mid 18th century.
- Bouch&#233;e &#224; la reine (individual vol-au-vent) : named after King Louis XV of France's wife, Marie Leczinska. Invented in France in the mid 18th century.
- Bouillabaisse : term first appearing in Marseilles in the 1830's.
- Hot-dog : probably invented in Germany in the mid 19th century.
- Pizza : invented by Raffaele Esposito in Naples in 1890.
- Croque-monsieur : first served in a Parisian caf&#233; in 1910.

*Famous deserts or sweets*

- waffle : invented in Medieval Times (13th century), probably in France.
- choux (pastry) : invented by Popelini in Italy in 1540.
- (modern) ice cream : invented in the 17th century in Italy.
- Tarte Tatin : invented (by accident) in France in 1889.

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## misa.j

Maciamo, those names of dishes are making me hungry...

I didn't know balsamic vinegar was almost unknown outside Italy until 1980s. It is very common for salad dressing in North America now.

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## ricecake

What a pleasant surprise,roast beef was once a Roman meal.I've always thought,it's good old American food like " fried chicken ".

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## Duo

There are dishes in europe that are hard to find in other countries. 

Things like kebap( although now exported by immigrants), baklava, burek yoghurt salad & so forth

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## ricecake

This thread title reminds me of one period awhile back as I was glued to cable TV Food Network channel's variety of 1/2-1 hour programs on introduction of American foods/snacks with many have European-origin and detailed explanation how they arrived to America's shores through out US history.

Donuts incidently invented by a French nun in a convent,so they say.

I have a soft spot for all things history or cultural related  :Smiling:

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## cursore

For me it is easy... there is Itlian food on one side and everything else in the world on the other.....

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## pipokun

What did ordinary Europeans eat before potato?
As far as I know, the great culinary culture in Europe spread among ordinary people just after WWI.

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## Maciamo

> What did ordinary Europeans eat before potato?


Bread, of course, ever since Roman times (and before that). In some regions crepes/pancakes were also common (e.g. North-West France), or pasta in Italy since the late Middle Ages.

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## Minty

I always thought Lasagna is Italian...I didn't know Worcestershire Sauce is a French invention. The rest of the foods that are invented by France I knew before hand.

My husband took me to the town where mustard is invented, very interesting visit! I love mustard! :Blush:

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## pipokun

> Bread, of course, ever since Roman times (and before that). In some regions crepes/pancakes were also common (e.g. North-West France), or pasta in Italy since the late Middle Ages.


Thanks, but I doubt wheat was as common as now. I mean wheat was an expensive product, so potato was called as something like wheat for the poor.
I heard they ate more buckwheat which is grown even in poor soil, though it is only consumed in just small part of Europe like Northern Italy or else now.

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## Maciamo

> Thanks, but I doubt wheat was as common as now. I mean wheat was an expensive product, so potato was called as something like wheat for the poor.
> I heard they ate more buckwheat which is grown even in poor soil, though it is only consumed in just small part of Europe like Northern Italy or else now.


No, wheat was the most common agricultural product, much more readily available than potatoes. In fact potatoes were only imported from the Americas in the 16th century and were not commonly eaten before the 18th or 19th century in most of Europe. Ireland was one of the first country to adopt it as a staple food in the mid-17th century. 

So we can say that in 11,000 years of agriculture in Europe, wheat and barley have been the main crop from the earliest days of farming to this day. Potato has only reached a similar status in some countries (more in Northern Europe) in the last 200 years only.

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## Minty

> *Famous deserts or sweets*
> 
> - waffle : invented in Medieval Times (13th century), probably in France.


Hmm didn't you tell us before waffle is Belge?

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## KingCE

The consumption of dairy products (milk, yoghurt, farmers' cheese) makes an interesting corollary to questions about the migrations of ethnic groups. Eating dairy products is a part of pastoral life but not necessarily a part of agricultural life or hunting and gathering. Does it track Indo European culture? European culture is a dairy-eating culture, but what about the Middle East, Central Asia, India, etc? Does any culture not touched by Indo-European culture consume dairy? It would be an interesting hypothesis to follow.

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## Neander

There is a sort of tuber simmilar to patato, but I don't know its name in english, it is native to Europe, and its color is brown.

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## alabama2010

> The consumption of dairy products (milk, yoghurt, farmers' cheese) makes an interesting corollary to questions about the migrations of ethnic groups. Eating dairy products is a part of pastoral life but not necessarily a part of agricultural life or hunting and gathering. Does it track Indo European culture? European culture is a dairy-eating culture, but what about the Middle East, Central Asia, India, etc? Does any culture not touched by Indo-European culture consume dairy? It would be an interesting hypothesis to follow.


it seems you really made a research on these. BTW thanks for the info..

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## europeanlives

> I always thought Lasagna is Italian...



I agree with you. I had this image in my head relating Lasagna to Italy  :Embarassed:

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## james720

What a pleasant surprise,roast beef was once a Roman meal.I've always thought,it's good old American food like " fried chicken ".

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## james720

European culture consume dairy? It would be an interesting hypothesis to follow.

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## Melusine

RiceCake,

Sorry, (I'm American too), Good old Fried Chicken did NOT originate in America.

FYI According to Wikepedia http://en.wikpedia.org/wiki/Fried_chicken, there is evidence that Chicken was being fried in West Africa, also "Fritter" had already existed in Europe since medieval times, and it's called pollo fritto in Italy

Melusine

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## Aristander

I think turnips were common in Europe as a root crop that fed poor and rich a like. 



> Pliny the Elder writes that he considered the turnip one of the most important vegetables of his day, rating it "directly after cereals or at all events after the bean, since its utility surpasses that of any other plant." Pliny praises it as a source of fodder for farm animals, and this vegetable is not particular about the type of soil it grows in and because it can be left in the ground until the next harvest, it "prevents the effects of famine" for humans.


Another favorite of mine are Pretzels, all their different varieties. I saw them all over Germany.

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## jdanel

> Europe has a great diversity of food reflecting its linguistico-cultural mosaic. In this age of globalisation we are brought to eat food from more and more countries. But what did our ancestors eat ? When and where were each dish invented ? The purpose of this article is to answer some of these questions. Many dishes are so old, often dating back to ancient times, that their origin is unclear.
> 
> 
> *Famous sauces*
> 
> - Mustard : most likely developed by the Romans.
> - B&#233;chamel sauce : first mentioned by by Fran&#231;ois Pierre La Varenne in 1651.
> - Mayonnaise : invented by a French chef in in 1756.
> - Bearnaise : likely first made by the chef Collinet in 1836 near Paris.
> ...


What? 

Are you saying that mayonnaise wasn't invented by the chef for the brother of Hannibal in the Balearic Islands? 

Seriously, dude?

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## jdanel

I was looking into recipes for Spanish food from the middle ages and before. Most of what I found were variations of "cook some things in a frying pan and then pour whipped eggs over it and let it cook, then add a sauce, enjoy"

Primitive omelets, sort of. 

The sauce was either a fish sauce, or something resembling worcestershire sauce.

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## Carlitos

^^
The most probable origin of mayonnaise is that the recipe was brought back to France from the town of Mahn in Menorca (Spain), after Armand de Vignerot du Plessis's victory over the British at the city's port in 1756. According to this version, the sauce was originally known as "salsa mahonesa" in Spanish and "maonesa" in Catalan (as it is still known in Menorca), later becoming _mayonnaise_ as it was popularized by the French.

http://http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mayonnaise

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## Carlitos

The salad or potato salad (also known as Salad Olivier) is a Russian dish. It is a kind of potato salad or a salad with vegetables and tuna all mixed in plenty of mayonnaise. In many European countries, this dish is very popular, as has been included in their national cuisines, as in the case of Spain or Portugal.

Despite the popularity of salad in Spain and the Southern Cone, one can say that its origin is actually Russian (Салат Оливье) since it was invented in 1860 by Lucien Olivier, the restaurant chef Hermitage (Эрмитаж) one of the most popular restaurants in Moscow that would soon make this dish her hallmark.

http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ensalada_rusa

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## eyah

Wow! A great information about European food, sounds very yummy and really different to Asian food, I wanna taste the specialty of European food, can someone tell me what is the specialty of European foods? thanks  :Grin: 


*Singapore Restaurants List*

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## iapetoc

> What? 
> 
> Are you saying that mayonnaise wasn't invented by the chef for the brother of Hannibal in the Balearic Islands? 
> 
> Seriously, dude?



Yes I know that too,
Mayonaise was invented by Machon -Mayo brother of Hannibal

he was forced to feed soldiers and the only left was olive oil, vinegar and eggs,

but not in Balearides outside Rome I know,

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## Reinaert

Hmmm... 
I don't believe all the stories.

Who invented what?

Some things just pop up at lots of places and periods in time.

For instance... Worcestershire Sauce.. Hmmm.. 
The British copied a sauce from India, and the Indians got it from.... the Romans.. 

Another thing is, it's not that hard to understand that combining the standard flavors salty, sweet, bitter, sour and whatever herbs to make a well balanced and fine tasting dish.

BTW In the middle ages European food was kind of sour according to our taste. 
They used lots of onions, cabbage, cooked with vinegar to make it softer.

I think the French Boeuf Bourguignon gives you an idea.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beef_bourguignon

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## Farstar

Many dishes which are assigned to France (and less to Italy), they clearly existed before, in many other places. A typical example is "mayonnaise", which in fact has its origin in Maó (Menorca), in Catalan "maonesa", which is a derivation from the Catalan "all-i-oli". But there are examples of the same or similar product much earlier, in Greece and in Egypt.

https://ca.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maionesa

In general, many products which are "known" to be French, they are in fact Mediterranean, having existed for a long time before in the anonymous homes of many Mediterraneans. French (and Italians) just appropriated them without proper referencing.

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## elenekaterrr

Thanx for the history of europian dishes - I like the Europian cuisine very much

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## ratchet_fan

I believe deviled eggs and sauerkraut are of Roman origin too. Cheesecake is supposedly Greek.

European food is great. Another country with underrated cuisine is the Czech Republic. I love their bread dumplings, potato dumplings, roasted duck and rich sauces.

Another place where Europe dominates is alcohol, cheeses, desserts and sausages. No other region of the wold even comes close to the variety in those foods.

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