Why do many traditional cuisines rely so heavily on meat even though it has been scarce for most of history?
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Because dishes that are called “traditional” may not necessarily have been everyday dishes eaten by the general peasants. They could be traditional for wealthier people, or traditional for holidays, or traditional for “whenever we have meat.” Average everyday meals for regular people tend to be unremarkable even in today’s world. Hamburger Helper may be a “traditional” Midwestern American meal for a working class person, but no one is going to rave about it the way they rave about Thanksgiving turkey. Same with whatever vegetable and grain people were eating day in and day out in the olden days.
And how scarce meat is depends a lot on the exact culture we’re discussing, and exactly what meat we are talking about. Meat being less common than a modern western diet simply means they couldn’t eat red meat daily/multiple times a week. Some cultures may have been eating meat fairly regularly, just not necessarily every day or many times a week.
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