Scientists decode a 2,000-year-old curry recipe
Traces of spices detected on a grinding slab and other stone tools unearthed in Vietnam reveal that curry was eaten in the region at least 2,000 years ago — and what was in the dish.
The sandstone slab, buried 2 meters (6.5 feet) below the surface, was dug up in 2018 at the Oc Eo archaeological complex in southern Vietnam. The site was once an overseas trading hub of an ancient Southeast Asian kingdom known as Funan, according to a new study of the substances found on the slab.
“Preparing curry involves not only a diverse range of spices but also the use of grinding tools, considerable time, and human effort,” said study author Dr. Hsiao-chun Hung, a senior research fellow in the department of archaeology and natural history at Australian National University in Canberra.
Hung and a team of researchers analyzed microscopic remains known as starch grains — tiny structures found within plant cells that can be preserved over long periods — that they found on the grinding and pounding tools. Their analysis revealed several culinary spices that originated in different places around the world: turmeric, ginger, fingerroot, sand ginger, galangal, clove, nutmeg and cinnamon.
The findings offer clues to how curry — and the people who made it — migrated to Southeast Asia.
Traces of spices detected on a grinding slab and other stone tools unearthed in Vietnam reveal that curry was eaten in the region at least 2,000 years ago — and what was in the dish. The sandstone slab, buried 2 meters (6.5 feet) below the surface, was dug up in 2018 at the Oc Eo archaeological complex in…