What the Mesopotamian Kitchen Passed On to Modern-Day Iraqi Food Traditions | Nawal Nasrallah

To kick off the new season of Matbakh, we sat down with iconic and award-winning food historian, researcher and educator Nawal Nasrallah. We travel back in time to Medieval Iraq and talk about inherited food traditions, social histories, and 10th century understandings of cuisine and cooking. Nawal delves into her book "Delights from the Garden of Eden: A Cookbook and a History of Iraqi Cuisine", recounts her experience translating Kitab al-Tabikh, details the influence and trade of certain ingredients, and describes what a kitchen looked like in Mesopotamia. Finally, we discuss the surprising similarities between our present-day dining and eating etiquette and decorum and 10th century Iraq's, as well as debate who best cooks Sambousek.

Nawal Nasrallah is an independent US based Iraqi food writer, historian, English literature scholar and translator. Nasrallah’s best known work is Delights from the Garden of Eden, a cookbook showcasing Iraqi cuisine which won the Gourmand World Cookbook Awards. Nasrallah’s translation of the Abbasid-era cookbook Kitab al-Tabikh by Ibn Sayyar al-Warraq – titled Annals of the Caliphs’ Kitchens – also won Gourmand World Cookbook Award’s “Best Translation in the World” and “Best of the Best of the Past 12 Years” awards.

THIS SERIES IS PART OF THE AFIKRA PODCAST NETWORK

Matbakh is a podcast series about eating, making, appreciating and learning about the food and drink of the Arab world. We invite chefs, restaurateurs and food historians, critics and writers to share their takes on the best of what the Arab kitchen has to offer – both past and present. We delve into well-loved and under-appreciated dishes, ingredients and flavors, as well as the history of the region’s food and what its future might be, always highlighting little anecdotes and food stories that our guests know and cherish.