On Tuesday (February 6), Angela Schneider, a violist with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, will serve a small group of fellow food enthusiasts some very, very old fare indeed—not aged balsamic vinegar or imported Cheddar or well-hung pheasant, but dishes that came into being about 5,000 years ago. Snacks from the past are part of the draw at the course that Schneider, an avid culinary historian, teaches—and teaches with a greedy passion. Ever since she discovered an ancient cookbook in the British Museum, she’s been digging up arcane facts and intriguing information about what our forebears put on the table. Considering how much she knows, it’s understandable that, by the conclusion of the four-week course, she and her students have only time-travelled as far back as the Middle Ages.

Schneider found her calling about 15 years ago while wandering around Europe after studying music in Germany. Totally smitten, she says, she went whole hog on her return to Canada. (To be a classical musician, you have to be a bit obsessive- compulsive, she thinks.) She spent hours at the library researching (this was in pre-Web days) and discovering, among other sources, Reay Tannahill’s seminal Food in History, first published in 1973 but still available (Three Rivers Press, $23.95). “You know how a whole world opens?” says Schneider over the lunch special at Tang’s Noodle House (2807 West Broadway). “History was always big events. For me, the most interesting was the everyday stuff.” Specifically, how people ate.

Back in Vancouver in the mid 1990s, Schneider organized historical dinners for groups of seven or so friends. Because she is a stickler for authenticity, the events were months in the planning: “For a Roman dinner, I had to actually grow the rue because you couldn’t find it. Medieval, I had to time it so I could pick and press grapes while they were green to make verjus.” A Sumerian feast included duck with pomegranates, and goat. “The Greeks loved barley, so [for that event] I made a barley gruel as a starter.” Asked how ancient tastes went down with modern appetites, she says, “Some of it, put it this way, was interesting to say the least.”

Her course will begin five million years ago with the eating habits of “the first primate we think was bipedal”¦you go to scientific journals and look for recent studies on bone remains [but] it becomes tricky. There is so much dissent in the field of paleontology.” Tasters from Sumerian times will be based on authentic recipes. The second class delves into Egypt, Greece, and Rome. “Greek poets and playwrights included a lot of food in their writings,” says Schneider. Re-creating ancient dishes sometimes calls for improvisation. Certain ingredients, such as the plant silphium, have disappeared. “It was so popular that it was one of our first cases of plant extinction. The last one was given to the emperor Nero as a gift.” Some historians think the plant might have been used as a contraceptive and an abortifacient, she adds. Garum is another popular Roman ingredient that has fallen off the map. “Today, we use fish sauce. There’s no way my neighbours would put up with rotting fish in my back yard.” The best-case scenario for culinary historians is when there is actual evidence of what an earlier culture put on the table, she says. King Midas was buried along with the dirty pots that had been used for his funerary feast. Analysis revealed lentil-and-goat stew, vegetables, fruits, barley, and beer.

Schneider will be talking about banquet protocol, about how—and why—the Egyptians welcomed guests by placing a scented wax cone on their head. Sample dishes for her students are still in the works but are unlikely to include certain Imperial delicacies: “Sow’s udder was a big one,” says Schneider, “peacock’s brains, testicles”¦”

As the Roman Empire collapses, her emphasis shifts to France and then across the Channel. Attendees will hear about Richard II’s master cook’s 196 recipes, which were published in the 14th century in the first English cookbook ever; how wild animals became the food of the rich; and how serfs lived on bread, wine, and ale. Lots of it. “A gallon a day of ale,” comments Schneider. “No wonder they called it merry England’”

Angela Schneider’s four-week evening course at Capilano College, Caesar Salad vs. Attila the Bun: Food’s Impact on History, starts Tuesday (February 6) and costs $135. Call 604-984-4901 to register. Schnei ­er will also lead a culinary-history tour of Egypt January 14 to 31, 2008. More information can be found at www.greatexpeditions.com/ .