Tablet A (no. 25 ) contains 25 concise recipes for broth, summarised at the end as
21 meat broths (mê sˇı ̄rim) and four vegetable (warqum) (Bottéro 1995 : 57 ). For the
meat broths the recipe titles are: meat broth; Assyrian; red broth; clear broth; venison
broth; gazelle broth; kid broth; bitter (?); broth with crumbs (?); zamzaganu; dodder
(?) (kasû-plant) broth; lamb broth; ram (?) broth; bidsˇud (?) broth; spleen broth;
Elamite broth; amursa ̄nu-pigeon broth; thigh broth; h
̆
alazzu-plant broth; salt broth;
and francolin (?) (tarru) broth. The vegetable ones are called tuh
̆
’u-beet (?); kanasˇû-
plant; h
̆
irs.u-plant; and cultivated turnip. However, the first three of these also contain
meat. Typically the cooking medium is water (mû) with added animal fat, probably
sheep fat, (lipûm) in a pot. The tannur oven is mentioned several times. As an example,
the eleventh recipe reads:
mê kasî sˇı ̄rum ul izzaz sˇı ̄tum mê tuka ̄n lipi’am tanaddi
kasû kı ̄ma mara ̄qi sˇusikillu samı ̄du kisibirru kamu ̄ nu karsˇum h
̆azannum
diqa ̄ra ina tinu ̄ ri kı ̄ma h
̆apê meh
̆rum naglabiDodder (?) (kasû-plant) broth. Fresh meat is not used, but salted meat. You
set up water; you put in animal fat;
crushed dodder (?); onion; samı ̄du-plant; coriander; cumin; leek; garlic.
The pot covers (?) the tannur: ready to eat [literally ‘before the knife’].
(Bottéro 1995 : 42 – 44 ; Bottéro 2004 : 27 ;
translation author’s own)Tablet B (no. 26 ) contains seven complex, detailed recipes for cooking birds,
involving a wide range of ingredients and cooking techniques. For example, the
elaborate first recipe for a dish of small birds (is.s.u ̄ru ̄s.eh
̆
ru ̄ tum) in a case of dough
(lı ̄sˇum) can be summarised (Bottéro 1995 : 58 – 73 ; Bottéro 2004 : 29 – 30 ):
1 Birds in broth: Precook the butchered and washed birds, their gizzards (sˇisu ̄ rrum)
and entrails (esru ̄) in a cauldron (ruqqum). Wash, wipe and sprinkle with salt
(t.a ̄ btum). Bring to the boil in a pot (diqa ̄ru) of water and milk (sˇizbum) with
animal fat (lipûm), pieces of wood (is.s.u ̄) and rue (?) (sibburatum). Add onion
(sˇusikillu), samı ̄du-plant, leek (karsˇum), garlic (h
̆
azannum) and water. After cooking,
add mashed leek, garlic and edible crocus bulb (?) (andah
̆ˇus).
2 Dough: Soak washed, fine-grade flour (saskûm) in milk. Knead with fish-sauce
(siqqum) and add samı ̄du-plant, leek, garlic, milk and pot fat (ˇamnum ss ˇa diqa ̄ri).
Use half the dough to bake sebetu-breads in the tannur. Let the other half rise
and line a shallow dish (ma ̄ kaltum) sprinkled with nı ̄nû-plant (?) to make a crust
to cover the birds. Knead more fine-grade flour soaked in milk and add oil (?),
leek, garlic and samı ̄du-plant. Using this dough as a base for the cooked birds,
line another shallow dish letting the dough protrude above the rim. Bake the
base and crust on two supports on top of the tannur. Remove the crust from the
shallow dish and rub it with oil (sˇamnum).
3 Presentation: Lay the birds on the base and scatter them with the entrails, gizzards
and sebetu-breads, setting aside the broth and pot fat. Cover with the crust. Serve
at table immediately.
— Food and drink in Babylonia —