Fire was the first technical resource that man obtained, and it was transcendental for food, nutrition, evolution and culture. The control of fire, the origin of cooking, was a sign of intelligence and observation capacity to such an extent that when archaeologists today discover a site, if they find signs of fire, this means that there was human presence.
It was the time when the primitive hunters were still nomads, and they went from here to there, looking for the best resources, and when they were exhausted in one place, they moved to another, carrying their skins, their stone instruments, and with the few things they could have accumulated. They also carried with them some pieces of charcoal insulated with moss and wood, a quick starter to light a fire in any suitable place. Later they learned to create the flames themselves, with the help of pyrite stones, and a little skill and effort. Everything indicated that the control of fire would become the origin of cooking.
Mastery over fire fostered social complexity, since maintaining and controlling it required some cooperative work. And that collaboration made the groups more stable and solid. It created awareness of us versus them, strengthening the ties of small communities. So changes in human behavior also began to appear. Thanks to the flames it was possible to see at night. That was a big change from the long, cold, freezing nights. And by the campfire they felt safer and stayed pleasantly warm. They could do small tasks, dry wet skins, and the most dangerous animals were kept away from the fire. They were all advantages.
Even the hardest and most difficult to chew foods, such as some roots and rhizomes, certain leaves and fruits, became tender and aromatic if they were placed next to the fire, their smell was the hitherto unknown promise of eating well. And hot foods were more satisfying and tasted better. After the fire, all those foods were much safer, there were no longer any parasites or toxins. Food became much more pleasant, safe, varied and cultured.
Thanks to the fire, more products began to be consumed, which were impossible to eat raw, and they were all much better. In addition, children and the elderly could swallow roasted foods more easily, which were softer and more nutritious after cooking. The sick digested grilled meals better, and small prehistoric societies experienced an increase in the longevity of their members.
On the other hand, the digestion of cooked products was faster and easier: many new foods began to be consumed, such as tubers or rhizomes, in which heat transforms the content into starch and cellulose (hard and impossible to digest). transformed by the human body) into easily assimilated carbohydrates. So, in addition, the food was more varied and therefore, the nutrition was more complete and the assimilation of calories was better. Therefore, after cooking, the energy provision for prehistoric humans was much more efficient. The society of hunters and gatherers was transforming.
The use of fire was such a success that we have not stopped using it since then. Even prehistoric men have left us some relics of their way of cooking. For example, in Pech de l'Azé, in France, a stone spit has been found, a plate of stones that was heated and meat was roasted on them, which was used for a very long period of time. In many cases we preserve quite a few instruments, but we do not always have evidence of how cooking was done and we cannot imagine the capacity for invention associated with primitive culinary practices.
We know that they roasted medium-sized pieces, and that they passed through the fire almost everything that was possible. Furthermore, since ceramics had not yet been invented at this time, clever containers such as tortoise shells, concave holes made of oak cork, or even conveniently hollowed stones were used. Everything that facilitates the novel transformation of simple foods into cooked products.
We can talk about cuisine in the Paleolithic. From a cuisine that even managed to modify the evolutionary biology of human beings, making them stronger, healthier, longer-lived and better adapted to new times. Even more intelligent and capable, proud and satisfied with the use of that new technology. To a large extent, cooking made the man, as Faustino Cordón said, in a work with the same name.
Almudena Villegas, Academic
Article published in https://almudenavillegas.es
