Babylonian lamb and onion stew

The oldest recorded recipe on earth: a recreation of the Babylonian lamb and onion broth from the Yale Cuneiform Tablets of c. 1700 BCE: meat, onion, garlic, leeks, and fat, cooked in a clay vessel over fire

Origin: Mesopotamia

From the journey of Onion.

The Yale Babylonian Collection holds three cuneiform clay tablets inscribed around 1700 BCE in Akkadian: the oldest written recipes in the world. These tablets, known collectively as 'the Babylonian recipe tablets', describe over 25 preparations in compact, technical language that assumes a trained cook. Onion (šammu) appears in nearly every recipe alongside garlic (šūmu), leeks (karashū), and fat (lipû). The recipes are terse and technical: 'Meat is boiled. You prepare the water. You add fat, onion, garlic, blood, and sour cream. Then you dry and crush samidu and add to the pot.' A modern recreation of these preparations requires interpretation; quantities are not given, some ingredient names are uncertain; but the flavour profile that emerges is recognisably the ancestor of the entire Middle Eastern stew tradition: fat, onion, garlic, meat, and a souring element creating something profound from simplicity.

Ingredients

Meat

  • 800 g bone-in lamb (shoulder or neck), cut into large pieces

Alliums

  • 3 large onions, roughly chopped
  • 4 cloves garlic, crushed
  • 2 stalks leeks, roughly chopped (white and light green parts)

Fat

  • 2 tbsp rendered fat or ghee (or neutral oil)

Spices

  • 1 tsp ground coriander
  • 0.5 tsp ground cumin

Acid

  • 2 tbsp wine vinegar or verjuice (the ancient 'sour liquid')

Liquid

  • 800 ml water

Seasoning

  • 1 tsp salt

Aromatics

  • 1 small bundle of fresh herbs, coriander, mint, or dried thyme (anchoring ancient aromatic practice)

Method

  1. Heat the fat in a heavy clay pot, cast iron, or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Brown the lamb pieces on all sides until well coloured. Remove and set aside.
  2. Add the onions, leeks, and garlic to the fat in the pot. Cook over medium heat for 10 minutes until softened and golden.
  3. Add the coriander, cumin, and vinegar. Stir for 30 seconds. Return the lamb to the pot. Add the water and salt. Bring to a boil.
  4. Add the herb bundle. Cover and reduce to the lowest possible simmer. Cook for 60–75 minutes until the lamb is completely tender and the broth is deep and fragrant.
  5. Remove the herb bundle. Taste the broth; it should be savoury, slightly sour, and deeply onion-rich. Adjust salt and vinegar. Serve with flatbread, which is the correct ancient accompaniment.

Notes

The three Yale Babylonian recipe tablets (YBC 4644, YBC 8958, and YBC 4648) were acquired by Yale University in the 1940s and translated fully only in 1987 by the French Assyriologist Jean Bottéro. His book 'The Oldest Cuisine in the World' (published 2004 in English translation) is the primary scholarly source for these recipes. The tablets describe both meat broths (zīd recipes) and grain-thickened preparations, always with a foundation of alliums, onion, garlic, and leek, in fat. The recreation here follows Bottéro's interpretation. Some ingredient identifications remain uncertain: 'samidu', for instance, may be semolina or a type of grain flour used as a thickener.

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