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! 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...

Hello and Welcome to The World That Was! Today, I'm going to be making a simple pulse and leaf salad present in ancient Cretan - and possibly wider Hellenic - culture! It' still eaten today, in a modern dish called "palikaria" which is eaten in the Eastern Mediterranean around feast days. Although the modern version of this dish is associated with Christian religious festivals, its likely that it arose from pre-Christian practices! 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 1/2 cup small broad beans 1/2 cup chickpeas 1/2 cup green lentils 1 tbsp salt 1/2 cup olive oil 1/2 cup red wine vinegar parsley arugula sesame seeds Method 1 - Soak Pulses To begin with, we need to prepare our pulses. If you're using dried pulses, soak these overnight in some water. If you're using them canned, simply drain them. Next, we need to wash these in...

Hello and Welcome to The World That Was! This week, I'm going to be recreating a simple carrot and coriander soup that was popular in medieval French cuisine - the simple Potage de Crécy. Although I'm using orange carrots, which were rare in antiquity, carrots, parsnips, or any combination of these would work well here! In any case, let's now take a look at The World That Was! Follow along with my YouTube video, above! Check out my Patreon for some more recipes! Ingredients (for 2-3 portions) 1 onion (or an equal volume to the amount of carrots) chopped 3 carrots (or an equal volume to the amount of onions) diced 2 cloves garlic olive oil ground coriander 500ml stock (e.g. chicken, vegetable, etc.) Method 1 - Prepare and Cook Onion To begin with, we need to peel and chop one whole onion. Onions of all kinds were a staple of most cuisines from the neolothic period to modernity, as they're hardy, filling vegetables that have a multitude of uses. In any case, chop this int...

Hello and Welcome to The World That Was! Today, I'm going to be recreating a recipe for a German apple pie from the Registrum Coquine - the contents of which are suited for a middle-class palette of medieval European world In any case, let's now take a look at The World That Was! Follow along with my YouTube video, above! Consider supporting me on Patreon if you like my recipes! Ingredients 6 apples 2 cups flour water butter (or oil) ground cinnamon ground nutmeg cloves (either whole or ground) honey Method 1 - Peel and Chop Apples To begin making an apple pie, we of course need apples. Though the original recipe doesn't state any particular apples, tart apples tend to make the best filling. Peel your apples, and chop them into fairly evenly-sized chunks so they cook evenly. I found that about 6 apples suited a pie fit for about four people. 2 - Prepare the Filling When your apples are chopped, go toss some butter (or oil) into a pot, and let it melt. When it's foaming,...

 Hello and Welcome to The World That Was! Today, I'll be taking a look at medieval Ottoman cuisine - specifically the food seen in ottoman courts! The recipe in question is cılbır, or poached eggs with herbal yoghurt. This is a simple yet tasty recipe that is still eaten today in Turkey! In any case, let's now take a look at The World That Was! Follow along with my YouTube video, above! Consider checking out my Patreon if you like these recipes! Ingredients (for 3 portions) 3 eggs 150g greek yoghurt freshly chopped parsley (or dill, or cilantro) 2 cloves garlic ground coriander Method 1 - Make the Yoghurt To begin with, we need to make a simple yoghurt for the eggs to sit on. Start this by finely chopping some fresh parsley - dill or cilantro would have also been used! Toss this into your yoghurt, along with a clove or two of crushed garlic. Mix all of this together, until it's very well combined. Leave it to sit aside while you poach your eggs. 2 - Poach the eggs Place a p...

Hello and Welcome to The World That Was! This week, I'm making some hard-boiled eggs in a pine nut sauce, as recorded by Apicius. This is a quick and easy recipe that would have served as a cheap but filling meal for many Romans in antiquity - requiring at least eggs, pine nuts, and garum. However, the recipe recorded by Apicius gives us a glimpse at a more middle-class meal! 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 on Patreon! Ingredients 200g pine nuts (soaked overnight in water) 4 eggs 1 tbsp honey 1 tbsp vinegar 1 tbsp garum (or fish sauce) pepper salt dried lovage (or celery seeds, ground) Method 1 - Prepare the Sauce To begin making this recipe, we need to soak our pine nuts in some water overnight. So start making this the day before you want to eat it! Place the soaked pine nuts into a mortar and pestle, and get to grinding. They should break down fairly easily. ...

Hello and Welcome to The World That Was! Today, I'll be making a quick side-dish from Rome, as recorded by Apicius! He has a few ways of preparing mushrooms, but this is one of the more flavourful methods he shows us! In any case, let's now take a look at The World That Was! Follow along with my YouTube video, above! Ingredients 500g mushrooms (I used chestnut mushrooms) 2 tbsp red wine vinegar (or malt vinegar) 1 tbsp salt 1 tbsp pepper fresh coriander or parsley Method 1 - Chop the Mushrooms This is a rather simple recipe, but to begin with, we need to prepare our mushrooms. I used chestnut mushrooms, sliced into thin segments, but button or Portobello mushrooms may also be similar to what was available in antiquity, along with edible morels. If you have smaller mushrooms, you can skip slicing these, and proceed with cooking them as is! 2 - Sautee Mushrooms Into a hot pot, pour a generous amount of olive oil - enough to coat the base. On top of this, toss your mushrooms. Spri...

Hello and Welcome to The World That Was! Today, I'll be making a simple cherry pudding recorded in the 14th century AD - from the region of the Holy Roman Empire! Cherries were (and still are) a very popular fruit to eat, given the extensive range at which they can be grown. The original recipe is recorded in The Forme of Cury - a 14th century English manuscript - but the origin of this recipe likely comes from a central European source, given the variety of recipes recorded here. In any case, let's now take a look at The World That Was! Follow along with my YouTube video, above. Consider supporting me on Patreon if you like my recipes! Ingredients 500g fresh ripe red cherries 200ml red wine 100g white sugar 1 tbsp unsalted butter 100g soft white breadcrumbs salt Edible flowers (e.g. clover, lavender, etc) Method 1 - Prepare the Cherries To begin with, we need to wash, de-stem, and stone the cherries. Do this by cutting into them carefully with a knife, before using your thumb ...

Hello and Welcome to The World That Was! Today, I'll be making a quick and easy sesame snack from the Cretan Iron Age! A treat so sweet that it's still popular today (with a few adaptations of course) - the koptoplakous as it's known in antiquity - or the Pasteli as it's known today! In any case, let's now take a look at The World That Was! Follow along with my YouTube video above! Ingredients 200g sesame seeds 200g honey sea salt (to taste) Method 1 - Toast the Sesame Seeds To begin with, we need to lightly brown and toast 200g of sesame seeds. Do this by tossing them into a hot pan, and letting them cook over a high heat for a couple of minutes. Don't let these sit still, keep them moving around the pan so they toast evenly! Do this for about 5 minutes, or until your seeds are nutty and fragrant. Take these off the heat, but keep them warm while you deal with the honey. 2 - Boil Honey Next, place a pot onto a high heat. Into this, scoop about 200g of honey an...

Hello and Welcome to The World That Was! Today, I'll be making a simple bread-based soup - referred to as juscellum by Apicius! It's a lot like Tuscan "aquacotta" soup, which is prepared in a similar way - though today it often includes tomatoes, which would not have been available in antiquity. Ingredients 1 onion 1 carrot 1 stick celery 3 cloves garlic thyme 2 slices bread (torn or grated) 2 eggs 750ml chicken stock olive oil salt pepper Method 1 - Chop Ingredients To begin with, we need to chop and dice an onion. You don't need to worry about being too careful here, as they'll soften up considerably while its cooking. Peel and dice a carrot or two - carrots and parsnips were considered to be the same vegetable to the Greeks and Romans, so either one works well here! Finally, deal with some celery by slicing it thinly. 2 - Sautee and Cook Toss a bit of olive oil into a pot, and place this over a medium heat. When it's shimmering, toss in your onions, car...

Hello and Welcome to The World That Was! Today, I'll be making an Etruscan dish - which is preserved through Roman cuisine through to modernity! The simple testaroli - a rudimentary ancestor to the pasta that we know and love today! In any case, let's now take a look at The World That Was! Follow along with my YouTube video, above! Ingredients 1/2 cup plain flour 1/2 cup wholemeal flour 1 cup water pesto Method 1 - Prepare the Batter To begin with, we need to make the batter. To do this, toss a half a cup of plain white flour into a bowl, along with some wholemeal flour. Mix in an equal amount of water, to form a thin slurry. 2 - Oil the Pan and Make the testaroli When the batter is ready, pour a ladleful into a pan that's been oiled with olive oil. Spread this into a very thin layer, by tilting the pan around. Cook the thin layer of batter for a minute or two over a high heat, or until the edges start to firm up. Don't cook it all the way through! Flip it over and let ...

Hello and Welcome to The World That Was! Today, I'll be taking a look at a staple of Irish medieval cuisine: the humble nettle soup. Late spring and early Summer is the ideal time to make this dish, as the nettle leaves used here won't have matured fully, and retain a soft, lighter texture than older woodier leaves. Plus they won't sting your hands as badly as mature nettles. Plenty of Irish families have their own takes on this recipe, and this is influenced by my family's take on the tradition! In any case, let's now take a look at The World That Was! Follow along with my YouTube video, above! Ingredients 2-3 cups nettle leaves 1 onion, minced 2 cloves garlic (or two bulbs of wild garlic, minced) chives (for decoration) butter 1/2 cup milk/double cream 500ml water or stock salt pepper Method 1 - Chop and cook the Garlic and Onion To begin with, we need to peel and chop a whole onion, before tossing this into a pot with some melted butter. You can of course use oil...

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...

 Hello and Welcome to The World That Was! Today, I'm making some date-filled cookies described as being votive religious offerings to the Sumerian deity Inanna (also known as Ishtar - to the Akkadians, Babylonians, and Assyrians). It's unknown exactly how these cookies were prepared, being only described as "date-filled parcels of dough" - so I've reconstructed this based on modern Iraqi culinary traditions. In any case, let's now take a look, at the World That Was! Follow along with my YouTube video, above! Ingredients (for approx. 8 qullupu ) 1 cup/150g dates, pitted honey water 1 cup white flour 1 tsp salt 2 tsp cardamom powder 2 tsp ground cumin 100g butter, melted milk sesame seeds (for decoration) Method 1 - Make the dough To begin with, we need to make a dough. Pour a cup of flour into a large mixing bowl, along with a pinch of salt, a few tablespoons of ground cumin, and a few tablespoons of cardamom powder - you can buy this pre-ground, or you can tak...