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For the Foodies and History-Lovers Alike: These are the World’s Oldest Dishes

Stew: Referenced in the Bible

The Old Testament is full of references to this type of food. For example, in Genesis, Esau and his brother Jacob paid the dowry that Isaac sustained when he married Rebecca by offering up a pot of meat stew. There is also more than one mention of lentil and grain-based stews.

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Photo by Food Via Lenses / Shutterstock

In the 1500s, the Aztecs participated in a gruesome practice of preparing stews with human meat and chillis (also known as tlacatlaolli). But whether or not they actually ate it is up for debate. Pottage, also referred to as a thick stew of vegetables, meats, grains, and fish, has been consumed all over Europe from the Neolithic Age (about 12,000 years ago). It was mostly known as the poor man’s food due to the easy availability of the ingredients.