Lucifer #1 (2018)
Written by Dan Watters
Artwork by Max Fiumara 7 Sebastian Fiumara
Colors by Dave McCaig
Chef’s Note: There is something quite appropriate about a being as old, as primordial, as Lucifer starting his day with a bowl of oatmeal porridge.
The Paleolithic Era isn’t renowned for its culinary masterpieces. Meat, nuts and berries were commonplace, whereas farmed grains were strictly off the menu. At least that’s what we used to think. Now, new evidence shows that the Paleolithic people may have also scoffed up oats, and even made heart-warming porridge.
Traces of starchy oats have been found on an ancient pestle. And the chemistry of the food grains indicates that these old oats were heated up with liquid to make an ancient porridge, perfect for hungry people of the early Stone Age.
A study analyzed preserved starch grains that were still stuck to stone grinding tools found in Italy, Russia and the Czech Republic. The results are published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
The oats have been traced back some 32,000 years, well before the farming revolution began around 12,000 years ago. This means that the grains are from the Paleolithic Era, which ended some 10,000 years ago, and represent the earliest known human consumption of oats. The Paleolithic people steadily developed their use of tools, which appears to have included food grinders that could be used on grains.
Chef’s Note: Happy National Porridge Day!