Yale researchers found a 4,000-year-old Babylonian stew recipe carved on a cuneiform tablet — and then cooked it
Scholars believe the names may come from the idea of a meal that brings relaxation.
The Mesopotamian culture has left behind more than just myths and monuments, as it also preserved culinary recipes in cuneiform on clay tablets. Dating back almost 4,000 years, there now exist only four tablets of recipes that still exist today, safely preserved in Yale. Recently, three of the exquisite recipes were brought to life by two scholars from Yale and Harvard for a culinary event hosted by New York University's Institute for the Study of the Ancient World on June 13, 2025. These are the oldest existing recipes in the world.
When Agnete Lassen, associate curator of Yale’s Babylonian Collection, and colleague Chelsea Alene Graham, a digital imaging specialist, were going to participate in the event, they decided to choose a 3-D printed facsimile from one of the surviving tablets. While other participants chose to cook delicacies from around the world — such as Fish Sauces at the Roman Table, Buddhist vegetarian dishes from the Song Dynasty, and a post-modern squid-ink spin on Medieval Blancmange — the Yale team, which chef Nawal Nasrallah joined with a crew from Haward, decided to recreate three one-pot dishes that were carved in the artefacts.
First, the team chose to prepare the vegetarian dish called Unwinding Stew. Scholars believe its name may come from the idea of a meal that brings relaxation. Ironically, though, the scholars themselves felt puzzled while trying to uncover the true meaning behind the name. The second dish from the tablet, named Tuh'i, which is made with chopped chunks of red beets, is described by the scholars as 'proto-Borscht,' tying it to a traditional stew with pickled leaves. The dish is described as having an earthy taste and was clearly the winner among the three. The last dish was a lamb stew, which was a milk-based broth of lamb recipe. Funnily, this recipe was the least appetizing while the scholars were cooking; however, the taste took them by surprise.
Describing the experience as one-of-a-kind, researcher Agnete Lassen said that although the method of preparation may have been different from that of the preparation 4000 years ago, the opportunity to cook these dishes that have not been tasted in the last 4000 years was surreal. She said, "Cooking and eating and using our senses, it's such an essential human experience, and I think it gives a very profound sense of deep history. Maybe not entirely, as they would have prepared it, maybe our ingredients taste a little different. But still approximating something that nobody has tasted for almost 4000 years."
In a study authored by Barjamovic, Gonzalez, Graham, Lassen, Nasrallah, and Sörensen in 2019, they explored Babylonian culinary tablets by translating ancient recipes and examining ingredients such as plants, fats, grains, and meats. The study noted the difficulty of interpreting such titles, as they may reflect symbolic, cultural, or experiential meanings rather than literal descriptions of ingredients, which left modern scholars both intrigued and challenged in uncovering their origins.
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