The diet of the ancient Celts is one of the most concrete aspects of Celtic food and feasting, and it is one of the aspects of Celtic culture and daily life that we can reconstruct with some confidence from the archaeological and literary record. The Celts of the Iron Age and the early medieval period were farmers, herders, fishers, and gatherers, and their daily meals were built on the produce of the agricultural and pastoral economy in which they lived. The Mediterranean writers who described the Celtic diet were sometimes condescending, but they were also impressed by the abundance and the variety of the food available in Celtic territories. The traditional picture of the Celtic diet, derived from archaeology, classical sources, and the early Irish law texts, is a picture of a varied, abundant, and distinctive cuisine that combined the products of the field, the byre, the river, and the sea in ways that have left their mark on the cooking of the modern Celtic-speaking regions.
The Grains of the Celtic Diet
The staple of the Celtic diet was grain, in the form of bread, porridge, and a range of flat cakes and gruels. The principal grains used by the Celts were wheat, barley, oats, and rye, with the relative importance of each varying by region and period. In the Mediterranean-influenced regions of southern Gaul, wheat was the dominant grain, and the Celtic elites of the late Iron Age consumed bread made from imported wheat. In the more northerly and westerly regions, including Britain, Ireland, and the Atlantic coast of Gaul, barley and oats were more important.
The bread of the Celtic world was typically a dense, heavy loaf, baked in a flat cake on a hot stone or in a clay oven. The Greek writer Posidonius describes the Celtic bread as being prepared without much skill, in flat cakes, and the Romans were generally unimpressed by Celtic baking. The early Irish law texts describe in detail the production of bread for different ranks of household.
Meat and Animal Products
Meat was an important part of the Celtic diet, especially for the upper classes. The Romans, who considered the Celts to be heavy meat-eaters, were struck by the variety of meats available in Celtic territories and by the way in which meat was consumed in large quantities at feasts. The principal meats of the Celtic world were pork, beef, mutton, and goat, with pork being especially prized by the Celtic aristocracy. The importance of pork in the Celtic diet is reflected in the survival of pork as a central feature of the cooking of the modern Celtic-speaking regions.
The Celtic diet also included a wide range of animal products other than meat. Butter, in particular, was a distinctive feature of Celtic cooking, and the Mediterranean writers, who were accustomed to using olive oil, were struck by the way in which the Celts used butter as a cooking medium. The Greek writer Strabo noted that the Celts used butter freely in their cooking, and the Roman writer Pliny the Elder remarked on the large quantities of butter produced in Celtic territories. Cheese and curds were also important in the Celtic diet.
Fish and Seafood
Fish and seafood were important sources of protein in many Celtic societies, especially in coastal and riverine regions. The great rivers of Gaul, the Atlantic and North Sea coasts, and the seas around the British Isles and Ireland all provided abundant fish, including salmon, trout, eel, herring, mackerel, cod, and a variety of shellfish. The archaeological record of Celtic fishing includes fish bones, fishing hooks, net weights, and the remains of fish traps, all of which testify to the importance of fish in the Celtic diet.
The consumption of fish in the Celtic world was not limited to the coastal regions. The rivers of inland Gaul, including the Seine, the Loire, the Garonne, and the Rhône, were important sources of freshwater fish, and the Celts developed a sophisticated technology for catching and preserving fish, including the construction of weirs, fish traps, and the smoking and salting of fish for storage and transport.
Fruits, Vegetables, and Nuts
The Celtic diet included a wide range of fruits, vegetables, and nuts, both cultivated and gathered from the wild. The principal cultivated fruits of the Celtic world were apples, pears, plums, and cherries, supplemented by a variety of berries. The Celtic world was also rich in nuts, including hazelnuts, walnuts, and chestnuts, and the gathering of nuts from the wild was an important part of the Celtic food economy. The vegetables of the Celtic diet included a range of root vegetables, including turnips, carrots, parsnips, and beets, and a range of leaf vegetables, including cabbage, kale, leeks, and onions. Beans, peas, and lentils were also cultivated, and the Celts also gathered wild plants including sorrel, nettle, watercress, and dandelion, whose use in Celtic cooking has been preserved in the modern Celtic-speaking regions.
Regional Variations
The diet of the ancient Celts varied considerably by region, and the most striking regional variations were between the Mediterranean-influenced south and the Atlantic and northern regions. The Celtic elites of southern Gaul, in close contact with the Greek colony of Massalia and later with the Roman province, consumed a wide range of Mediterranean foods, including imported wine, olive oil, salted fish, and exotic spices. The archaeological evidence from late Iron Age sites in southern Gaul shows the presence of imported Mediterranean pottery, wine amphorae, and the remains of Mediterranean foods, all of which testify to the importance of Mediterranean trade in the diet of the southern Celtic elites.
The diet of the Celtic peoples of the Atlantic and northern regions was less influenced by the Mediterranean, and was more based on the produce of the local agriculture and the sea. The Celtic peoples of Britain, Ireland, and the Atlantic coast of Gaul consumed a diet that was heavy in dairy products, in oats and barley, in fish and seafood, and in the meat of cattle, sheep, and pigs.
Commoner and Elite Diet
The diet of the Celtic world varied considerably by social class, and the most striking contrast was between the diet of the free peasantry, which formed the bulk of the Celtic population, and the diet of the aristocratic elite, which had access to imported luxuries and to a much wider range of foods. The diet of the free peasantry was based on the products of the household farm: the grain from the family fields, the dairy products from the family cattle, the meat and fish from the family livestock and the local rivers and seas, and the fruits, vegetables, and nuts from the family garden and the surrounding countryside. The diet of the elite was much more varied, with access to imported Mediterranean foods, to the products of long-distance trade, and to a much wider range of meat, fish, and luxury ingredients.
The early Irish law texts devote considerable attention to the distinction between the diet of different ranks of society. The diet of a king, for example, was expected to include a wide range of meats, including pork, beef, mutton, and venison, a range of breads, including the finest wheaten bread, a range of dairy products, and a generous supply of mead, beer, and imported wine. The diet of a poor freeman, by contrast, was limited to the basic products of the household: a simple bread or porridge, butter, curds, and a small amount of meat or fish.
The Celtic Food System
The Roman stereotype of the Celtic diet, although exaggerated, was based on a real distinction between the Mediterranean and the Celtic food systems. The Romans regarded the Celtic preference for butter, beer, and pork as barbaric, but they also recognized the abundance and quality of the Celtic food supply. The archaeological evidence for the Celtic diet shows a varied and abundant food supply that included a wide range of grains, meats, dairy products, fish, fruits, vegetables, and nuts. The Celtic food system was well suited to the regions in which the Celts lived, and it provided the foundation for the rich and distinctive Celtic feasting tradition.
Related Topics
- The Celtic food and feasting traditions provide the broader context of the Celtic diet
- The role of mead and beer in Celtic feasting examines the most distinctive feature of Celtic drink
- The Celtic settlements and homes were the physical context in which Celtic food was prepared
- The Celtic festivals and calendar structured the agricultural and ritual year of the food supply
- The Brehon law tradition of early medieval Ireland includes detailed regulations on diet