The World That Was

 Hello and Welcome to The World That Was! Today, I'll be making an Egyptian dish that dates to the pre-Dynastic period (the bronze age) - a simple herb and egg omelette that's still eaten today: "eggah" (in modern Egyptian Arabic). The first records of this dish come from early Arab writers, discussing a much older dish! In any case, let's now take a look at The World That Was! Follow along with my YouTube video, above!  Ingredients 6 eggs 1 onion fresh parsley or cilantro ground cumin ground coriander salt pepper olive oil Method 1 - Chop and cook onion To begin with, chop a single onion in half, and peel off it's outer skin. Then slice and dice the onion into small pieces, making sure they're all the same size. Then, pour some olive oil into a pot, and place it over a medium-high heat. When the oil is shimmering, toss your onion into it and let it sauté away while you mince your parsley. Or coriander, if it doesn't taste like soap to you. When your o...

Hello and Welcome to The World That Was This week, I'm recreating some Akkadian Kukku - or "butter-cakes" - which would have been offered to deities, much like the qullupu I made a while ago, which were used in the worship of Inanna! However this dish seems to have been eaten by Akkadian rulers, rather than offered to deities. In any case, let's now take a look at The World That Was! Follow along with my YouTube video, above! Ingredients 1 cup flour 1/2 cup hazelnuts 1/2 cup walnuts 1/3 cup honey 1/2 cup butter 1/2 cup raisins (or sultanas) 1 egg dates (for decoration) Method 1 - Grind the Nuts To begin with, we need to crush our hazelnuts and walnuts in a mortar and pestle until they take on a sandy consistency. I left a few chunks in my batch - as you can see here - but I cannot recommend you do this, as it makes it rather difficult to take out of your baking tin later on! So, do as I say, not as I do in this case. In any case, hazelnuts and walnuts would have been ...

Hello and Welcome to The World That Was! This week, I'll be taking a look at a Byzantine baked cheesecake - that's quick, simple, and very tasty! It seems to be based on an earlier Greek recipe for a baked cheesecake, but was adapted to suit the tastes of Medieval Byzantine elite cuisine! In any case, let's now take a look at The World That Was! Follow along with my YouTube video, above! Ingredients 500g ricotta cheese (or myzithra, anthotyro cheese) 150g honey 3 eggs flour cinnamon butter (to grease baking tin) Method 1 - Whisk Ingredients To begin with, we need to place our cheese in a bowl. I used ricotta here, because it has a good texture and is widely available, but other soft Greek cheeses would work well - such as myzithra or anthotyro. Into this, pour 150g of honey, and whisk it well. Crack an egg one at a time into the bowl, whisking it until it's well combined before adding two more. Chicken eggs would have been used in this period, along with wildfowl and pi...

Hello and Welcome to The World That Was! This week, I'll be taking a quick look at a dish from the Hittites - a stew known from Assyrian sources as "a broth of pulses". Since this is a very vague description (even by bronze age source standards), I'll be basing my version off of with what we know about Hittite eating habits! In any case, let's now take a look at The World That Was! Follow along with my YouTube video, above! Ingredients 1 onion, minced ½ cup broad beans (also known as broad beans or butter beans) ½ cup chickpeas, soaked overnight ½ cup lentils ½ cup yellow split peas ½ cup bulgur wheat ½ cup pearl barley 2 tbsp butter 1 tbsp cumin cumin fresh Rosemary or Thyme 4 cups water or stock Method 1 - Chop and Cook Onion To begin with, toss two tablespoons of butter into a large pot, before placing it over a medium heat. While this is melting, finely mince an onion, before tossing this into the butter when it's melted. Let this cook away for a couple of...

 Hello and Welcome to The World That Was! This week, I'll be making a spinach and herb soup from Achaemenid Persia! Although spinach was not explicitly recorded in this period - it's not unlikely that green leaves like these were used in dishes, simply going by the name "greens" in modern translations. In any case, let's now take a look at the World That Was! Follow along with my YouTube video, above! Ingredients (for about four small bowls of soup) 100g spinach leaves 1 onion 2 cloves garlic 200g chickpeas, drained 200g kidney beans, drained 1 cup parsley, minced 1 cup coriander, minced (or use another cup of parsley) turmeric ground coriander ground cumin salt pepper oil Method 1 - Prepare Onion and Chickpeas To begin with, we need to chop and mince our onion. Then, go pour some olive oil into a pot, and place it over a medium high heat. When the oil is shimmering, toss your onion into the pot and let it cook away for about 5 minutes - or until it becomes soft a...