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We've been roasting meats for millennia, in fact ever since we could stand upright. Using fire to cook meat made it safer to eat, released more calories, and drew out more taste. In the Middle Ages, consuming roasted chicken, boar, and other game was largely the privilege of the wealthy. By the 18th century, however, roast beef was a favorite meal across much of Europe and North America. Today, roasting is one of the most popular methods of preparing food. In fact, there are days of the year dedicated to this inventive and deliciously rewarding cooking process. So, how do you get the most from your roast?

Click through for an entertaining history behind roasted food, and discover some of the most iconic roasting dishes.

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Archaeological evidence suggests that hominins were controlling fire at least one million years ago, the time of our direct ancestor Homo erectus. This has led to speculation that Homo erectus was cooking meat.

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Heat made food safer to eat, released more calories, and drew out more taste. The Neanderthals knew this, and 250,000 years ago were cooking their food, even spicing up their diets with herbs.

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In Europe throughout the Middle Ages, hunting was a favorite pastime of royalty and the nobility. Huge banquets were prepared serving game, usually cooked on a spit.

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In medieval cuisine, the spit was the preferred way of cooking meat in a large household. It's a style of roasting where meat is skewered on a spit—a long, solid rod used to hold food while it is being cooked over a fire. The spit-roasting method is also known as rotisserie.

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Europe in the 17th and 18th centuries became synonymous with gluttony, at least with the privileged. Roasted chicken and suckling pig became the food of choice for the wealthy, often consumed with vast quantities of wine.

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For many Indigenous peoples, roasting food was a convenient method of cooking, a process that could be carried out while on the move. The illustration depicts the Timucua, a Native American people who lived in northeast Florida and southeast Georgia, roasting endemic fowl and marine animals, including alligators.

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Roast beef is a characteristic dish of England. But it didn't gain popularity until the 17th century. Up until then, it was considered vulgar to eat beef because it wasn't required to hunt cattle.

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By the 18th century, roast beef was widely accepted across Europe as a main dish to be savored. In England, the 1731 patriotic ballad 'The Roast Beef of England' was sung by Royal Navy personnel before dining. The tune was also played at United States Marine Corps formal Mess Dinners during the presentation of the meat. Pictured is William Hogarth's 1748 painting 'The Gate of Calais or O, the Roast Beef of Old England.'

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In the 18th century, the French nicknamed the English "les Rosbifs" in a parallel insult to "frog." This 1755 illustration depicts a scene on the coast of France with troops boarding a ship to invade England. To the right a group of ragged French soldiers roast frogs on a spit. Other soldiers are clamoring around a flag, which bears the message: "Vengeance and the good beer and good beef of England."

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Founded in Paris in 1950, Confrérie de la Chaîne des Rôtisseurs is an international gastronomic society created on the traditions and practices of the old French Royal Guild of Goose Roasters, itself established in 1248 by masters in the art of roasting geese, known then as Les Oyers, or "Goose Roasters."

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The man behind the formation of the guild was Louis IX of France. The king included the Goose Roasters in an organization of trades and guilds brought together to develop young apprentices and improve the technical knowledge of its members. In time, the Goose Roasters Guild changed its name to Rôtisseurs and expanded its activities to prepare and sell all kinds of meat, including poultry, game birds, lamb, and venison.

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One of the most important processes in cooking is the Maillard reaction, named after French chemist Louis Camille Maillard (1878–1936). This chemical reaction, which he described in 1912, gives browned food its distinctive flavor, especially meat.

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Roasting is a cooking method that uses dry heat where hot air covers the food, cooking it evenly on all sides. This can be achieved from an open flame, oven, or other heat source.

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Roasting uses indirect, diffused heat (as in an oven), and is suitable for the slower cooking of large pieces of meat. The method is one of the simplest ways to cook lean cuts of prime beef, lamb, pork, and veal.

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The Sunday roast is a traditional British meal typically comprising roasted meat, roast potatoes, and assorted vegetables, usually broccoli, Brussels sprouts, carrots, cauliflower, parsnips, or peas. Accompaniments such as Yorkshire pudding, herb stuffing, and gravy also find a place on the plate.

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The origin of the Sunday roast dates back to the 15th century and the English county of Yorkshire, as a meal to be eaten after church on a Sunday. The Sunday roast lunch or dinner has been a major influence on food cultures in the English-speaking world, particularly in Australia, Canada, South Africa, the United States, and New Zealand.

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King Henry VII's personal guards were the first "Beefeaters," so named as they were permitted to eat as much roast beef as they wanted from the king's table. Officially known as King's Body Guard of the Yeomen of the Guard, this is the oldest British military corps still in existence. The corps serve all British monarchs, whether kings or queens, and are ceremonial guardians of the Tower of London.

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Thanksgiving is a national holiday celebrated on the second Monday of October in Canada and on the fourth Thursday of November in the United States. It's also observed in several other countries around the world.

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The Thanksgiving dinner is generally centered on a large roasted turkey, served with a variety of traditional side dishes, or those that reflect regional or cultural heritage. Roasted turkey is also a meal of choice for many at Christmas.

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Pot roast is a popular beef dish with its origins in the cooking method called à l'étouffée for tenderizing meats, introduced to New England by French immigrants in the 17th century.

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Standing rib roast is appreciated for its incredibly succulent and deliciously flavorsome taste. Also known as prime rib, this is a dish that's been known to cook for 10 hours under an extremely low but constant heat.

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The ultimate pork belly dish is slow roasted to make the flesh super juicy and tender, coupled with periods of approximately 20 minutes at a high temperature at the beginning or end of the cooking period to produce perfect, crispy crackling.

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Original crispy and aromatic roast duck is known as Peking duck, a traditional dish from China that's been prepared since the Imperial era.

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A classic Middle Eastern meat dish that has its origins in the Ottoman Empire, shawarma is traditionally made with lamb or mutton and roasted on a slowly-turning vertical rotisserie or spit.

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Roasting fish is done with whole fish, and snapper is among the chef's favorite for its tender, flaky flesh. Fish cooked in an oven is often referred to as being baked as opposed to roasted.

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Cod loins or fillets are easily roasted, the trick being to make sure they are all of equal size so they cook at an even rate.

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Some vegetables lend themselves very well to roasting, and are often cooked alongside meat and fish. Roast potatoes are an essential accompaniment to the aforementioned Sunday roast.

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Carrots, eggplant, zucchini, pumpkin, turnips, peppers, and asparagus are among vegetables that roast well.

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Roasted chestnuts are a favorite winter snack. They are 'officially' eaten on St. Martin's Day in Portugal and St. Simon's Day in Modena, Italy. In the United States, December 14 is National Roast Chestnut Day. In fact, the Christmas period is when this favorite food is traditionally enjoyed.

Sources: (New Scientist) (BBC) (The Nudge) (Cosmopolitan)