11 Mythological Foods for the Insanely curious reader in you

If the title made you click this then you already are someone who is getting better at curious reading. As you always know yumandawesome.com is not about click baits and each topic is well researched upon to give you a best experience. Today let me tell you about Mythological foods that are famous from various mythologies and religions. I am sure you must be wondering how this is even possible, talking about something that no living mortal has ever seen or tasted.

Mythological foods are something that we haven’t seen, haven’t tasted, but only read about it in the literature. These foods are generally called as the food of the Gods of food from the Gods. I would like to precisely mention that these were not the foods which were consumed by Gods daily, but these were the foods so rare that even Gods had just one chance to devour it. So out of curiosity, I thought of covering a topic which might lead us to new perspectives.

Amrit

It is widely famous as the nectar of immortality. Most of Hindus know that how this was made or brought into existence. I hope you were not expecting a recipe here. The Amrit was churned out from ‘Kshirasagar’ the ocean of milk. With help of Mount Mandar as a churning rod, Vasuki the snake God as the churning rope and Kurma (avatar of Lord Vishnu as a giant tortoise) as the base of churning. Both the Gods and Demons churned this out along with 13 other things that came out of the ocean.

During the procedure ‘Halahala’ was produced before amrit and Lord Shiva consumed it to save the Amrit and the ocean from contamination, this ultimately gave lord Shiva the name of Neelkanth. Even from the standards of mythology amrit was the rarest blessing that Gods managed to consume after outwitting demons. This is how Gods achieved mortality.

What makes me curious is that not enough is written about the taste. Maybe this adds on to the exclusivity factor of Amrit. For me personally the taste is like Panchamrit which is made of curd, milk, ghee, sugar and honey and tastes so good with high nourishing potential. As the original Amrita was churned out of a milk ocean, this panchamrita can be called as the closest possible version of the original divine food.

Ambrosia

Mythological food of Gods from Greek mythology. This is even more obscure that the amrit. Some believe it to be solid in nature and some believe it to be liquid. Yet there are some who said that this was a food which could be drank (something similar to honey). Irrespective of its state of occurrence, the results of consuming it were undisputedly clear. It provided longevity or immortality and thus it was reserved for Greek Gods.

Some scholars say that this was a nectar like substance as few references suggest that this was poured with help of ladle. The Gods who drank this had ichor in their veins and not blood. So this ambrosia thing was pretty transformative, I must say. This can be closely linked to a substance which was capable of altering the genetics of the mortals who drank it. If you have tasted nectar you will probably be able to guess how Ambrosia must have tasted. Rest of the taste profile is open for your imaginations.

Apple of Discord

Do you know the Trojan War? A famous epic from Greek mythology, as most of the people know it. Only a few out of these people know that this apple of discord was the seed sown in the past which led to Trojan War. Eris the Goddess of discord was not invited to a wedding and unaware of this, she tries to enter the wedding ceremony. Where she was disallowed to enter the function. Enraged by this, she threw an apple towards the party which had words written on it “To the fairest”.

Three Goddesses think of themselves as the worthy of the title. They are Aphrodite the goddess of love, passion, beauty and pleasure, Hera the goddess of marriage and birth, and Athena the goddess of war. After Zeus faces the dilemma to decide the worthy, he sends them to a shepherd who is unrealized prince of Troy. Each Goddess promise him different things but he falls for the promise of Aphrodite that he will find the most beautiful girl as a life partner. Furious with this decision the other 2 goddesses leave the place and from here the Trojan War plot begins.

Many literature and writings have said that it was just an ordinary apple but the sentiments with which it was given to the goddesses was pure evil. So I am sure it must not have tasted sweet. That apple had a curse which definitely changed the course of history and fate of many.

Forbidden Fruit

The most famous fruit in the mythology is the forbidden fruit. Believed to be borne out from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. The God created Adam and Eve and gave them a safe place to live an eternal life. Eden garden had many trees bearing many kind of fruits. God asked only one thing and that was to not eat the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

Then comes the serpent who manipulates Eve into eating the forbidden fruit which she eats and feeds to Adam as well. They all are punished and then Adam and Eve are excluded from the eternal life. Nobody till date has any assurance about what kind of fruits that was. Each religious scholar and historian has his or her own theory.

Some believe it was apple which got stuck in Adam’s throat and till date is seen in Adult males which we all call as Adam’s apple. The fruit made Adam and Eve conscious of their nakedness and sexuality and they wrapped themselves in fig leaves clothing. Thus some say it was a fig. Few say that the Eden Garden lied in the middle-east and hence the indigenous fruit was pomegranate which was exclusively grown in that region. The speculations range from Grape and wheat to banana and mushroom, yet nobody can prove their point.

The Golden Apple

I hope you know that pineapple is neither a pine nor an apple. Similarly the golden apple is very confusing concept. There are theories that the apple of discord and the golden apple are one and the same. Another story narrates that, Aphrodite gave three golden apples to Melanion who was about to compete in a running race with Atlanta to win her hand for marriage, knowing that Atlanta could not be defeated easily as she was the best athlete.

Thus Melanion asked for help from Aphrodite, who gave him 3 golden apples to throw at varying distance to distract Atlanta from race and then win it. Of course, this gamble paid off and Melanion won the race and Atlanta’s heart with these Golden apple. From Gaelic mythology it is said that the fruit tasted like honey, had curative powers and had the powers to restore itself after being eaten. How magical does that sound?

The suitable candidates to fill the description were as follows, the argan fruit due to appearance of its ripe fruits which looked like golden apples and tasted like baked apples. Many literatures believe that oranges were the real golden apples as their tree can bear fruits and flower at same time. Some say that Quinces are the golden apples and others say Tomatoes are the golden apples because in Italian they are called pomo d’oro which translates to golden apple. Do you know which fruit is the real golden apple?

Manna

This mythological food was provided by the God to the Israeli people after exodus. During their travel of 40 years in dessert, they used to get Manna every morning. This could not be stored and had a shelf life of just one day.  This can be seen as a trick to refrain people from storing it in excess than the actual requirement. It is said that a person could gather Manna which would suffice for his family exactly, no matter what he did while collecting.

Again the descriptions of manna are very bleak. Some say it tastes like crisp wafers and is crusty as a snow flake. The appearance is like bdellium and color was similar to hoarfrost. This adds to confusion in the minds of common readers like you and me. Then some claim that it tastes like resins having honey flavour. Some say that the taste depended on people who tasted it. Honey for children, bread for youth and oil for elderly.

What it was exactly nobody knows till date. Yet there are people who have faith in the resins produced by tamarisk trees to be the heavenly manna. This is as close as one can get to know the taste of manna. Irrespective of the different opinions, one can surely say that the manna was a food which was divine and also provided spiritual nourishment.

Mead of Poetry

If you want to become a learnt scholar or a divine poet then this is the mythological food you need to search. Needless to say that you won’t find it on online stores or offline markets. This food is from Norse mythology and is also called Mead of Suttungr. The story how this mead was made is interesting and disturbing as well. Disturbing enough if you are thinking about eating it to gain unlimited wisdom.

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After a resolved conflict and end of war, the Gods spat in a vat and from this spittle, a man was created called Kvasir. He had answers to all questions due to high intelligence he possesed. One day he visits the dwarves called Fjalar and Galar who killed Kvasir and poured his blood and mixed it with honey to create the mead of poetry.

I am sure that nobody in the current world knows the taste of mead of poetry. It can’t be as simple as blood and honey. The reason being, the blood of Kvasir was originated from the Gods spits and you can’t recreate it. Still there are mythological enthusiasts who are on search of this divine food for obvious reasons. You can try finding them if you are really interested in tasting it.

Peaches of Immortality

A very simple food among the mythological foods on the list. The immortality peaches are from chines mythology. When consumed they confer longevity. This is the reason that till date peaches are the symbol of longevity and are used in gifts and ornaments in China. The peaches of immortality also feature in the fantasy novel ‘Journey to the West’.

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These peaches were served to a selected few on the birthday of Xi Wangmu the wife of Jade Emperor. This ceremony was called the ‘feast of peaches’. This feast was said to be held every 6000 years. The peach tree took thousand years to grow its leaves and another 3000 years to ripen the peaches. I am sure you are not much keen on tasting this fruit because mostly you know how a peach tastes and there is no exclusivity in it.

Sæhrímnir

This mythological food from Norse mythology will become your favourite if you are a meat lover. This Sæhrímnir is the creature which was killed every night and cooked in a cauldron by the cooks of the Gods. After everyone has eaten the creature, it was brought back to life for a sustainable maintenance of demand and supply.

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Can you imagine, what this means? Unlimited supply of meat without any guilt feeling of killing a life form. I am sure no meat lover can resist this kind of offer. Some say it was a sea beast and some say that it closely resembled the wild boar. May whatever it was, it was the perfect food choice for all the meat lovers. I wish this beast should have been existed till date. What you think?

Soma

This is often confused with alcohol which clearly is not the case. Soma was a drink mentioned in Rigveda and Zoroastrian literature. It is a sacred portion which is said to have ample of antioxidants which could heal the body completely and was very beneficial in treating diseases. If you have read the ‘The Immortals of Meluha’ then you know soma very well.

It was a drink prepared by extracting the juice from plant. What was this actual plant is highly debated by scholars and historians. Drinking soma makes you immortal. The somyajna is still celebrated in southern India and uses the plant called somalatha (Sarcostemma acidum) to produce a drink which closely resembles the original soma.

The actual plant from which soma is made is still not clear to many experts. Yet the shortlisted candidates are few herbal plants, psychedelic mushrooms and so on. If you know the right plant from which it was produced then please enlighten me in the comments section below.

Tanngrisnir and Tanngnjóstr

These are the two goats of Thor from Norse mythology. They pull his chariot and become his food for the night. He resurrects them the next day with help of his hammer. Another mythological food which will please the meat lovers and give them an option of sustainable meat source.

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It is said that once Thor spent a night in the home of a peasant farmer and sacrificed the goats to share it with the peasant family. The son of the peasant ate the bone marrow of one goat which made the goat lame after resurrection. He and his sister was punished to be a servant of Thor for their entire life.

Closure:

This marks an end to this brief write up on mythological food which doesn’t exist in the modern world. Yet these mythological foods invoke interest in the mind of people who love to dig in something interesting. The foods mentioned in the list confer some or other powers to the person who consumes it. Considering how the power makes you corrupt in this modern world I am glad that none of them exist. What are your thoughts on it? Do you think humans should find a source of these mythological foods?

With this your foodie_khiladi signs off for the day. Hoping to see you in my next blog post soon. If you are reading my work for the first time then do check out my other posts on this link here. If you have any suggestions on topics that you want me to cover then you can DM me on foodie_khiladi007 or mail me at foodie_khiladi@sh119.global.temp.domains If you liked this write up then do share with your friends and family. It would really mean a lot to me.