Ancient Babylonian Lamb and Beet Stew (Tuh’u)
Reader ratingsSeared lamb leg simmered with beer, red beet, onion, arugula, shallot and cumin, finished with coriander seed and fresh greens, after tuh’u on the Yale culinary tablet of about 1730 BC.
- Recipe makes
- 4 servings
- Prep
- Cook
- Total
About 15 minutes searing the lamb in batches and 5 minutes stirring in the vegetables, then 60 to 90 minutes at a gentle simmer until the lamb and beet are tender.
Lamb and beet stew topped with coriander seed and fresh green herbs.
The story behind the recipe
The Yale and Harvard researchers who cooked from the tablet count tuh’u among their best results. In their lecture it is “lamby and very, very, very delicious,” a lamb stew deep red with beet, cooked in beer and finished with raw greens.
A long list in one pot
After the meat is seared, salt, beer, onion, arugula, cilantro, Persian shallot, cumin and beet all go in together, and leek and garlic are crushed before they join them. The researchers read the name as the beet itself; their slide marks the beet with a question mark, which the later online edition drops.
Read more about this recipe
Which leg, and which beer?
The tablet says leg meat and leaves the animal to the cook. The team’s published version of 2019 calls for diced leg of mutton; lamb leg is the easier cut to find. It names beer with nothing about its strength or brewing, so a mild, low-bitterness beer is our choice.
Making it today
Ordinary shallots replace Persian shallot and spring onion greens replace kurrat. The coriander strewn over the top is taken as crushed seed, as the researchers took it, so the finish mixes seed with fresh cilantro. The meatless broth from the obverse of the tablet, Ancient Babylonian Leek Broth with Sourdough Crumbs (Pašrūtum), ends with bread instead of herbs, and What Did a Babylonian Cook Need to Know? sets the two dishes against each other.
Recipe makes: 4 servings
Ingredients
For 4 servings. Quantities are shown as written.
Quantities as written here, for 4 servings.
- Rendered lamb fat30 g
- Boneless lamb leg, cut into 2.5 cm pieces450 g
- Fine salt1/2 tsp
- Mild beer240 ml
- Onion, chopped100 g
- Arugula, chopped20 g
- Cilantro for the pot, chopped15 g
- Shallots, chopped70 g
- Ground cumin1/2 tsp
- Red beets, peeled and cut into 2 cm dice450 g
- Water240 ml
- Leek, chopped45 g
- Garlic2 cloves
- Extra water, if needed120 ml
- Coriander seeds1 tsp
- Spring onion greens, finely chopped15 g
- Cilantro for finishing, chopped8 g
Measurement notes
Ingredients as written here
- 30 g rendered lamb fat
- 450 g boneless lamb leg, cut into 2.5 cm pieces
- 1/2 tsp fine salt
- 240 ml mild beer
- 100 g onion, chopped
- 20 g arugula, chopped
- 15 g cilantro for the pot, chopped
- 70 g shallots, chopped
- 1/2 tsp ground cumin
- 450 g red beets, peeled and cut into 2 cm dice
- 240 ml water
- 45 g leek, chopped
- 2 garlic cloves
- 120 ml extra water, if needed
- 1 tsp coriander seeds
- 15 g spring onion greens, finely chopped
- 8 g cilantro for finishing, chopped
Equipment
- Wide heavy pan or casserole with a lid
Mortar and pestle
Wooden spoon
Instant-read thermometer
Instructions
Heat the lamb fat in the wide pan over medium-high heat. Sear the lamb in a single layer, in batches, until browned on all sides, 4 to 5 minutes a batch. Return all the lamb to the pan.
Add the salt, beer, onion, arugula, cilantro for the pot, shallots, cumin and red beets, and stir for about 5 minutes. Pour in the water.
Crush the leek and garlic together in the mortar to a rough paste and stir it into the pot.
Bring to a boil, then lower the heat, cover loosely and simmer gently until the lamb and beet are tender, checking from 60 minutes and allowing up to 90. Add some of the extra water if the pan starts to dry. The lamb should be well past 145°F (63°C) inside.
Taste and add salt if needed. Lightly crush the coriander seeds in the mortar. Spoon the stew into bowls and sprinkle each with the coriander, the spring onion greens and the cilantro for finishing.
Nutrition
390calories per serving
- Recipe makes
- 4 servings
- Servings
- 4
Estimated per serving (4) from USDA FoodData Central values for lamb leg, lamb fat, beets, beer, onion, shallot, leek and herbs, allowing for alcohol lost in cooking.
Recipe notes
When adjusting quantities
A bigger batch needs a wider pan so the lamb still sears in one layer per batch; the simmering time stays about the same.
Notes
Quantities mentioned in these notes don’t change when you adjust the servings.
The tablet names water before the fat and the searing. Following the team’s published method, we sear the lamb in fat first and add the water with the beer. We chose the amounts, time and heat; the team’s version uses half a cup of fat and half a cup of water, and we use 30 g of fat, more water and a longer simmer. Shallots stand in for Persian shallot and spring onion greens for kurrat; the beet and the seed reading of “coriander” follow the researchers. Beef dripping or ghee can replace the lamb fat. Simmering does not drive off all the alcohol in the beer. For a version without alcohol, use the same volume of water with a teaspoon of cider vinegar in place of the beer; it leaves out the beer the tablet names. Contains gluten (beer).
Scaling changes the ingredients only; pan sizes and cooking times need their own judgment. To adapt this recipe further, try the recipe tool at TuneMyRecipe (opens in a new tab), our sister site.
Sources and attribution
After YBC 4644, recipe 22 (Yale Babylonian Collection), in the English of the electronic Babylonian Library edition and the Yale and Harvard team’s 2020 lecture; amounts and method details ours
Recipe details
- Course
- Main course
- Dish family
- Meat & Poultry
- Main ingredient
- Lamb & muttonVegetables
- Difficulty
- Intermediate