Ready to travel back in time without a time machine? Here are 10 ancient recipes you can try today, each offering a bite-sized glimpse into culinary traditions that shaped empires, religions, and everyday life. From royal English banquets to Sumerian barley brews, these dishes prove that great taste truly is timeless.
10 ancient recipes: A Taste of History
10 The Forme Of Cury AD 1390
The Forme of Cury holds the distinction of being England’s oldest surviving cookbook. When you plate one of its recipes, you’re literally serving the same fare that a 14th‑century diner enjoyed – even the very same King Richard II, whose personal chefs compiled the collection. With more than 190 recipes ranging from the straightforward (peeled garlic tossed in oil with a pinch of saffron) to the exotic (porpoise or whale meat), the manuscript offers a full spectrum of medieval palate pleasures.
The manuscript was assembled by the king’s own culinary team, and it reflects the lavish tastes of the English court. Over the centuries, scholars have deciphered the Middle‑English text, revealing dishes that were both simple comfort foods and extravagant banquet showpieces. The recipes give us a window into medieval cooking techniques, ingredient availability, and the social importance of food as a symbol of status.
If you’d like to taste these historic meals, the Café at the Rylands in Manchester experimented with several of the recipes back in 2009, keeping a few fan‑favorites on the menu. Otherwise, you can dive into the original manuscript yourself – a full PDF of the Middle‑English version is downloadable, and several modernized adaptations are available online for home cooks eager to recreate a piece of royal history.
9 Annals Of The Caliphs’ Kitchens AD 1000
The Annals of Caliphs’ Kitchens is the oldest surviving Arabic cookbook, authored by the 10th‑century scholar Al‑Warraq. Its 600‑plus recipes span a dazzling array of flavors, including a sauce that calls for milk to sit in the sun for an astonishing 50 days before use. Such techniques highlight the inventive spirit of medieval Islamic gastronomy, where experimentation with fermentation, preservation, and spice blends was commonplace.
Beyond the recipes, the book offers cultural commentary on proper etiquette, health advice, and even a hangover cure. The author recommends a pre‑drinking cabbage meal followed by a morning stew called “Kkishkiyya,” believed to soothe headaches and settle the stomach – a practical guide for revelers of the era.
You can purchase a copy of the manuscript online, or if you’re planning a night out, the Kkishkiyya recipe is freely available on the web. Whether you’re a culinary historian or a modern mixologist, the Annals provide a fascinating look at how food intersected with daily life, medicine, and celebration in the early Islamic world.
8 Apicius (c. AD 500)
If you’re curious about the decadent feasts that fed Roman emperors, turn to Apicius. Traditionally attributed to the famed chef Marcus Gavius Apicius, this collection of over 500 recipes dates back at least 1,500 years. Its pages are packed with bold flavor experiments – from stuffing a pig’s mouth with dried figs and drenching it in honeyed wine, to sauces that cling to meat with a glossy, umami‑rich sheen.
Reading the original text is a rewarding challenge: the recipes often omit precise measurements and cooking times, expecting the cook to rely on instinct and taste. This lack of specificity reflects the sophisticated palate of Roman chefs, who prized improvisation as much as technique.
For modern adventurers, a reconstructed pork‑with‑apples dish has been published by The Silk Road Gourmet, complete with exact quantities and step‑by‑step instructions. This bridge between ancient culinary philosophy and contemporary cooking makes it possible to savor a morsel of the Roman Empire in your own kitchen.
7 The Life Of Luxury 300 BC
The first three entries on our list hail from post‑Christian eras, but The Life of Luxury pushes us further back to 300 BC. Unlike straightforward manuals, this work is a satirical epic written in verse, poking fun at the extravagance of banquet culture. Its humor shines through absurd lines like “a rather rough ox‑tongue… is good in summer around Chalcis,” offering a tongue‑in‑cheek glimpse of ancient culinary wit.
Scholars believe the text was meant to be displayed at lavish feasts, allowing diners to glance at the verses for a quick chuckle between courses. Unfortunately, the original manuscript has not survived; we know of it only through quotations in Athaneaues’ “Philosophers at Dinner,” compiled around AD 200.
Fortunately, the surviving fragments are available online, letting modern readers explore the parody and even attempt to recreate some of the recipes hinted at in the verses. It’s a rare chance to taste humor that’s over two millennia old.
6 800 BC
Garum, the notorious salty fish sauce of antiquity, was prized for its intense umami punch. Some ancient formulas call for a one‑to‑one ratio of salt to fish, meaning a pound of fish could be paired with a full pound of salt during fermentation. This extreme salinity created a sauce that was the ketchup of the ancient Mediterranean, used to season everything from meats to vegetables.
The recipe didn’t survive in neat, modern‑style format, but food historian Laura Kelley pieced together fragments from 600‑800 BC texts, describing Garum as a “Carthaginian sauce.” Her research involved combing through scattered references, then inferring the likely steps based on contemporary preservation methods.
Kelley also undertook hands‑on experimentation, blending the ancient instructions with her own sensory judgments. The result is a detailed modern guide that requires patience: the fermentation process can take up to nine months before the sauce reaches its full, briny glory. The effort rewards you with a genuine taste of antiquity that can transform modern dishes into historic feasts.
5 Midas Touch Beer 700 BC
Most of us know King Midas for turning everything he touched into gold, but the real Midas was a Bronze‑Age monarch whose tomb yielded a surprising liquid legacy: a peculiar brew that blended wine, beer, and mead. Chemical analysis of residues from his drinking vessels revealed a recipe that combined these three fermented drinks into a single, slightly muddled concoction.
While the original brew was not commercially viable – modern tasters describe it as flat and lifeless – the Dogfish Brewery reverse‑engineered the formula and now offers “Midas Touch” worldwide. Though reviews note its lackluster character, the novelty of sipping a drink once favored by a legendary king makes it a compelling historical experience.
For those who prefer a DIY approach, the reconstruction process is straightforward compared to other ancient recipes. The brewery’s published formula lets home brewers experiment with the ancient blend, providing a tangible connection to a civilization that existed over 2,700 years ago.
4 1600 BC
Yale University secured a set of clay tablets dating back to 1,700‑1,600 BC, each etched with recipes that illuminate early Mesopotamian cuisine. These tablets are remarkable because they document liquid‑based cooking – a revolutionary technique at a time when most food was roasted or dried.
When scholar Jean Bottero first examined the tablets, he was less than enthusiastic, labeling the dishes “fit for only his worst enemies.” His critique centered on the apparent simplicity of the recipes, such as an “Akkadian” dish that essentially boiled meat in water. Nonetheless, the tablets provide a rare glimpse into early culinary experimentation.
Subsequent researchers at Brown University have revisited Bottero’s translations, arguing that with modest adjustments the dishes can be quite tasty. Modern reconstructions, like a “Wildfowl Pie,” have been published online, allowing today’s cooks to experience a taste of ancient Babylonian hospitality.
3 Mersu Before 1600 BC
According to Bottero, only two complete recipes pre‑date the Babylonian tablets, and one of those is for a dish called “mersu.” The fragmentary tablet mentions dates and pistachios being delivered for a cake‑like preparation, but the exact method remains speculative. Scholars have pieced together a plausible recipe based on similar Mesopotamian sweets.
The surviving text offers limited guidance, so modern chefs rely on educated guesses. The most detailed version we have comes from Nippur, describing a sacrificial offering that blended figs, raisins, minced apples, garlic, oil, cheese, wine, and syrup – a decadently layered confection that would have dazzled ancient deities.
Although a full, step‑by‑step recipe is impossible, contemporary food historians have compiled suggested methods for recreating mersu at home. By following these best‑guess instructions, you can approximate the flavor profile of one of humanity’s earliest known desserts.
2 Kebabs 1700 BC
I’ll admit, a kebab isn’t the most exotic entry on this roster, but its longevity makes it a culinary marvel. Archaeological evidence shows Greeks were grilling skewered meat as early as the 17th century BC, meaning each bite of a modern Greek kebab connects you to a tradition nearly 4,000 years old.
The basic concept – meat threaded onto a stick, seasoned, and roasted over fire – spread across continents. By the early Common Era, Chinese merchants had adopted the technique, adapting it into the “chuan” style we recognize today. Tomb murals from AD 220 document Chinese diners enjoying spiced skewers, illustrating the recipe’s migration and evolution.
Whether you favor Mediterranean lamb, Persian saffron‑infused beef, or fiery Chinese chuan, every kebab you savor is a living heirloom of ancient grill masters. The enduring popularity of skewered meat underscores humanity’s timeless love of simple, smoky flavors.
1 Sumerian Beer 1800 BC
The oldest known beer recipe isn’t a step‑by‑step instruction manual but a hymn to Ninkasi, the Sumerian goddess of brewing. The poem, composed around 1800 BC, details the process of making “bappir” (a baked barley loaf) and fermenting it with hulled grains, resulting in a beverage that resembled a hard apple cider.
Because the drink was intended for immediate consumption, it had to be poured through reed straws and enjoyed fresh; it would spoil quickly if left to sit. Modern recreations stay true to the ancient method, using barley, emmer wheat, and natural fermentation to produce a slightly sour, effervescent libation.
If you’re eager to taste this primordial brew, the full hymn is available online, and detailed brewing guides walk you through assembling the ingredients, baking the bappir, and fermenting the mash. It’s a hands‑on way to experience the very beverage that may have inspired the earliest social gatherings.