Babylonian pasta

The oldest cookbook in the world is of Babylonian origin: three tablets written in Akkadian and cuneiform characters, dating back 4000 years. Jean Bottéro translated them into French at the end of the 20th century and republished them in 2002.

These texts mention several types of pasta : risnatu, bapirru, qaiiatu.

Risnatu and bapirru are synonyms. The former is an Akkadian word derived from rasanu, while the latter is Sumerian and comes from bappir. These verbs imply that flour (of wheat or even barley, the indigenous grains of Mesopotamia) is kneaded with water to make a dough Furthermore, the expressions hasalu and napu used in the recipes imply that the dough is grated against a sieve and that the resulting flakes are poached in a me (consommé). As a result, bappiru/risnatu is the basis for a crumbled dough called pasta grattugiata in Italian.

from dough to beer

As for qaiiatu, it is derived from qalu meaning roasted grain and can also be crumbled. It is therefore similar to Sardinian fregola, which is also roasted and crumbled or rolled. It is therefore similar to Sardinian fregola, which is also roasted and crumbled or rolled.

Risnatu est, par ailleurs, à l’origine de la rishta arabo-perses, se rapportant également à des pâtes à potage; celles-ci ne sont toutefois pas émiettées mais découpées dans une abaisse.

Cuneiform tablet

Cuneiform tablet

Yale Babylonian Collection