La cocina más antigua del mundo

by Jean Bottéro

Recientemente, entre los archivos de la Universidad de Yale, se «exhumaron» tres tablillas cuneiformes del 1600 antes de Cristo, hasta el momento no traducidas... y que resultaron ser cuarenta recetas de cocina. Este descubrimiento da pie a Jean Bottéro a sumergirse en la desconocida gastronomía de la antigua Mesopotamia. Armado de esas cuarenta recetas, pero también de cartas cruzadas entre comerciantes, «manuales de devoción», tratados adivinatorios y de interpretación de los sueños, listados enciclopédicos e incluso alguna obra «literaria», Bottéro nos acerca a esa refinada cultura, cuya cosmovisión se halla indirecta pero firmemente integrada en el ciclo de la comida y la bebida.Nos enteramos así de la importancia de los cereales y del pan (cocinado o presentado de más de doscientas maneras), de la predilección por los asados y los caldos, y del papel fundamental del ajo, la cebolla y el puerro en muchos guisos.

Genres: History, Food, Nonfiction, Food History, Cookbooks, Cooking, France

248 pages, Paperback

First published April 15, 2004

About the author

Jean Bottéro (30 August 1914 – 15 December 2007) was a French historian born in Vallauris. He was a major Assyriologist and a renowned expert on the Ancient Near East.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean_Bot...
http://www.lemonde.fr/disparitions/ar...

Reviews

[Tülay Şahin]

Ayrıca unutmamak gerekir ki iyi bir tarihçi geçmişi araştırırken, geçmişe kendi merceğinden ve " kendisine özgü düşünce tarzı"nın çarpıttığı bir bakışla bakmaz ve yaklaşmaz; geçmişi içinde yaşadığı anmış gibi düşünür ve tahayyül eder.
Yemek kültürü tarihinin en önemli kilit noktalarından biri. Yemek kültürünü anladığımızda, o toplumun beslenme şeklini, coğrafi yapısını da çok net görebiliriyoruz. Jean Bottero'nun kitabı da bu bakımdan oldukça kiymetli. Jean Bottero, Fransız bir Asur bilimci. Çalışmaları genellikle mitoloji ve din üzerine. Bu kitap diğer kitaplarından farklı olsa da mitoloji ve din yine var. Yemek kültürünü din üzerinden ilişkilendirdiği bölümler de ilgi cekici. Mezopotamya yemek kültürüne ait kaynaklar dolaylı ve doğrudan olmak üzere iki çeşit. Bu kaynaklardan yenilen et ve sebzeleri, içilen içecekleri, tad vermek için kullanılan çeşnileri öğrendiğimiz gibi mutfakta kullanılan araçları da öğreniyoruz. Bunlar işin somut ve teknik kısmı. Din ve yemek ilişkisi, tanrılara sunulan sofralar, ölüm-hayat ve yemek ilişkisi metnin soyut konuları. Antik Mezopotamya'nın yemek kültürünü okurken, toplumda var olan sınıfsal katmanları da farkedebiliyoruz. Kültür tarihi seviyorsanız, okuyun derim. Ama benim gibi Antik Mezopotamya tarihçileri mutlak okumalı. Kitapla kalın. İyi okumalar

[Matthew Briggs · Rating 4 out of 5]

Despite what other reviews said, I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It WAS a little academic, but the author clearly explains that, as well as the purpose of the book, in the first few pages.
Due to the nature of the subject, it was fairly dry in certain areas, but that is to be expected. It is non-fiction after all. Overall, I didn't find it dense, but extremely interesting and well-written.

I give this a 4.5. Definitely worth a read if you're interested in the topic.

[Hearth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Too bad more scholars don't write about food and other everyday topics. I loved this book. I have written more about it on my blog. http://hearthmoonblog.com/cuisine-of-...

[Eli Hinze · Rating 5 out of 5]

At long last, we have insight into Mesopotamian culinary traditions and preparation methods!
This book covers everything from the cooking tools used, haute cuisine vs. simpler cuisine vs. sustenance, food for the gods and for the dead, the different people involved in the cooking process, how they kept their records, how they cooked their food, some influential myths surrounding food, how soldiers ate, and so on. (Some of these cooking methods are still used in the region and surrounding areas today.) A rich source of information for my upcoming books! 👀

[Maria Monserrat · Rating 3 out of 5]

Es un 7!

[D · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very fun. The odd work written by a scholar for a popular audience that seems to both further the state of understanding of its subject and remain accessible. Cooking in Akkad doesn't sound like it was awesome, but I was surprised by how similar many techniques were to present practices.

[Basel · Rating 4 out of 5]

The first human who decided to season his/her food, to make it taste better, was one of the inventors of civilization and culture. Feeding is one thing, but when the human species starting cooking its food while flavoring with whatever spices and herbs they had, eating stopped being just a method of nourishment. It became something much more. The Oldest Cuisine in The World is a lovely book by the renowned French historian and assyriologist Jean Bottéro in which he takes us on a journey to the culinary world of ancient Mesopotamia. He starts by providing us with a complete translation of the Yale culinary tablets, which are 3 Akkadian and Sumerian tablets from about 4000 years ago. They contain detailed descriptions of various Mesopotamian cooking recipes with the ingredients, making them effectively the oldest cooking book in the world (that we know of) and a value insight into ancient Mesopotamia! Then takes us on a lovely trip the role of food and drink in the different Mesopotamian cultures, from the mundane, to the royal, and finally to the sacred.

The human species has been feeding itself for millennia, and that does not mean the Mesopotamians are the only people to see food as a delicacy rather than just substance. However, these documents, and the many other mentions of food and cookery discovered in Mesopotamia, are indeed the oldest historical documents we know of about food, and such documents are very scarce. Knowing say, Bottéro chose to write this book to the common reader and not to make it very academic. It is not meant to be seen as a very detailed investigation in everything food and drink, but to try, the best way he can, letting us join a people who lived million from us. So it is a great reading not only if you love food (the recipes are very interesting), but also if you want to know more about human history.

[Beth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting of early Mesopotamian cooking, based on three cuneiform tablets dating back to 1600 BCE. some fascinating information about the kind of foods people ate, how food was used for rituals and daily living, and partial recipes with some unknown ingredients that can't be translated. A great look at a neglected field of archeology.

[NİLGÜN BOZ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dünyanın en eski mutfak kültürü olan Mezopotamya'da Sümerler, Akadlar ve bir cok kültüre ait olan eski yazıtlarda ortaya çıkarılan belgelere dayanarak ortaya konmuş bir çalışmanın ürünü. Benim gibi tarih ve mitolojiye bayılanlar için harika bir kitaptı.

[Javier Pavía · Rating 4 out of 5]

Este libro responde a una pregunta que seguro que os hacéis a diario: ¿qué comían los sumerios? Pese a la premisa, es muy ameno de leer, no entra en detalles sobre la civilización y su historia y se centra en el tema.

A partir de tres tablillas (o sea, muy poco material) consigue reconstruir una dieta a base de cereales y cerveza, además de carne y especias.

[Pauline · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ouvrage truffé d’informations, de textes et d’une large contextualisation culturelle du Manger et du Boire en Mésopotamie. Recherches intéressantes, points de vue toujours riches de l’auteur.

[Miquela · Rating 3 out of 5]

While I did enjoy this book, I went into it with false expectations set up by the blurb ("Offering everything from translated recipes for pigeon and gazelle stews, the contents of medicinal teas and broths,..."). It gives the impression that one might be able to try the recipes included within, but unless you have a very active imagination and some powers to see into the past, good luck on that one.

I cannot and do not fault Bottero's scholarship at all. I don't believe that Bottero had a hand in writing the marketing synopsis; if he did, after reading the book to its conclusion, I'm sure the emphasis would have been quite different.

The book was interesting, though, and if I had been reading it for pleasure rather than with specific research questions in mind, I would have enjoyed it more.

[María Luisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Un libro fascinante, no tanto por las recetas que recoge como por lo cercanas que son a nuestra propia tradición culinaria. En "La cocina más antigua del mundo", el autor nos invita a un viaje a la antigua Mesopotamia a través de un conocimiento milenario y universal, como es el de la gastronomía y el amor a la comida. Cuando supe de la existencia de este libro lo busqué hasta dar con él, y no me defraudó.

[Andy Lethellier · Rating 5 out of 5]

J’ai trouvé ce livre absolument fascinant et très bien écrit.
Il regorge de termes anciens qui exigent une concentration intense.
Les descriptions des recettes de cuisine mésopotamiennes sont remarquablement détaillées.
L’histoire et la mythologie de la Mésopotamie alternent avec des recettes culinaires qui s’enchaînent les unes après les autres.
Ce livre est un véritable ouvrage de référence – c’est du lourd! Même s’il se présente sous un petit format et mince.

[Alan · Rating 3 out of 5]

A French Sumeriologist (?) gets in touch with his inner gourmand to parse the 3 or 4 known cuneiform tablets about fine dining. Yummy for the brain but unfortunately not the tongue. There are no Mesopotamian cafes in Seattle, but how about San Francisco?