The oldest cuisine in the world
Subtitle: cooking in Mesopotamia
By: Jean Bottéro ; translated by Teresa Lavender Fagan.
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
Published: 2004
Place of publication: Chicago
Language: eng
Number of pages: 134
ISBN-13: 9780226067353
Subjects: Cookery, Iraqi -- History; Food habits -- Iraq -- History; Iraq -- Social life and customs
Work titles: Plus vieille cuisine du monde.
Description: "In this intriguing blend of the commonplace and the ancient, Jean Bottero presents the first extensive look at the delectable secrets of Mesopotamia. Bottero's broad perspective takes us inside 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." "Offering everything from translated recipes for pigeon and gazelle stews, the contents 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. 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."--BOOK JACKET
Notes: Originally published in Paris...2002.

Includes bibliographical references (p. 133-134).
Table of contents: title: Cooking and the pleasures of the table in ancient Mesopotamia; title: The framework, the region, and the people; title: Sources; title: Food and eating; title: Fire; title: Cooking; title: Hearths and equipment; title: Indirect cooking in fatty broth; title: Precooking; title: Food preparation without heat; title: Cooking with heat; title: Cooks and culinary tradition; title: Drinks; title: Meals and feasts; title: The table of the Gods; title: The table of the dead; title: Food, life, and death.