The Oldest Cuisine in the World

Cumin, garlic, and leeks. Sound familiar? What about francolin, halazzu, and kissimu? In this intriguing blend of the commonplace and the ancient, Jean Bottero’s The Oldest Cuisine in the World gives us the first comprehensive look at the delectable secrets of Mesopotamia. Bottero’s anthropological perspective encompasses the religious rites, everyday rituals, attitudes and taboos, and even the detailed preparation techniques involving food and drink in Mesopotamian high culture during the second and third millenniums BCE, as the Mesopotamians recorded them. With offerings including translated recipes for pigeon and gazelle stews, the elements and uses of medicinal teas and broths, and the origins of ingredients native to the region, this book reveals the cuisine of one of history’s most fascinating societies. Bottero delves into the culture’s idiosyncrasies – explaining behaviors and habits like the absence of pork in Mesopotamians’ diets by a newly discovered proverb that proclaims it “dirty”; the reason milk was considered a luxury beverage; and the formula for beer, along with an explanation of why it wasn’t consumed (or abused) with regularity.
As Bottero concludes, although the ingredients may have differed, food was prepared in a manner astoundingly similar to how we do it today. Such links to the modern world, along with incredible recreations of a rich, ancient culture through its cuisine, make Bottero’s guide an entertaining and mesmerizing read. In this impeccable translation by Teresa Lavender Fagan, The Oldest Cuisine in the World uncovers the relish with which Mesopotamians consumed food and drink, so many centuries ago.

Author Biography

Jean Bottero is director emeritus of L’Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes in Paris. He is the author or coauthor of many books, several of which have been translated and published by the University of Chicago Press, including Religion in Ancient Mesopotamia and Ancestor of the West: Writing, Reasoning, and Religion in Mesopotamia, Elam, and Greece. Teresa Lavender Fagan has translated more than a dozen books, including Jean-Claude Schmitt’s Ghosts in the Middle Ages and Remi Brague’s The Wisdom of the World, both published by the University of Chicago Press.