Discover the fascinating world of ancient Mesopotamian cuisine, with recipes dating back 3,700 years. Explore the culinary heritage of the Assyrian people and their influence on modern cooking. Personal stories highlight the evolution of cherished family recipes, linking past and present traditions. The emotional journey from rural Turkey to New York unveils the significance of preserving cultural identity through food. Each dish tells a story, connecting generations and enriching our understanding of heritage.
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Stuffed Intestines
One ancient recipe still made today is stuffed intestines, similar to the first sausage ever created.
Smuni, Matay's mother, prepares them by stuffing sheep intestines with minced meat, parsley, garlic, and bulgur.
question_answer ANECDOTE
Ancient Ingredients
The oldest recipes, found on clay tablets, include ingredients like lamb, onion, beets, leeks, beer, cumin, and coriander.
These ingredients, used in ancient Mesopotamia, are still common in Assyrian cuisine today.
volunteer_activism ADVICE
Making Kotle
When making Kotle, a bulgur-crusted meat dumpling, patience and experience are essential.
The shaping of each dumpling requires nimble fingers and a two-finger technique.
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Matai Demaye's "The Oldest Kitchen in the World" is a captivating culinary journey through centuries of Assyrian cuisine. The book meticulously documents recipes passed down orally through generations, connecting modern dishes to ancient Mesopotamian origins. It showcases the rich history and cultural significance of Assyrian food, highlighting the resilience and continuity of culinary traditions. The recipes are not just instructions but stories, reflecting the lives and experiences of the Assyrian people. The book serves as a testament to the power of food in preserving cultural heritage.
Have you ever wondered about the oldest recipes in history? They were discovered on four clay tablets from about 1,700 BCE at the time of the Assyrian Empire. Did you know that about 5 million Assyrians still live around the world today? This year, a cookbook was published that is the first modern collection of exclusively Assyrian cuisine, food that has a lot of overlap with those ancient tablets. It’s called The Oldest Kitchen in the World, and in it, Matay de Mayee records the recipes of his mother, Smuni Turan — recipes her ancestors have been passing down orally for centuries. Today, they join Lilah in the studio to talk about their kitchen.
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The Oldest Kitchen in the World is published in English, Dutch and German — in Dutch and German its title is Haniyé. You can find it in bookshops in the US, Canada, The Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Austria and Switzerland, and online.
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Send us your predictions! Write to Lilah at lilahrap@ft.com or on Instagram @lilahrap. And — thank you.
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