This social media user cooked an ancient meal following 4000-year-old recipes

By: Lifestyle Desk | New Delhi | Updated: July 2, 2020 11:40:52 am

babylonian meal, oldest recipe, ancient recipe

Babylonian meal cooked with some of the world’s oldest recipes. (Source: Bill_Sutherland/Twitter)

A while ago, we saw netizens going berserk over an old peanut butter bread recipe that dates back to the time of Great Depression. As people across the world continue to experiment with new dishes and cuisine, another social media user decided to cook delicacies following 4000-year-old recipes.

Like everyone else, Bill Sutherland from Cambridge, UK, has also been cooking during the lockdown. But he chose to cook an ancient Babylonian meal with the “oldest existing” recipes inscribed on tablet that dates back to 1750 BCE. Here’s a glimpse of the viral post:

I blame lockdown but for some reason decided to cook Babylonian meal from the recipe tablet on the right; at 1750 BCE are the oldest recipes existing. Seemed to go down OK “Best Mesopotamian meal I have eaten”.
A thread 1/6 pic.twitter.com/gqYMJopbxM

— Bill Sutherland (@Bill_Sutherland) June 28, 2020

One of the dishes Sutherland attempted was stew of lamb. “This was simple and delicious. Crumbled in a couple of barley cakes (made by daughter Tessa), which made a rich unctuous sauce. Crushed leek and garlic topping gave it an sharp,” he wrote on Twitter.

Stew of lamb. This was simple and delicious. Crumbled in a couple of barley cakes (made by daughter Tessa), which made a rich unctuous sauce. Crushed leek and garlic topping gave it an sharp edge 2/6 pic.twitter.com/5UlPUc2plF

— Bill Sutherland (@Bill_Sutherland) June 28, 2020

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Another dish, tuh’u, is deemed one of the oldest-known recipes in the world. It is a kind of stew.

Tuh’u. Thought this looked stunning and full of flavour. Think I should have cooked a bit longer to disintegrate more 3/6 pic.twitter.com/ZTJiQE1XWl

— Bill Sutherland (@Bill_Sutherland) June 28, 2020

Sutherland also posted pictures of the recipe he followed for making the dishes. The recipes are from the book Ancient Mesopotamia Speaks: Highlights of the Yale Babylonian Collection, edited by Angele W Lassen, Eckart Frahm and Klaus Wagensonner.

Among the other dishes that Sutherland cooked were saute leek and spring onion baked with sourdough crumbs, and elamite broth made with “sheep’s blood”.

Unwinding. Saute leek and spring onion then baked with sourdough crumbs. Looks good but bit boring. 4/6 pic.twitter.com/526GzPT4Rf

— Bill Sutherland (@Bill_Sutherland) June 28, 2020

Elamite Broth. OK I cheated and used tomato sauce rather than sheep’s blood. Peculiar but delicious thick flavoursome soup. 5/6 pic.twitter.com/aKGYk1vhH4

— Bill Sutherland (@Bill_Sutherland) June 28, 2020

Would you like to try any of these dishes?