The World That Was

Hello and Welcome to The World That Was! Today, I'll be making a simple barley porridge, as recorded by Ibn Sina (Avicenna) in the 11th century! This dish shares a lot of similarities to my Sumerian Sasqu recipe from a few months ago, suggesting that it may have been a regional dish in antiquity that has been preserved through the centuries to modernity. Ingredients (for about 3 portions) 6 tbsp barley 1l milk honey sliced almonds (garnish) cardamom seeds Method 1 - Simmer Milk and Soak Barley To begin with, we need to prepare our barley. Soak about 5 or 6 tablespoons of barley grains in a bowl of water overnight, to help break them down in the cooking process. So if you want to make this today, you should've started this yesterday. Or at least 4 hours beforehand. Drain these before using them! Then, pour about a litre of milk into a saucepan, and set it over a medium high heat. Though the original recipe uses undescribed milk, I'm using whole-fat cow milk. But sheep and go...

Hello and Welcome to The World That Was! Today, I'll be taking a look at a medieval Byzantine honey cake - which itself is based on an earlier Greek iron-age cake, amphiphon. This is going to be a light, fluffy cake with a rich, honey flavour! In any case, let's now take a look at the world that was! Follow along with my YouTube video, above! If you like what you see, consider supporting me over on Patreon! Ingredients 1 cup flour 3/4 cup butter 3/4 cup sugar 1/2 cup walnuts salt orange rind 1 - Cream the Sugar and Butter To begin with, toss about 3/4 of a cup of room-temperature butter into a mixing bowl. Into this, place about 3/4 of a cup of sugar. Mix everything together using a wooden spoon, smearing the butter into the sugar along the side of the bowl. Do this until it takes on a rich, creamy texture. At this stage, beat three eggs into the mixture, taking care to mix them all thoroughly before progressing! 2 - Add Dry Ingredients Next, toss in about a cup's worth of ...

Hello and Welcome to The World That Was! This week, I'm going to be making a quick and easy rice pudding dessert, recorded in a 14th century Neapolitan cookbook - the Cuoco Napoletano! Rice began being used in medieval Europe intensively around the 9th or 10th centuries AD - though evidence for it's cultivation in the Eastern Mediterranean date back to Alexander the Great's conquests into Asia. In any case, let's now take a quick look at The World That Was! Follow along with my YouTube video, above! Ingredients (makes 4 portions) 2 cups rice 4 cups almond milk 1 cup sugar saffron Method 1 - Wash and Cook Rice To begin with, we need to cook some rice. I used basmati rice, but arborio or other, fatter-grained rice would have been used in antiquity as well! Begin by washing a couple of cups of rice in some cold water. Move the grains around with your hands, to get rid of excess starch. When the water runs clear, place your rice in a pot, and fill up with cold water until t...

Hello and Welcome to The World That Was! Today, I'm making a quick and easy accompaniment to any medieval Irish meals you have planned - a bowl of praiseach (pronounced: prashock)! The basis of this is a simple savour porridge, that's then flavoured with some sautéed mustard greens! Although wild mustard (charlock) greens are usually used, any suitably pungent edible greens can be used! In any case, let's now take a look at The World That Was!  Ingredients (for 4 portions) Mustard Greens / Turnip Greens 2 cups oatmeal (or oat groats) 2 cups milk (or water) butter Method 1 - Prepare the Greens To begin with, we need to chop some greens. Though praiseach is normally made using wild mustard (charlock), you can also use normal mustard greens, or even turnip greens (like I'm using here). They all have similar taste profiles - being pungent, slightly spicy greens - that react similarly when being cooked. In any case, chop your greens finely, removing any untoward-looking leav...

Hello and Welcome to The World That Was! As the autumn comes to a close, and the cold of winter sets in, I figured it'd be a great time to make a simple savoury treat from medieval Georgian cuisine - stuffed apples! Though savoury stuffed apples are commonly found in the Caucasus region, this isn't exclusive to Georgia! Armenia, and parts of north-western Iran, western Turkey, and Azerbaijan also have regional variants of this dish! In any case, let's now take a look at the world that was! Follow along with my YouTube video, above! If you like what I make, consider supporting me on Patreon! Ingredients (for 4 servings) 4 large tart cooking apples honey ground cinnamon ground nutmeg water 1 cup rice butter Method 1 - Prepare Apples To begin with, we need to prepare our apples. Do this by slicing the top off of about 4 large apples, before carving out the middle - leave about a finger's width of a wall. Drizzle some honey in here, and sprinkle a little ground cinnamon ins...

Hello and Welcome to The World That Was! This week, I'm going to be making a simple party dish - recorded by a Syrian writer in the 13th century! Though the dish is described very literally as "gourd dish", it is, in fact, a delightfully savoury and crunchy snack that can be served at parties alongside a simple yet nutty dipping sauce! Thanks again to Charles Perry for the translation of the original Arabic! In any case, let's now take a look at The World That Was! Follow along with my YouTube video, above! If you like my recipes, consider checking out my Patreon! Ingredients (serves 4) 1 - 2 courgettes / zucchinis (or 1 bottle gourd / calabash) 1/2 cup walnuts (finely ground) 1/2 cup tahini paste bunch of finely chopped mint 1 tbsp ground coriander 1 tbsp ground cumin lemon juice (to taste) honey (to taste) olive oil / sesame oil (for frying) Method 1 - Prepare Ingredients To begin making this dish, we need to grind up about a half a cup of walnuts into a fine powder...

Hello and Welcome to The World That Was! This weekend is the pre-Christian Irish holiday of Samhain - celebrated more widely as Halloween! Due to my current circumstances, instead of a recipe this week, I'll be doing this instead! Pumpkins weren't present in Ireland until well after the Columbian Exchange, but turnips are an indigenous vegetable here - and were carved for millennia. In any case, let's now take a look at The World That Was! Follow along with my YouTube video, above! If you like what I do, consider checking out my Patreon! Ingredients A Turnip Method 1 - Cut top off turnip To begin making a carved turnip, you of course need a turnip! Try and get a large turnip, as it'll be more sturdy once carved. Cut the top off the root bulb - alternitively you can cut the base off the turnip, using the leaf bundle at the top as a handle! Either way, be very careful when cutting into this. Turnips are notoriously difficult to cut easily. Plus, if you're careless - l...