Food is sublimely unifying. People sit with their family, friends and neighbours to eat, drink and chat, informally and formally depending upon the occasion. What interests me about food is how it might have looked and tasted in Later Prehistory.
Having worked my way through many so-called 'prehistoric recipes' I decided that the people who constructed elaborate places such as Maes Howe or Newgrange would simply not put up with it. Bad, unimaginative food that is. Everything does not need to be a stew, hog-roast (feasting! arg!) or cooked in a hole in the ground (great in Rarotonga, not-so-great in Britain!). Once we accept that Neolithic life was far more sophisticated than depicted in the antiquated corners of the public conscious (as opposed to at the forefront of archaeological research), the obvious conclusion is that people will have cooked and eaten good food.
In Wales we have some very traditional breads and cakes which were originally cooked on heated stones. Some old Welsh houses still have their cooking stones and these dainty cakes might be a Neolithic invention: flour, salt, dried fruits, butter, butter-milk - yum! Welsh cakes rock!
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