A 4000 Year Old Recipe for the Babylonian New Year

Help Support the Channel with Patreon:   / tastinghistory  
Tasting History Merchandise: https://crowdmade.com/collections/tas...

For further reading on these recipes visit: https://www.academia.edu/40639453/Foo...

Follow Tasting History here:
Instagram:   / tastinghistorywithmaxmiller  
Twitter:   / tastinghistory1  
Reddit: r/TastingHistory
Discord:   / discord  

Tasting History's Amazon Wish List: https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls...

LINKS TO INGREDIENTS & EQUIPMENT**
Canon EOS M50 Camera: https://amzn.to/3amjvwu
Canon EF 50mm Lens: https://amzn.to/3iCrkB8
Le Creuset Dutch Oven 7.25 qt: https://amzn.to/3mLkWJF

LINKS TO SOURCES**
https://www.academia.edu/40639453/Foo...
Gojko Barjamovic: https://nelc.fas.harvard.edu/people/g...
Myths from Mesopotamia translated by Stephanie Dalley: https://amzn.to/2Kvzr7b
Babylon byPaul Kriwaczek: https://amzn.to/37GJRJT
The Oldest Cuisine in the World by Jean Bottéro: https://amzn.to/2Jf1eIm
The Babylonian Akitu Festival by Svend Aage Pallis: https://amzn.to/2M5hZa7
The Babylonian New Year Festival by Karel Van Der Toorn: https://brill.com/view/book/edcoll/97...

**Amazon offers a small commission on products sold through their affiliate links, so each purchase made from this link, whether this product or another, will help to support this channel with no additional cost to you.

Editor: WarwicSN -    / warwicsn  
Subtitles: Jose Mendoza

DISH NAME
ORIGINAL c.1740BC RECIPE (From The Yale Babylonian Tablets)
Tuh’u sirum saqum izzaz me tukan lipia tanaddi tusammat tabatum sikara susikillum egegerum kisibirrum smidu kamunum alutum tukammas-ma karsum hazannum teterri kisibirrum ina muhhi sipki tusappah suhutinnu kisibirrum isarutu tanaddi.

Tuh’u. Lamb leg meat is used. Prepare water. Add fat. Sear. Add in salt, beer, onion, arugula, cilantro, samidu, cumin, and beets. Put the ingredients in the cooking vessel and add crushed leek and garlic. Sprinkle the cooked mixture with coriander on top. Add suhutinnu and fresh cilantro.

MODERN RECIPE
INGREDIENTS
1lb (450g) Leg of Lamb Chopped into bite size pieces.
3-4 Tablespoon Oil or Rendered Fat
1 ½ teaspoons Salt
2 Cups (475ml) Water
12 oz (350ml) Beer - (A sour beer and German Weissbier are recommended, but any non-hoppy beer will suffice)
1 Large Onion Chopped
2 Cups Arugula Chopped
3/4 Cup Cilantro Chopped
2 Teaspoons Cumin Seeds crushed
2 Large Beets (approx. 4 cups) Chopped
1 Large Leek Minced
3 cloves Garlic,
1 Tablespoon Dry Coriander Seeds
Additional Chopped Cilantro for garnish
Samidu* (Something akin to 1 Persian Shallot)
Suhutinnu* (Something akin to Egyptian Leek for garnish)
*These ingredients have no definite translation; the shallot and leek are the best guesses of scholars at Yale and Harvard Universities)

METHOD
1. Add the oil/fat to a large pot and set over high heat. Sear the lamb for several minutes in the oil until lightly browned.
2. Add the onions and let cook for 5 minutes, then add the beets and let cook for 5 minutes. Then add the salt, beer, arugula, cilantro, samidu (shallot) and cumin and bring to a boil. Mash the garlic into a paste and mix with the leek, then add to the pot.
3. Lower heat to medium and let simmer for approximately 1 hour, or until the beets and meat are cooked to your liking.
4. Once cooked, dish it into a bowl and sprinkle with coriander seeds. Garnish with fresh cilantro and suhutinnu (leek)

PHOTO CREDITS
Crocus: By Safa.daneshvar - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, http://bit.ly/3hfNN7F
Statue of Nabu: By Osama Shukir Muhammed Amin FRCP(Glasg) - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, http://bit.ly/2KodVkV
Temple of Nabu at Borsippa: Osama Shukir Muhammed Amin FRCP(Glasg), CC BY-SA 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/..., via Wikimedia Commons
Ishtar Gate: Joyofmuseums, CC BY-SA 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/..., via Wikimedia Commons
King Marduk-zakir-shumi: By Osama Shukir Muhammed Amin FRCP(Glasg)Throne Dais of Shalmaneser III at the Iraq Museum.jpg, CC BY 4.0, http://bit.ly/3nMw22j

#tastinghistory #babylon #akitu