The World That Was

Hello and Welcome to The World That Was! Today I’m making a simple pressed fig and almond cake - known today as Dalmatian or Croatian “smokvenjak”. Dried fruit turned into pressed cakes were a common way of storing figs, dates, and other high-sugar, low moisture goods in antiquity - like we can see with the mersu from Akkadian society. This recipe is based on early Greek descriptions of food the Illyrians ate. In any case, let's take a look at The World That Was! Follow along with my YouTube video, above! Ingredients 300g dried figs 100g almonds fresh fennel Method 1 - Prepare the Almonds To begin with, place your dried almonds into a mortar and pestle and grind them into a very fine meal. You don't need to peel or blanche the nuts for this, so just add them as-is. It should look like sand granules when you’re done. 2 - Prepare the Figs Now we need to deal with our figs. The stalk is edible, but is considerably tougher than the inside of the fig. So I’d recommend removing them ...

Hello and Welcome to The World That Was! Today, I'll be taking a look at a recipe from the Heel of Italy, also known as Magna Graecia (due to the intensity of Greek colonies here from the 8th century BC). I’ll be making some small bread-rings, called taralli. They're still made today, albeit in a different way. This recipe has been adapted from the Tavola Mediterranea, so I suggest you check them out! In any case, let's take a look at The World That Was! Follow along with my YouTube video above! Ingredients 2 cups wholegrain flour 1/2 cup water 2 tbsp olive oil 2 tbsp white wine (or white wine vinegar) 1 tbsp fennel seeds Method 1 - Make the Dough To begin with, we need to make a dough. Do this by pouring two cups of flour into a bowl, followed by the fennel seeds. Whisk these together just so they're combined. You can add less fennel here if you want a milder final product. Next, pour in a half cup of water, your two tablespoons of olive oil, and your two tablespoons o...

Hello and Welcome to The World That Was! This week, I made another dish from Urartian society - a warm yoghurt and barley soup. Although it's mostly referred to as Greek Yoghurt - at least in Ireland anyway - stained yoghurt was common to the societies of the Bronze Age Near East, not just Greece! In any case, let's take a look at The World That Was! Follow along with my YouTube video above! Ingredients 1 cup barley 1 onion, diced 1/4 cup mint, chopped 1/4 cup parsley, chopped butter 3 scallions 2 cups Greek yoghurt / strained yoghurt 2 eggs salt pepper 4 cups / 1L water Method 1 - Boil Barley To begin with, we need to cook our barley. Pour about 4 cups or about a litre of water into a pot, along with your cup of barley. Place this onto a medium-high heat, and let it simmer for about 20 minutes. Remove it from the heat, but keep it warm. 2 - Prepare the Mint and Onion While your barley is cooking, go chop your fresh mint by picking leaves off the sprigs, and rolling them into a...

Hello and Welcome to The World That Was! This week, I made a dish recorded by the Greek playwriter Aristophanes - a simple brown lentil and leek soup! This is an easy and very versatile recipe, and even has parallels with a modern Greek dish! In any case, let's take a look at The World That Was! Ingredients: 1 leek 1 onion 1 garlic clove 1 stick celery 1 carrot 1 parsnip 1 cup / 250g lentils (preferably brown lentils) 750ml water (or stock) 1 1/2 tablespoons vinegar (preferably red wine vinegar) rosemary bay leaves olive oil salt pepper Method: 1 - Chop the Leek and Onion, and Prep the Pot First, pour some olive oil into a pot. Place this over a medium-high heat while you prepare your other ingredients! Slice your leek into rings, each one about as wide as your finger. Then, chop your onion in half, and then into thin little crescents. Toss your leek and onion into your pot when the olive oil starts to shimmer. Next, go crush a clove of garlic into it all. Add a little salt and pep...

Hello and Welcome to The World That Was This week is Halloween, a pre-Christian Irish festival, so decided to make a bread which is fragmentarily recorded on Old Irish ogham stones - a simple sweet fruit bread which can be baked on a pan! In any case, let's take a look at The World That Was! Follow along with my YouTube video above! Ingredients 500g / 3 cups flour (wholemeal) 300g / 2 cups blackberries (or raspberries) 300g honey water to mix Method 1 - Mix the Flour and Berries Pour your flour and berries of choice into a bowl, and gently toss everything together. Flour would likely have been stone-ground by hand in Bronze-Age Ireland, so modern wholemeal flour acts as a good substitute today. You can also use plain flour here. I'm using blackberries in this recipe, because they're in season, but raspberries (or other soft fruits) would also work well. 2 - Add Honey and Water When your berries are well-distributed through your flour, pour in your honey. Gently fold all thi...

Hello and Welcome to The World That Was!  Today, we're going to look at a recipe from the Etruscans - a pre-Roman civilisation found in Italy in the Bronze Age! This is a simple mushroom and barley soup, which is based on a similar dish from the early Roman republic, recorded by Cato the Elder in his De Agri Cultura  from around 160 BC! In any case, let's take a look at The World That Was. Follow along with my YouTube video above! Ingredients 1 onion 1 carrot 1 parsnip 1 stick celery 2 garlic cloves 250g Portobello mushrooms (or mushrooms of your choice) 750ml / 3 cups water (or stock) 1 cup barley olive oil butter Method 1 - Cook Mushrooms Depending on what mushrooms you used, you may have to remove the gills of them, like you can see me doing in the video. Some mushrooms can be eaten with next to no preparation, so check which ones you're using. Then, toss some butter into a pot, and put it over medium-high heat until it melts. Toss your mushrooms into the pot and sprink...

Hello and Welcome to The World That Was Today, we'll be taking a look at a recipe from the kingdom of Colchis! A sweet apple-based treat, that’s much like a cake or cookie! Colchis roughly covers the same area as modern-day western Georgia, but it's origins date back to the middle 13th century BC - around the same time as the Middle Assyrian Empire! In any case, let's now take a look at The World That Was! Follow along with my YouTube video above! Ingredients 2 cups plain flour 1 tsp salt 1 tsp cinnamon 3 apples (either cooking or eating apples) 1/4 cup cream 1 cup cream cheese 1 cup greek yoghurt 1/2 cup walnuts Method 1 - Prepare Applesauce To begin with, we need to make a basic applesauce! Start by peeling a few small apples, before chopping and coring them. Then, dice each of these chunks into small pieces. Toss the remaining apples into a small pot with some water - enough to just about cover them. Pour a few tablespoons of honey into the pot too. Then place this over ...

Hello and welcome to The World That Was!  Today, I’m making a recipe from the Caucasus! A date filled-pastry from the Bronze Age Urartu kingdom, a population from the area of modern-day Armenia! This recipe is very similar to the Mersu from Mesopotamian culinary tradition, and could have been a transmission of recipes through the various empires that arose in this region. In any case, let's take a look at The World That Was! Follow along with my YouTube video above! Ingredients 2 cups plain flour 1/4 cup water 1 cup cream cheese 1/4 cup butter 2 cups dates 1/4 cup walnuts/hazelnuts Method 1 - Make the Dough Into a large bowl, add two cups of flour. Into this, pour your water and cream cheese. Beat this together into a dough. I'm using cream cheese here, but it's unlikely to have been used in ancient Urartu society, but any soft cheese would work. Cream cheese produces the best results! When your dough is smooth, and no longer really sticking to the sides of your bowl, turn ...