Foods of the Bible

Historical Courses   

Genesis 1:29“And God said, “Behold I have given you every plant yielding seed which is upon the face of the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit; you shall have them for food” 

Grains: wheat, corn, rye, barley, rice, oats, millet, etc

Seeds: sunflower, sesame, pumpkin seeds, etc

Legumes: soy beans, lentils, peas, peanuts, other beans, eggplant, okra, bell peppers, squash, green beans, pumpkins, cucumbers, tomatoes, melons, etc

Fruits: citrus fruits, palm fruits, stone fruits, etc

Nuts: almonds, pecans, cashews, Brazil nuts, walnuts, etc. 

Genesis 1:30“And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to everything that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for meat: and it was so” Leaf: Beet greens, brussels sprouts, cabbage, collard greens etcFlower: Artichoke, broccoli, cauliflowerRoot: carrots, beets, potatoes, turnips, manioc, cassava, taro root etc. 

Genesis 3:17-19“And unto Adam he said, Cursed is the ground for your sake, in toil you shall eat of it” So originally meant for the animals man’s diet would now clearly include all these greens. 

Daniel, 1:11-15“At the end of ten days they looked healthier and better nourished than any of the young men who ate the royal food”Talk of the value of vegetarian fare… 

Genesis 9:3-4“Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you. I have given you all things, even as the green herbs. But you shall not eat flesh with its life that is its blood. This was after the flood; all was scarce so got introduced animals, birds, fish and reptiles…..  

It is often questioned if there were any restrictions to this seemingly open invitation to partake. Some say it is for only special occasions 

Genesis 27:4 & 31 blessing

Genesis 24:33 guests

Genesis 45:23 gifts

Exodus 29:41, 40:29 offerings

Exodus 12:21 ceremonies

Luke 15:11-32 celebration 

Dietary Laws:  

Leviticus 11:1-30 and the lord spoke to Moses and Aaron saying to them “speak to the children of Israel, saying, these are the animals which you may eat among all the beasts that are on the earth” 

Mammals: must have cloven hooves and chew the cud. Camels, hares, swine all unclean. Animals with two horns usually have cloven hooves. Bulls, goats, sheep, antelope. Applies to wild as well. 

Fish: must be in water and have fins and scales. Oysters, shrimp, clams, lobster, turtles and catfish, tuna, dolphin etc. 

Fowl: Birds of prey, scavengers, eagles, vultures, hawks, owls and bats.

Insects: All insects that creep on all fours not. Unless they have jointed legs above the feet with which to leap on the earth. IE. Locusts, cricket and grasshopper.  

Rodents and reptiles: all seem out of the question. 

Detestable things: (Leviticus 7:23-24) not eat any fat of ox, sheep or goat. Fat of a beast that dies naturally or is torn by wild animals. May be used in other ways but you shall by no means eat it. (Leviticus 7:26-27) “Moreover you shall not eat any blood in any of your dwellings, whether of bird or beast. Whoever eats any blood, that person shall be cut off from his people” 

Dietary Myths and cultural diets of other countries. 

For a long time the tomato was thought to be poisonous

Americans do not eat horse meat but Europeans and others do

Buddhists avoid taking life so all animal food is avoided

Hindus regard the cow as sacred and do not eat beef

Muslims do not eat pork

The dietary laws of the Torah and further teachings in the Hebrew culture are quite unique. And include such things as temporary restrictions on leavened bread during Passover. Even consider untithed produce as unclean.

Permissible foods: or Kosher which simply means fit. And is the opposite of, Trief which means something torn.

As well no mixing of meat and diary. 

“It is often questioned whether God meant all of this or if it was moral and social laws.  I once heard that Moses tried to teach us control of bodily appetites. To discourage excessive self indulgence he forbade pork, the most delicious of all meats. And further restrictions to teach us gentleness and kindness. Much of all this makes sense now that we know tapeworm and trichina is transmitted through pork and rabbits carry tularemia, and shellfish is prone to infection and spoiling. 

Rabbinic laws of slaughtering, makes death of an animal swift and merciful if not the animal is considered unfit. 

There is no proof to doubt that Jesus observed biblical food restrictions and only commanded Christians to refrain from the meat of idolatrous sacrifices, from blood, and from animals that have been strangled. (Acts15:20) 

Fruit honey was made with grapes, figs etc.

Salt was the most common spice

Wine was the choicest drink

Oil was common as well.   

Gods ideal place and diet seems to be the land of milk (protein) and honey (carbohydrates) “and I came down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land to a good and broad land, a land flowing with milk and honey” Exodus 3:8   

Warning Labels… Proverbs 23:2, 20 “When you sit down to eat with a ruler, Consider carefully what is before you and put a knife to your throat if you are given to appetite.”Do not mix with wine bibbers or with gluttonous eaters of meat. For the drunkard and the glutton will come to poverty.       

Starter is a cilantro roasted lobster, tossed in roasted onion viniagrette in a peeled lightly pickled tomato. This is served with a chilled spicy yellow tomato soup. Next time I will have to make a sorbet out of the soup and do some lobster ceviche instead.

Next the steak being lightly smoked was medium rear on top of ancho spiced duchesse potatoes, and get this, an avocado and morel mushroom souffle plus honey-chil1 glazed baby vegetables. A small pool of mole sauce sat under the meat. Not bad for steak.

My final stretch of mediocrity was the baked Mazatlan, I mean Alaska. A cinnamon sugar wafer topped with a mango flan, a scoop of pineapple ice cream all iglooed in almond meringue, then set on fire. No way, we still have big hair in Texas so toned with a brule torch is what it is.

 Throw in a fancied Dining Hall and 138 Cadets in Uniform as servers, these 580 great Aggies had thenselves a real Ball.

 THE TWO DBs…IF YOU KNOW, YOU KNOW.