Sourdough from Ancient Egypt

I’m in Italy this week, and what with a pazzesco research schedule, the challenges of getting around by trains and public transit, and the patchy wifi that’s making staying on top of my photos tricky, I won’t be able to do my regular dispatch this Tuesday. But I’ll be sending one out as soon as possible, and it will be a good one! I was in Turin, whose Museo Egizio boasts the largest collection of Egyptian artifacts outside of Cairo.

Magnificent tombs, statues, and papyri. But it turns out that the ancient Egyptians were heavily preoccupied by food and drink—and they left many traces (and some pretty significant remains) of their culinary culture in their tombs.

So stay tuned—soon I’ll be taking you into the tomb of Kha, “overseer of works” to the pharaohs. He was buried with his wife Merit, and their intact tomb was discovered in 1906 by an Italian expedition. It turns out to have contained all kinds of edible goodies, which are beautifully presented at the museum.

A più tardi!