I’d be willing to bet that you, the humble reader, have family recipes that have been passed down for so many generations that they seem like they date back to ancient times.
Of course, if they actually were thousands of years old, they probably wouldn’t look anything like the modern foods you’ve come to know. Plus, they’d probably taste pretty bad. Researchers from Yale, Harvard, and New York University recently had the opportunity to cook some ancient recipes, and the results were… mixed (via BoingBoing).
The researchers went about as old school as possible while making these stews, which come from a Mesopotamian tablet written in cuneiform that’s over 4,000 years old. They actually read the recipes directly off the tablet itself—rather, a 3D-printed copy of the tablet, since it’s probably best that something that old and significant not be handled a whole lot.
Based on reactions in the video, it seems like some of the recipes turned out all right, but for the most part, there were a lot of disgusted faces. That makes sense, especially in the case of Broth of Lamb, which uses blood as a thickening agent. Even if it tastes like hot garbage, it’s still pretty fascinating to see in real life what popular foods from four millennia ago look and taste like.
Do you know of any other ancient foods that you would like to try? Would you give these stews a bite (or even a sniff, or a look)? Let us know what your stomach is telling you down in the comments!
Featured image: YaleCampus