Just because they lived in caves or rude shacks doesn't mean that Neolithic people, the first farmers of some 6,000 years ago, didn't appreciate good food. A Neolithic menu is given in a short, authoritative guide to the museum at Belesta in the Roussillon of France. First course is vegetable soup, or a possible casserole-type dish, with unleavened bread. Then roast boar, or on another day tripe from sheep, spiced with herbs. It's a very herby region. Or there could be grilled rib of boar or a leg of deer. There was goat's cheese, and fruit might be bitter cherries.
For drink, goat's milk and a potion made from roasted acorns. (Remember, in Germany and perhaps other countries during the second World War, ground roast acorns were tolerated as a coffee substitute.) There would also be, in the Neolithic times, herbal teas of various kinds, as today. This, now, is southern France 6,000 years ago. Fish is not mentioned on this particular menu, but they surely had some. And you could take it for granted with our own Boyne first farmers that salmon would certainly be on the menu. At Belesta while animal furs were the main items of clothing, weaving was being introduced as the people settled down to agriculture proper, domesticating some animals - goats and cattle - while still continuing to hunt the boar and the deer. This 16-page illustrated guide is the first in a new series of such heritage publications - Lieux de Memoires.