Enjoying Delicacies in Ancient Times – Slurping Oysters in Chur

What did people in Graubünden eat throughout the ages? Certainly not just dishes like Capuns or Maluns. After all, the key ingredient in Maluns—the potato—only reached Graubünden at the beginning of the 18th century. But of course, the region had known delicacies long before that—and not only local ones.

Archaeological excavations in Tomils, in the Domleschg valley, have shown that members of the clergy were eating beef, as well as trout and eel, as early as the 7th century. These fish were not native to the Domleschg at the time; the nearest possible source for their import was the Chur Rhine Valley.

Even more remarkable, however, were the finds uncovered at another archaeological site—in Chur, where a Roman settlement once stood. Among the artefacts, oyster shells came to light. This indicates that certain delicacies were already being imported from faraway regions in ancient times. The oysters most likely came from the Mediterranean Sea.