Dish: Tuh'u Beet Broth
from http://pastrepasts.blogspot.com/

Country of Origin: Babylon, Mesopotmia (modern day Iraq)
Year: Approximately 1600 BCE
Source: Yale Culinary Tablets, Tablet A; translation through The Oldest Cuisine in the World by Jean Bottero.

This is it: the oldest recipe I could find. It was written down on a cuneiform tablet more than 3600 years ago in southern Mesopotamia. The tablet is the first in a series of three, currently being held at Yale University: the first two together contain about thirty-two recipes; the third is mostly illegible.

Some of the words have been worn off of the tablet (marked by brackets in translation). Others are untranslatable (transcribed phonetically in translation).

Take, for example, this recipe for "Meat Broth":
Meat broth. Meat is used. Prepare water; add fat [ ], mashed leek and garlic, and a corresponding amount of raw suhutinnu. [See Some Mesopotamian Ingredients Revealed, suhutinnu = cress, probably Garden Cress]

Ultimately, I settled on a recipe that seemed mostly intact, that also uses a wide variety of ingredients. The translation follows:

Tuh'u Beet Broth. Lamb meat is used (?). Prepare water; add fat. Peel the vegetables. Add salt; beer; onion; arugula; coriander; samidu; cumin, and the beets. Assemble all the ingrediets in the cooking vessel and add mashed leeks and garlic. Sprinkle the cooked mixture with coriander, and suhutinnu. [See Some Mesopotamian Ingredients Revealed, samidu = semolina, and suhutinnu = cress, probably Garden Cress]

Tuh’u
from Tasting History with Max Miller video on youtube

ORIGINAL c.1740BC RECIPE (From The Yale Babylonian Tablets) Tuh’u sirum saqum izzaz me tukan lipia tanaddi tusammat tabatum sikara susikillum egegerum kisibirrum smidu kamunum alutum tukammas-ma karsum hazannum teterri kisibirrum ina muhhi sipki tusappah suhutinnu kisibirrum isarutu tanaddi.

Tuh’u. Lamb leg meat is used. Prepare water. Add fat. Sear. Add in salt, beer, onion, arugula, cilantro, samidu, cumin, and beets. Put the ingredients in the cooking vessel and add crushed leek and garlic. Sprinkle the cooked mixture with coriander on top. Add suhutinnu and fresh cilantro.

MODERN RECIPE
INGREDIENTS
- 1lb (450g) Leg of Lamb Chopped into bite size pieces.
- 3-4 Tablespoon Oil or Rendered Fat
- 1 ½ teaspoons Salt
- 2 Cups (475ml) Water
- 12 oz (350ml) Beer - (A sour beer and German Weissbier are recommended, but any non-hoppy beer will suffice)
- 1 Large Onion Chopped
- 2 Cups Arugula Chopped
- 3/4 Cup Cilantro Chopped
- 2 Teaspoons Cumin Seeds crushed
- 2 Large Beets (approx. 4 cups) Chopped
- 1 Large Leek Minced
- 3 cloves Garlic,
- 1 Tablespoon Dry Coriander Seeds
- Additional Chopped Cilantro for garnish
- Samidu* (Something akin to 1 Persian Shallot)
- Suhutinnu* (Something akin to Egyptian Leek for garnish)
*These ingredients have no definite translation; the shallot and leek are the best guesses of scholars at Yale and Harvard Universities)

METHOD
1. Add the oil/fat to a large pot and set over high heat. Sear the lamb for several minutes in the oil until lightly browned.
2. Add the onions and let cook for 5 minutes, then add the beets and let cook for 5 minutes. Then add the salt, beer, arugula, cilantro, samidu (shallot) and cumin and bring to a boil. Mash the garlic into a paste and mix with the leek, then add to the pot.
3. Lower heat to medium and let simmer for approximately 1 hour, or until the beets and meat are cooked to your liking.
4. Once cooked, dish it into a bowl and sprinkle with coriander seeds. Garnish with fresh cilantro and suhutinnu (leek)

Condiments, like our salt and pepper, could be added: date vinegar, sesame oil, and/or garum.