Ancient Greek cuisine was characterised by its frugality, reflecting agricultural hardship, but also had a greater diversity of ingredients.
The Greek Community of Melbourne city campus explored Ancient Greek cuisine and traced the development of our nutritional habits from antiquity through to today.
Year 4 students created a project to the value of Greek dietary habits in antiquity all the way to modern times.
The goal of the project was to teach youngsters about the different types of food and nutritional value so that they could acquire the proper dietary habits and learn the value of different meals.
The explored breakfast and the value which the ancients placed on it. Most ancient Greeks had barley bread dipped in wine, to soften it up. They also ate teganites, a pancake-styled dish made with wheat flour, olive oil, honey and curdled milk which was topped with honey or cheese.
Bread and wine was also consumed for lunch, considered a midday snack. Greeks would eat figs, salted fish, cheeses, olives and more bread.
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Dinner was the most important meal of the day in Greece. People would gather with friends and discuss philosophy and daily events while eating eggs from quail and hens, fish, legumes, olives, cheese, bread, figs and vegetables such as arugula, asparagus, cabbage, carrots and cucumbers. Meats were reserved for the wealthy.
Men and women ate separately, and the men would dine first.
Within the framework of the program, students explored and exchanged recipes, studied ingredients and looked at cuisine in antiquity in its entirety. They looked at socioeconomic status and eating, including the elaborate celebrations of those who were wealthy, and they also explored less of little-known foods of antiquity. Equally as important as the food itself was a study of utensils used in Ancient Greece.
Students also explored what philosophers had to say before playing kahoot and using other educational apps, such as Quizlet, to further reinforce what they learnt.
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