The World That Was

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 week, I'll be taking a look at another medieval Syrian dish - this time, a simple pistachio sauce chicken bake! It's a sweet and savoury take on a staple of near eastern cuisine at the time - fitting for most people in the medieval period to be able to make! As with a few other recipes like this, many thanks to Charles Perry's translations from the original Arabic textbooks! 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, please consider supporting me over on Patreon! Ingredients 250g chicken (any cut) 300g pistachios salt pepper ground cumin ground coriander honey Method 1 - Season Chicken and Bake To begin with, we need to prepare our chicken. Do this by cutting your cuts of meat with a knife, before seasoning your cuts with equal amounts of salt, pepper, ground cumin, and ground coriander. The original recipe doesn't make note of any spices...

Hello and Welcome to The World That Was! Today, I'll be taking a look at another recipe from 13th century Syria - and the anonymously written Scents and Flavours Arabic cookbook - the creamy chicken Jurjaniyyah! The name Jurjaniyyah is derived from an Iranian region - Gorgan - which suggests that this was an imported culinary style, rather than a local recipe! Either way, it's a fairly simple and tasty dish! In any case, lets now take a look at The World That Was! Follow along with my YouTube video, above! Ingredients (Serves 4) 500g yoghurt 1/2 tablespoon flour dissolved in 1 tablespoon water 1/2 tablespoon honey 2 tablespoons mustard seeds ground cumin 250g chicken thighs (or cut of your choice) Method 1 - Bake the Chicken To begin with, we need to cook our chicken. To do this, season a few thighs of chicken with salt, pepper, and freshly-ground cumin. I'm cooking the meat separately to the sauce, which is unusual for meat-based recipes in this time period - but this is s...

 Hello and welcome to the World That Was!  Today, I'll be going back to the Hellenistic Period, to the Hasmonean dynasty of Judea. The recipe in question is a simple honeyed-hens, recorded by Seleucid accounts of a feast held by one of the ruling elite. Though the original recipe refers to it plainly as chicken with honey, I'm going to be recreating it today based on our knowledge of contemporary dining habits! In any case, let's now take a look at the World That Was! Follow along with my YouTube video above! Ingredients 4 chicken thighs salt (to taste) pepper (to taste) ground cumin ground coriander 2 tbsp wholegrain mustard 2 tbsp olive oil 2 tbsp honey 2-4 cloves garlic Method 1 - Prepare the Chicken To begin with we need to season our chicken. Do this by sprinkling some salt, some freshly ground black pepper, some ground coriander, and some ground cumin on top of your chicken, before rubbing it in with your hands. I used some skin-on, bone-in chicken thighs, but really ...

 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 taking a look at another medieval Syrian recipe from the Kitab al-Wuslah - this time, a simple spiced lamb kofta (meatball) in a herbal garlic sauce. Lamb was a staple meat for the Near and Middle East in the Medieval period - but beef and chicken could also be used here! In any case, let's now take a look at The World That Was! Follow along with my YouTube video above! Ingredients (makes 12 koftas) 500g lamb (minced) parsley or coriander leaves (minced) ground coriander ground cumin ground cloves salt pepper head of garlic olive oil water Method 1 - Prepare the Ingredients To begin with, go chop a whole head of coriander - or parsley, if coriander. Do this by rolling it into a tight ball, and chopping it. Put this in a bowl for later. Place your lamb meat into a bowl. On top of this, put 1/3 of your chopped herbs on top of the lamb, keeping the rest in your bowl for later. Then pour in your ground coriander, for a bit of ...

Hello and Welcome to The World That Was! I hope you all had a great New Year, and are keeping safe and well in these trying times. Today, I'll be making some chicken in a blackberry sauce - as recorded in the “Kitab al-Wuslah ila l-Habib” - a collection of Syrian recipes from the 13th century AD! It's a fairly simple tarty sauce that can be made inside a half an hour, and is a delightful addition to any dish! In any case, let's now take a look at The World That Was! Follow along with my YouTube video above! Ingredients 250g blackberries - washed 1 tbsp honey 1 tbsp fresh mint (minced) 1 tsp ground cinnamon 1 tsp cloves Salt (to taste) Pepper (to taste) 500g chicken (but the cut of meat is up to you) Method 1 - Cook the chicken To begin with, we need to cook our chicken. This recipe claims that the sauce is to be added to the chicken when the meat is finished cooking, so they'll need to be prepared separately. Make a couple of cuts into the chicken, to increase the surfa...

Hello and Welcome to The World That Was! This week, I'm going to be making some honey spiced wine that was popular in the Eastern Mediterranean. The name of this comes from Apicius, and roughly translates to "surprise" or "marvellous" spiced wine. This recipe was also recorded in the Jerusalem Talmud, which reaffirms the claims for this drink's popularity in the Eastern Mediterranean and Levant! Given the time of year I'm posting this, it would be a fitting drink to serve for any festivities you might have planned for Saturnalia! But before I begin, I just want to make it clear that this is a recipe for an alcoholic beverage, so please don't make this if you're under the legal drinking age where you are! It's 18 in Ireland, but it may be different where you are! In any case, let's now take a look at The World That Was! Follow along with my YouTube video above! Ingredients 100g honey 700ml wine (preferably red) 2 bay leaves 2 saffron stran...

Hello and welcome to The World That Was!  Today, we'll be making a lentil and parsnip soup. Lentils and root vegetables - like carrots and parsnips - are some of the oldest ingredients in the kitchens of the past, and would have formed a staple for the diets of people in the Levant! This is a recipe that is not explicitly recorded, but is based on Hellenistic-period accounts of food people ate, such as "a broth of legumes and tubers" In any case, let's take a look at The World That Was! Follow along with my YouTube video above! Ingredients: 1 tbsp olive oil 2 carrots (chopped) 2 parsnips (chopped) 1 onion (chopped/diced) 1 clove garlic (crushed) 750ml / 3 cups water (or stock) 1/2 cup parsley/cilantro (minced) 3 sprigs fresh thyme cumin ground coriander Method 1 - Prepare your Pot To begin with, pour some olive oil into a pot. Olives would have been cultivated along the Mediterranean coast of the Levant in antiquity, thanks to the climate, but not much further inland....

Hello and Welcome to The World That Was! Today, we'll be taking a step West of Mesopotamia - over to the Levant! I'll be making some ashishim - a savoury lentil dish eaten by the populations present in Israel and Judah in antiquity. There’s no explicit source for this, other than passing references and the word ashishim , so I’ll be attempting to reconstruct what these dishes may have been like! Follow along with my YouTube recipe above, and let's take a look at The World That Was! Ingredients 2 cups red split lentils 1 cup flour 2 eggs 1 cup sesame seeds olive oil for frying honey (optional) Method 1 - Prepare the Lentils To begin with, we need to rinse our red split lentils until the water runs clear. When it's clear, go toss them into a pot. Pour about four cups of water (or chicken stock) into this, so the lentils are covered by water. Place this onto medium-high heat and let them cook them for about 15-20 minutes. Stir this periodically, so nothing gets stuck on th...