The World That Was - Akkadian Sasqu (Barley Porridge)

Hello and Welcome to The World That Was!



Today, I'll be recreating a staple from ancient Akkadian cuisine - the simple "sasqu" dish! This is recorded on the same tablets recovered from Syria - specifically the temple at Mari - and discusses barley flour being used for a celebratory variant of a breakfast dish! This recipe is suitable for breakfasts, and I'll be showing you how to recreate this yourselves!

In any case, let's take a look at The World That Was!

Ingredients:

450ml / 2 cups Milk (cow, goat, sheep, or oat) or water
260g / 2 cups Barley Flour
1 cup dates (optional)
1/2 cup pistachios (optional)

Directions:

1 - Make the Date Syrup To sweeten the mix, you’ll need to first make a basic syrup using chopped dates and water! Start by roughly chopping them to make sure they’re pitted, and then put these dates into a pot of water over medium-high heat. Bring this to a rolling boil, and then turn it down to a simmer. Leave this to reduce for about 10 minutes, while you proceed with the rest of the recipe!

2 - Mix the Flour

While the dates are reducing, put your flour into a large saucepan or pot. Pour your liquid in on top (milk or water would have been available to the Akkadians, but you can pick an choose what you want!). in any case, stir these together until it forms a smooth paste. Put this onto your stove on medium-high heat, and keep it stirring for about 5-10 minutes, until it thickens and becomes more like a porridge. If you’re using milk, make sure this mix doesn’t curdle! If it starts to get lumpy, take it off the heat and keep stirring it until it smooths out again!

3 - Add the Syrup

Your syrup should be done by now, so take it off the heat and pour in about a half cup’s worth of the syrup. Mix this together to combine. If you only want to make the day-to-day version of Sasqu, then this is the end of the process! Plate up in a bowl and dig in. Be warned: this is a very bland dish, but quite filling! It it, in essence, just liquid bread at this point. If you want to make the celebratory sasqu (which seems to have been eaten around festivals, or perhaps used as votive offerings to deities), then continue on!

4 - Votive Sasqu

For this, simply chop a few dates and scatter these over the top. You could also stew whole dates in the mix back at step 2, for a very succulent treat in the porridge! But here, I decorated my sasqu with chopped dates on top. I also ground up some old pistachios and decorated the top with these as well. 

The addition of fresh dates and nuts really improved this dish, and made it a lot more palatable! It’s a simple step, but it really makes it clear why this was only eaten on special occasions!

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