Nestor’s Dinner: Haute Cuisine at Mycenaean Pylos

Julie A. Hruby (University of Cincinnati)

Bronze Age cuisine (as opposed to diet; that is, the style of food in addition to its content) has received surprisingly little scholarly attention.  Lively discussions of what was eaten are relatively common, and the social and ritual aspects of food and feasting are beginning to receive some attention, but the culinary aspects of food in the Aegean Bronze Age (specifically, the style of food and its preparation) remain comparatively unexplored.

This paper argues that the Mycenaeans in general and the inhabitants of Pylos in particular developed a highly class-differentiated cuisine, and it surveys the evidence for the contents of that cuisine.  On a pragmatic level, cuisine requires a variety of ingredients, a variety of preparation techniques, and trained personnel.  Archaeological and paleobotanical evidence suggests that the Mycenaeans had a long list of available foodstuffs, and that they actively sought increased variety by introducing new plant species and importing food items over considerable distances.  Their culinary equipment tells us that the Pylians had elaborate food preparation techniques, and the Linear B tablets reveal that the palace supported hundreds of specialized culinary personnel.

On a cultural level, haute cuisine requires that high quality food be valued; this is demonstrated by tombs near the palace, whose contents reveal that food and its preparation had strong symbolic value.  The elites of Pylos used food and drink as a means of conspicuous consumption, thereby maintaining their own status while restricting that of others.