What did Jesus eat?
 In Nazareth meals have always been important occasions.
The act of eating and drinking together forms a bond of family, friendship, and community. It is no coincidence that many of Jesus'
stories and most important encounters-such as the parable of the wedding banquet, the feeding of the five thousand,
and the last supper-take place around meals or feasts.
Despite their significance, meals were quite simple and came only twice a day. Bread, legumes,
oil, and dried or fresh fruit composed a typical meal.
Among the foods most likely available in first-century Nazareth:
Grains: Wheat, Barley, sorghum
Legumes (pulses): lentils, broad beans, chickpeas (pulses were roasted, dried, and used in soups and stews or
ground into pastes and purees)
Vegetables: cucumbers, onions, garlic, leeks
Fruits: olives, figs, grapes, melon, pomegranates, dates, (fruit by-products: olive oil, raisins, wine, dried
figs, fig cakes, syrup, honey)
Nuts: walnuts, pistachios, almonds
Spices: cumin, dill, cinnamon, mint, hyssop, mallow, chicory, mustard, coriander, salt
Milk and milk by products: butter, leben,(curdled milk), yogurt, cheese
Meat and related food: eggs, fish (salted), fish by-products (fish brine, fish gravy), lamb, beef (probably quite rare),
fowl (chickens, doves)
Nazareth, as a Jewish town, followed dietary laws from Hebrew Scripture governing clean and unclean animals. Cattle,
sheep, and goats could be eaten. Pigs were forbidden. Fish with fins and scales were allowed. Catfish, crustaceans
(crabs, lobsters, shrimp), and mollusks (clams, mussels) were not allowed.
The last recorded meal of Jesus is in Luke 24:42-43 after his resurrection when he eats broiled fish to show his disciples
that he is not a ghost. The last meal Jesus serves is a breakfast of fish and bread (John 21).
We at Nazareth Village are delighted to host visitors by preparing for you a delicious biblical meal
served by first century citizens. The meal is available for groups booked in advance.
Click here for more information
about our biblical meal options
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