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Puhādi (Mesopotamian Lamb Stew)

Puhādi (Mesopotamian Lamb Stew) is a reconstructed traditional Ancient Mesopotamian recipe for stew of lamb and leeks cooked in milk and thickened with barley cakes. The full recipe is presented here and I hope you enjoy this classic Ancient Mesopotamian version of: Mesopotamian Lamb Stew (Puhādi).

prep time

20 minutes

cook time

90 minutes

Total Time:

110 minutes

Serves:

6

Rating:

Tags : Lamb RecipesVegetable RecipesMilk RecipesMesopotamia Recipes

This is the oldest written recipe that I've ever seen or attempted. It's recorded on one of the Yale Mesopotamian Tablets. These represent records of humanity's oldest recipes and almost all the ingredients are fairly readily available today. Three of the four tablets in the collection date to the Old Babylonian period, no later than about 1730 BCE. The tablets all list recipes that include instructions on how to prepare them.

The first recipe I'm presenting is for puhādi (literally 'stew of lamb') a lamb stew made with fat-failed sheep, a breed that is still common in Arabia and North Africa. The fat from these animals' tails is prized even today, as it tends to be less greasy than most other animal fat. I was really lucky when I prepared this to be living in South Africa, where fat-tailed sheep are raised for the local and the Arabic markets.

The recipe is thickened with risnātu, a barley flour cake, the recipe for which is also given.

Original Recipe

Here is the text transliterated to the Roman alphabet:
me-e pu-ha-di ši-rum iza-za-az me-e tu-ka-an li-pi-a ta-na-ad-di ta-ba-tum k[i-ma ma-r]a-qi₂ ri-is-na-tum SUM.SIKIL^sar sa₃-mi-du ši-iz-bu ta-na-di kar₃-šum ha-za-n[u-um te-瞉e-er-ri] mê puhādi štrum izzaz mê tukân lipia tanaddi 瞉ābātum kīma marāqi risnātum šusikillum samīdu šizbu tanaddi karšum hazannum te瞉erri

In translation:
Stew of lamb. Meat is used. You prepare water. You add fat. You add fine-grained salt, dried barley cakes, onion, Persian shallot, and milk. [You crush] (and add) leek and garlic.

Modern Redaction

Ingredients:

For the risnātu (barley cakes):
200g coarse barley flour
2/4 teaspoon sea salt
4 tbsp water
5 tbsp rendered lamb fat, melted

For the Stew:
rendered lamb fat for cooking the onion
1 large onion, diced
50g rendered sheep fat
300g lamb, cut into large, bite-size pieces
2 tsp sea salt, divided
1l very hot water
50g chopped Persian shallot [samīdu] (this can be bought dry in Iranian shops, re-hydrate before use)
500ml sheep milk (goat or cow milk will work as a substitute)
5 garlic cloves
50g chopped leek, plus more to garnish (I would suggest using baby leeks)

Method:

Pre-heat your oven to 220°C (this is for baking the barley cakes).

Begin by preparing the risnātu (barley cakes): Mix the barley flour and salt in a bowl. Heat together the water and lamb fat in a saucepan until the fat melts. Form a well in the barley flour mix then pour in the liquid fat and quickly mix into a ragged dough (do not knead). Turn the dough out onto a floured work surface, roll out as thinly as possible (about 12mm) then form into cakes about 8cm in diameter (think oatcakes).

Set the barley cakes on a liked baking tray then place in the centre of your pre-heated oven and cook for about 15-20 minutes until golden. Turn the oven off, pry the door ajar with the handle of a wooden spoon then allow the biscuits to cool with the oven.

Once the cakes have dried crush 2/3 into small crumbs and chop the remainder into larger pieces (about bread crouton size).

In the meantime, prepare the lamb stew: Add a little lamb fat to a pan over medium heat. Once the fat has melted and is hot add the diced onion and fry until soft (about 5 minutes). Now add the lamb meat and sprinkle over half the salt. Cook, stirring, until the lamb is nicely browned then pour over hot water to barely cover the meat. At this point stir in the remainder of the salt and the fat.

Bring the ingredients to a boil, reduce to a simmer and cook, uncovered, for 5 minutes. At this point stir in the Persian shallot, the milk and the finely crushed barley cakes. Mix well to combine then bring to a simmer and cook for 20 minutes.

In the meantime, combine the garlic and leeks in a mortar to form a paste. At the end of the 20 minutes stir this mixture into the pan then add milk to adjust the thickness of the stew to your liking. Return to a simmer and continue cooking for 20-25 minutes more, or until all the ingredients are cooked and lamb is very tender.

Turn into a serving dish then garnish with the large pieces of risnātu and a sprinkling of chopped leeks.