When did your favorite foods originate? Explore the Food Evolution Timeline

How did the ancient Romans feed their armies? Why did the tradition of feasting begin? When was the potato chip invented? Explore when foods were first cultivated, from prehistory to present day

Botanical illustrations of the Fig plant (Ficus carica)

In the long timeline of human civilization, here’s roughly how things shook out: First, there was fire, water, ice, and salt. Then we started cooking up and chowing down on oysters, scallops, horsemeat, mushrooms, insects, and frogs, in that general chronological order. Fatty almonds and sweet cherries found their way into our diet before walnuts and apples did, but it would be a couple thousand years until we figured out how to make ice cream or a truly good apple pie. Challah (first century), hot dogs (15th century), Fig Newtons (1891), and Meyer lemons (1908) landed in our kitchens long before Red Bull (1984), but they all arrived late to the marshmallow party — we’d been eating one version or another of those fluffy guys since 2000 B.C.

Wild apples grew in prehistoric times. Food historians generally agree they originated in the Caucauses. The large, sweet apple familiar in modern times is essentially a cultivated product, much changed from the tiny, sour fruits, such as those of the crabapple, which were its wild ancestors. This garden of earthly delights was first domesticated around 6500 BC

Codex Mendoza depicting an Aztec mother teaching her daughter to grind maize and make tortillas. Indigenous American societies intensively cultivated maize. The Maya creation legend in the Popul Vuh, describes how man was made from corn.

These paintings from the ancient Maya civilization of Calakmul depict the preparation of cacao bean, a forerunner of the chocolate we know today (1500 BC). Aztec and Mayan peoples consumed chocolate in religious rituals. They did not each this precious substance or use it as an ingredient in recipes.

Archaeologists tell us humans have been eating crustaceans from prehistoric times to present. They know this from excavating "middens," deposits of shells and bones left by early civilizations. The American lobster is today one of the more expensive foods on the market, owing to the difficulty of obtaining sufficeint quantities to meet the demand. But when the first Europeans came to America, the lobster was one of the most commonly found crustaceans. They sometimes washed up on the beaches in piles of two feet high. These settlers approached the creatures with less than gustator enthusiasm, but the lobsters' abundance mande them fit for the tables of the poor.

A feast! In ancient civilizations, feasting was closely tied to religious rituals and ceremonies. These feasts were often elaborate affairs, featuring lavish meals, music, dancing, and other forms of entertainment.

A young woman in a plaid kimono has taken her child to eat sushi. Sushi originated as a way of preserving tuna, or curcian, a kind of carp. The mountain people of Southeast Asia preserved fish by packing it with rice. As it fermented the rice produced lactic acid, which pickled the fish and kept it from spoiling. Upon consumption of the fish, the rice was discarded.

Interior of a rum distillery in Antigua. Until the abolition of slavery (1834), Antigua & Barbuda was one of the largest rum producers in the British Empire

Soda’s originated with the natural mineral spring water that was popular in many parts of Europe for centuries. It was naturally effervescent from carbon dioxide gas obtained on its journey from underground springs. Dr. Joseph Priestly created the first drinkable man-made glass of soda water in 1767 in Leeds, England.

Acknowledging that bread filled with meat or cheese and condiments have been enjoyed since ancient times, the sandwich as we know it today is attributed to John Montagu, 4th Earl of Sandwich. This Englishman was said to have been fond of gambling. As the story goes, in 1762, during a 24 hour gambling streak he instructed a cook to prepare his food in such a way that it would not interfere with his game. The cook presented him with sliced meat between two pieces of toast. Perfect! This meal required no utensils and could be eaten with one hand, leaving the other free to gamble.

The modern wedding cake as we know it now would originate at the 1882 wedding of Prince Leopold, Duke of Albany; his wedding cake was the first to actually be completely edible.

In the old days (before refrigeration), butter was preserved with salt. Unsalted butter arrived around the 1870s

Before the advent of breakfast cereal, many Americans were fiber deficient. As a consequence, many suffered painful gastric disorders. In 1863, Dr. James Caleb Jackson invented the very first breakfast cereal which he named Granula.

A 1950 Coca Cola magazine advertisement. Dr. John Stith Pemberton, a local pharmacist, produced the syrup for Coca‑Cola, and carried a jug of the new product down the street to Jacobs' Pharmacy, where it was sampled, pronounced "excellent" and placed on sale for five cents a glass as a soda fountain drink. Carbonated water was teamed with the new syrup to produce the beverage.

Originating in China, introduced to the USA in 1908. The Meyer Lemon is not a hybrid but is a distinct citrus species found only a few years ago in a remote region of China by one of the famous plant explorers of the United States Department of Agriculture, Mr. Fred Meyer. Check out Gjelina’s rustic lemon shaker pie recipe, featuring the Meyer lemon!

The invention of the refrigerator around 1913 would lead to dramatic transformations to how and what we ate. At first, refrigerators were a luxury for even the wealthiest of Americans. Before refrigerators, preserving food was achieved through canning, smoking, drying, or salting.

New York City Deputy Police Commissioner John A. Leach, right, watching agents pour liquor into sewer following a raid during the height of Prohibition.

Gourmet magazine was the first U.S. magazine devoted to food. The New York Times noted that “gourmet was to food what Vogue was to fashion.” Gourmet is a cultural idea associated with the culinary arts of fine food and drink, characterized by a high level of refinement and an aesthetically pleasing presentation of several contrasting, often quite rich courses. Historically the ingredients used in gourmet cooking tended to be rare.

Gaining popularity in the U.S. in the 1950s, cappuccino’s origin story is shrouded in mystery. No Italian food history sources mention Cappuccino. And the connection between cappuccino and the Capuchin monks is tenuous at best. Sometimes history is lived through, but not documented. Oh well…

When astronauts go into outer space, how they eat in a zero-gravity environment changes significantly compared to how they eat on Earth. Calories, crumbs, and food longevity are all determining factors for what should go. One of the foods sent in early space missions was fruitcake, which accompanied Apollo 17 on their mission to the moon.

The impetus for research into synthetic, lab grown meat made from bovine stem cells arises due to climate change-related concerns with energy and land intensive animal agriculture. Further research is needed bring down production costs (the first burger cost $300k) before it is ready for mass consumption.

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Evolution or Invention?

Very few foods are invented. Most are contemporary twists on traditional themes. Louis Diat's famous Vichysoisse was a childhood favorite. Today's grilled cheese sandwich is connected to ancient cooks who melted cheese on bread. 1950s meatloaf is connected to ground cooked meat products promoted at the turn of the 20th century, which are, in turn related to ancient Roman minces. Need more? Corn dogs and weiner schnitzel. French fries and Medieval fritters. New York gyros and Middle Eastern doner kebabs. Hershey's Kisses and ancient Incan cocoa.

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This timeline was researched and compiled by food historian Lynne Olver, and adapted by Harrison Chapin.

Have a food or dish you’d like to see added to the timeline? Comment below!

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