List of ancient dishes

• The Early Middle Ages
• The Western Roman Empire in 476 CE
• The Postclassical Era

Beginning of recorded history to 476 CE

• Anfu ham is a dry-cured ham from Anfu, Jiangxi, China that originated from the Qin dynasty. It is eaten alone and also used as an ingredient to add flavor to various dishes.
• Ashishim – Levantine red lentil pancake dish of Ancient Israelite origin that was commonly eaten by Jews in antiquity.
• Babaofan or Eight Treasure Glutinous Rice was first created for a banquet celebrating King Wu of Zhou's defeat of the last king of the Shang dynasty King Zhou of Shang in the Battle of Muye.
• Bread – the oldest known bread is from 14,000 years ago in Jordan.
• * Flatbread
• * Focaccia – dates to ancient Rome
• * Mantou – dates to 307 BCE – 250 BCE
• Chutney
• Congee
• Curry
• Fig-cake – eaten by Jews in antiquity, mentioned in the Hebrew Bible and in the Jerusalem Talmud
• Fish sauce, see garum
• French toast, earliest reference appears in 1st century Rome
• Forcemeat
• Garum – Phoenicia, ancient Greece and the Roman Empire, known from before Pompeii's destruction in 79 CE.
• Ham – dry-cured ham has been produced since ancient times.
• Hardtack – versions using various grains date back to ancient Rome, and as far back as ancient Egypt.
• Harissa – an Arab staple dish known to go back at least to the original Caliphates, and likely pre-dates Islam on the Arabian Peninsula.
• Jeok
• Jusselle
• Lamb stew – Described in ancient Babylonian tablets from 1700 BCE
• Liquamen, see garum
• Lucanica – Roman Italy, mentioned by Cicero, 1st century BCE
• Maccu
• Misu karu or Misugaru
• Moretum
• Nettle stew
• Noodles – existent since at least 2,000 BCE in Northwest China, the noodle was developed independently in ancient China and ancient Rome, and remained common in both areas "through the centuries".
• Oatcake – known to exist at least from Roman times in Britain.
• Olive, olive oil is at least known from the Eastern Mediterranean in the Bronze Age, c. 3000 BCE
• Oxygala – a dairy product in ancient Greece and Rome. It was also consumed by ancient Persians.
• Papadzules – a common dish in Maya cuisine that may be "one of the most ancient traditional dishes of Yucatán, Mexico.
• Placenta cake – a layered cake of pastry, cheese and honey originating in ancient Greece and Rome
• Rice – existed, but was "little-used in the ancient world" outside of Asia.
• Sauerkraut
• Sausage
• Scrapple – originally called "panhas", of ancient Germanic origin.
• Sop
• Soup
• * Acquacotta
• * Black soup
• * French onion soup
• * Vegetable soup
• Soy sauce
• Tamale
• Testaroli
• Tharida
• Tofu
• Tracta was a kind of bread, pastry, or pancake in ancient Greece and perhaps Rome.
• Wonton
• Zongzi

Beverages

• Beer is recorded in the written history of Mesopotamia and ancient Egypt and is one of the world's oldest prepared beverages.
• Kykeon was a common beverage of sustenance in ancient Greece, most often consisting mainly of a barley gruel mixture with various additives, sometimes written as having psychoactive properties associated with religious visions.
• Kombucha originated in what is now Northeastern China around 220 BCE
• Mead consumption's earliest surviving written record is possibly contained in the hymns of the Rigveda, one of the sacred books of the historical Vedic religion and Hinduism dated around 1700–1100 BCE.
• Soy milk has been consumed in China since ancient times.
• Wine consumption and production has been found through archaeological evidence as early as  BCE.

Dairy products

• Butter – documented as existent since at least 2,000 BCE
• Buttermilk – existed before 1 CE in ancient India
• Kumis – documented as existing in ancient Scythia
• MilkOpus lactarium – documented as existing during the ancient Roman Empire
• Quark – documented as existing in ancient ScythiaSchiston – "separated milk" purported to have been invented by physicians during the time of the Ancient Roman Empire and Pliny the Elder It was prepared by boiling milk or whey along with pebbles.
• Shrikhand – documented as existing c. 800 to 300 BCE in ancient India
• Smy – thickened milk documented as existent in ancient Egypt
• Yogurt – documented in upper Mesopotamia from the Neolithic era.

Cheeses

• Cheese – Possibly as early as 8000 BCE after the domestication of the Sheep in the Fertile Crescent
• Brânză – an ancient Romanian cheese dating to "before the time of the Romans"
• Caciocavallo
• Cantal – one of the oldest French cheeses, it is named after the Cantal mountain range
• Emmental
• Feta – existed during the times of Homer in ancient Greece
• * Touloumotiri is an ancient cheese that is considered as the "forerunner to feta".
• Kefalotyri – dates to the Byzantine Empire
• Pecorino Romano – is one of the world's most ancient cheeses
• Pecorino Sardo – one of the world's oldest cheeses that is believed to date back to the Bronze Age
• Pecorino Siciliano
• Roquefort
• Salers
• Tomme
• * Tomme de Savoie

477–1500 CE

• Börek – known from 14th century Persia in a poem by Bushaq-i-Atima, although it may be far older.
• Hummus – first mentioned in a cookbook from Cairo, Egypt from the 13th century.
• Kinilaw - raw fish marinated in citrus juices, vinegar, spices, coconut milk, and tabon-tabon fruit extracts from the Philippines. The Balangay archaeological excavation site in Butuan has uncovered remains of halved tabon-tabon fruits and fish bones cut in a manner suggesting that they were cubed, thus indicating that the cooking process is at least a thousand years old.
• Kuluban – an ancient Javanese dish of boiled vegetables served in spices, similar to modern-day urap. Mentioned in the Rukam inscription, dated to 829 Saka and originating from the Mataram kingdom.
• Lalab – a similar vegetable dish called rumwah-rumwah was mentioned in the Panggumulan inscription, dated to 824 Saka and originating from the Mataram kingdom.
• Rawon – a meat stew, called rarawwan in an ancient Javanese Taji inscription.
• Rujak – a spicy fruit dish, called rurujak in an ancient Javanese Taji inscription.
• Krupuk – a traditional cracker made from rice flour, called kurupuk in ancient Javanese Taji inscription.
• Popcorn – an ancient food used by people of the Inca civilization. The food is still commonly used in both regions.
• Philippine adobo – a dish and cooking process originating during the pre-colonial Philippines.
• Tapuy – rice wine originating from the pre-colonial Philippines.
• Tempeh – high-protein fermented soy product from Indonesia. First known as kadêlê, and mentioned in an old Javanese manuscript Serat Sri Tanjung dating to the 12th to 13th century.

Does not have a time frame

• Khanom chan – an ancient Thai dessert
• Poi – an ancient Polynesian staple food prepared using taro root.

Likely ancient in origin

• Nattō – prepared using fermented soybeans, nattō has been described as likely being an ancient food. Its origins have been described as unknown, and it may have been developed independently in different areas that have the same ingredients, such as Japan, China, and Korea.
• Abgoosht – also referred to as Dizi or Persian Meat Stew, was a stew originally made up of remnants of leftover vegetables and meats.

Oldest preserved foods