When Jean Bottéro penned his article,The Oldest Cuisine in the World: Cooking in Mesopotamia, he never imagined that ancient Mesopotamian culture would appeal to the modern-day palate. In the book’s final pages, Bottéro writes:
Lastly, let me say quite plainly that it is virtually impossible for us to execute these recipes of Mesopotamian haute cuisine...I would not advise trying to incorporate their culinary tradition, just as it stands, into our own.
His comment, which follows paragraphs that dive into vibrant descriptions of the royal foods and recipes, seems rather ironic. Perhaps Bottéro’s fear stems from the possibilities of an unfaithful rewriting of ancient Mesopotamian food history or an ill-executed experiment that aggravates his picky appetite. Whatever his reason, it is disappointing to see Bottéro skip out on experimenting with his research in the kitchen.
Since his formative article about Mesopotamian food culture, historians, chefs, and bloggers have kindled a new interest in ancient Mesopotamian foods. One such chef is Nawal Nasrallah.
Nawal is an Iraqi scholar, chef, and author of Delights from the Garden of Eden: A Cookbook and a History of the Iraqi Cuisine. She joins me for this episode to talk about how growing up in Iraq, surrounded by Iraqi cuisine, has influenced her cookbook endeavors and her recent experience reconstructing Mesopotamian cuisine at Yale University. This episode is packed with musings by an experienced cookbook writer, and the consequences of applying a western palate to a non-western cuisine.

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Reconstructing an Ancient Cuisine: Mesopotamian Style w/ Nawal Nasrallah (Ep. 12)

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