I tried making reproduced dishes from the Mesopotamian civilization after watching the drama "À Table!"

What comes to mind when you hear the term "reproduced cooking"?

The herring and pumpkin pie from "Kiki's Delivery Service"
The Yukihira-style egg tempura bowl from "Food Wars!: Shokugeki no Soma"
The salmon and burdock root rice from "What Did You Eat Yesterday?"

And so on. Delicious-looking food that appears in anime and dramas starts dancing in your head.
Many books featuring reproduced cooking have been released, such as the recipe book "Sanji's Full-Course Meal" by the skilled chef Sanji from "ONE PIECE," the official digest book "#ConanMeshi" released to commemorate the 100th volume of "Detective Conan," and even the "Monster Hunter" recipe book "Monster Hunter Recipe Book."

Amidst all this, there is a new type of gourmet drama that recreates dishes eaten by historical figures in the Reiwa era.

"À Table! ~Cooking and Eating Historical Recipes~"

Something smells delicious.
This time, we will deliver the charm of the drama "À Table!" and show how our editorial department, inspired by the show, took on the challenge of recreating dishes from the Mesopotamian civilization.

What is the drama "À Table! ~Cooking and Eating Historical Recipes~"?

First, let's briefly explain the drama.

The protagonist, Jun, a university employee, recreates and enjoys historical recipes learned from a university professor with her husband, Yoshio, who discovered a passion for cooking while living away from home. It is fun to think about history and great figures while cooking, and you can even pick up a little historical knowledge just by watching.
With 12 episodes in total, ranging from ancient Egyptian queens to French Romantic playwrights, you can enjoy it starting from the great figures or eras that interest you.

Episode 1: The food eaten by "Marie Antoinette"
Episode 2: The food eaten by "Julius Caesar"
Episode 3: The food eaten by "Socrates"
Episode 4: The food eaten by "Bismarck"
Episode 5: The food eaten by "Alexander III"
Episode 6: The food eaten by "Victor Hugo"
Episode 7: The food eaten by "Leonardo da Vinci"
Episode 8: The food eaten by "Richard III"
Episode 9: The food eaten by "Marco Polo"
Episode 10: The food eaten by "Beethoven"
Episode 11: The food eaten by "Cleopatra"
Episode 12: The food eaten by "Mesopotamian Civilization"

And this drama is just so comfortable.
The couple's banter is so natural that you'd think it was all ad-libbed, and it feels like you're hearing voices from your own living room. Going shopping, cooking, eating together, and even washing the dishes—casual conversations created the gentle atmosphere of the drama.

"Hey, look. That house over there, they're probably having chicken curry tonight."
"Or maybe it's cream stew with milk."
"Oh! That's a possibility too... Hey, hey, hey, hey, I bet that guy is having twice-cooked pork tonight."
"Yes, yes."
"...He totally saw me."

What natural and gentle conversation. I want to spend many years with family and friends with whom I can have conversations like this.

Taking on the challenge of recreating Mesopotamian civilization cuisine

Now, from here on, we will take on the challenge of recreating the dishes from the drama.
Thankfully, "À Table! ~Cooking and Eating Historical Recipes~" has anofficial Instagramthat compiles the recipes.

Everything looks delicious, making it hard to choose, but this time, the editorial department decided to take on "Ancient Wheat and Lamb Stew" and "Mers (Ancient Mesopotamian-style galette)" as dishes from the "Mesopotamian civilization."

"Because the world's oldest civilization sounds kind of amazing."

Is that a shallow reason? It's not like the oldest things are necessarily the most amazing, but there is surely a lot to learn from the beginning.

Watching episode 12 of the drama, I realized that people have been trying to eat delicious food for thousands of years. It wasn't just about eating to survive; it was about socializing and enjoying life, and food was one part of that.

Gathering the ingredients

To cook, you first need ingredients. So, I'll introduce them right away.
These are the ingredients needed to make the recreated dishes of the ancient Mesopotamian civilization.

...What is semolina flour?
...Asa...foetida... powder?

There are too many mysterious powders. I never thought I'd be holding my head in my hands the moment I saw the ingredients.
I headed to the supermarket, feeling anxious about whether I could actually find everything.

After visiting several stores, I managed to get everything except the lamb, coriander powder, poppy seeds, and raisins. To those of you thinking, "It's a lamb stew, but you don't have lamb?", I apologize.

In the drama, there was a conversation like, "Can you get all the ingredients?" "Some are hard to find, but just substitute them. It's a 'fake' recipe," so I hope you'll forgive me for this being a 'fake' recipe.

Conversely, I was surprised that I found the three mysterious powders I thought I'd never find.
The clerk at the spice specialty store brought them out one after another, saying, "We have this," and "We have that too!"

The SOOJI on the left is semolina flour. It's a coarsely ground flour made from durum wheat.
The one on the right is emmer wheat. It's a type of ancient wheat also used in Italian farro dishes.
The red lid in the center is asafoetida powder. It has a strong odor and is sometimes described as "Devil's dung."

Now that I have (almost) all the ingredients, I'll start cooking.

Making Ancient Wheat and Lamb Stew

① First, make the ancient Mesopotamian-style broth. Put 1.2l of water in a pot and add the asafoetida powder, roughly chopped watercress, mustard, cumin powder, poppy seeds (*omitted as I couldn't find them), cucumber, and beer, and simmer until the water is reduced by half.
Pour the strained liquid into a new pot and simmer the beef tendon over low heat for 30 minutes.

② Next, cut the lamb (*substituted with beef) and carrots into bite-sized pieces, and crush the garlic.

③ In another pot, add 600ml of water, the lamb (*substituted with beef), the ancient Mesopotamian-style broth, emmer wheat, semolina flour, carrots, garlic, cumin powder, coriander powder (*omitted as I couldn't find it), and mint, and heat it up.

④ Simmer for 30 minutes, skimming off the scum occasionally while stirring.

⑤ Serve in a bowl, garnish with mint, and it's done!

Making Mers (Ancient Mesopotamian-style galette)

1. In a bowl, add barley flour, emmer flour, semolina flour, chopped dates, pistachios, dried figs, raisins, dried apples (*omitted as they couldn't be found), minced garlic, honey, cumin powder, and coriander powder (*omitted as it couldn't be found), mix them together, then gradually pour in water, beer, and milk and combine.

2. Grease a frying pan or hot plate with vegetable oil and add the mixture from step 1 to cook.
Once one side is browned, flip it over and cook the other side.

3. Once cooked through, spread butter on the surface and it's done!

Tasting

I'll try eating it just like Jun and Yoshiwo.

First, the ancient wheat and lamb (*beef) stew.

...The wheat is a bigger hit than I imagined! It's surprising and different from the stew I had in mind, but the Mesopotamian-style broth adds a subtle richness.
I can understand why Yoshiwo said "I want salt" in the drama. Being able to empathize with the characters' feelings by recreating the food might be one of the charms of recreation cooking.

Next, I'll take a big bite of the Mers.

The dough itself tastes like the ingredients, but the dried fruits provide a solid sweetness.
If you adjust the amount of honey, it could be even sweeter and might even become popular as a modern-day snack.
Soooo good! I can't stop my chopsticks (*or rather, fork) from reaching for more of these natural flavors!

......Crunch, crunch

While eating the Mers, I hit something hard, and when I looked, it was a pistachio shell.
Actually, editorial staff member Tantan had added the pistachios with their shells on and tried to crush them by force; even though they hurriedly tried to remove them, some fragments ended up in the baked Mers...
Pistachio shells are hard and could injure your mouth. If you try this, please peel the pistachios first.

And with that, the challenge of recreation cooking comes to an end.
By doing recreation cooking, you can get closer to the emotions of the characters in the work and interpret the work with more depth.

If you are interested in "À Table! ~Making and Eating Historical Recipes~," please watch it and think about the history and the drama of the couple.

(Text by Yama)