Tari
A sap tapped from palm trees and fermented. Common in historical Asian texts, largely replaced by modern distillation methods.
Lost Ingredients of the Ancient World
Culinary history is littered with the ghosts of ingredients that were loved to death, replaced by cheaper alternatives, or lost to changing climates. Here is the botanical graveyard of the kitchen.
Silphium: The Heart-Shaped Obsession
Grown only in the coastal region of Cyrenaica (modern-day Libya), Silphium was a plant so vital to the Roman economy that it was stamped on their coins. It functioned as a seasoning, a perfume, and a medicine.
Despite numerous attempts, it refused to be farmed outside its wild habitat. Pliny the Elder recorded that within his lifetime, only a single stalk was found and given to Emperor Nero. It vanished forever shortly after.
Long Pepper
Hotter and more complex than black pepper. It dominated European trade routes before the discovery of the Americas introduced chili peppers, rendering it obsolete in the West.