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Cooking the World's Oldest Recipe | Lamb Stew
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Mar 28, 2025
Printable recipe below! Join us for an adventure in history as we cook the world's oldest recipe- lamb stew from ancient Babylonia. Used in this video: Mesquite Wood spatula Propane camp stove Rode wireless Go 2 mic: https://amzn.to/3seAQ7X Cowboy Hat: Chazhatz.com For more suggested products seen in our videos click here: https://www.amazon.com/shop/cowboykentrollins ====================== Printable Recipe: https://kentrollins.com/lamb-stew/ ====================== Check out our BEST SELLING cookbooks. Get your copy here: https://www.kentrollins.com/shop Also available at bookstores nationwide, and Amazon www.amazon.com/shop/cowboykentrollins
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0:00
why are we doing this recipe you know we
0:02
got to looking around on the internet
0:03
for thinking about what are we going to
0:05
cook We wondered you know I wonder
0:07
whether is the world's oldest recipe We
0:10
found it Lamb
0:23
stew This recipe actually dates back to
0:26
1730 BC Babylon tablets is what they
0:29
were on And really when you get into
0:31
that area which is now Turkey Iraq Syria
0:34
and Iran So this is really a pretty wide
0:37
region that this is covering You know
0:39
this was the earliest civilization that
0:42
pioneered a written language mathematics
0:45
legal justice and culinary arts You know
0:48
these tablets were unearthed in the
0:50
early 1900s and they found their way to
0:54
Yale Now at that time when they were
0:56
looking at these and researching these
0:58
they thought they were of medical
0:59
records It wasn't until the 1980s that
1:02
they got to doing more research and
1:04
found out that what this was really the
1:06
first written cookbook So folks let's
1:08
recreate this recipe that's nearly 4,000
1:11
years old and find out what our
1:13
ancestors were really
1:18
eating Back during this time they were
1:20
really big in agriculture but also
1:22
hurting The predominant source of things
1:24
that they were hurting back then was
1:26
lamb But I'm sure as this dish even
1:29
improvised and maybe even changed just a
1:31
little that they used some foul They
1:33
even made a change to beef later on But
1:36
today we are using lamb The original
1:39
recipe calls for leg of lamb that you
1:41
dice I could not find a leg of lamb but
1:43
I did find some front shoulder So I
1:45
trimmed the fat off the front shoulder
1:47
diced it up so it would render down
1:49
faster Now when I'm talking about
1:51
rendering I'm putting this in a stock
1:52
pot on low heat and we're just going to
1:55
let that fat just soak right out of that
1:56
lamb Now when it gets to where that's
1:58
all that there is and you'll see it
2:00
because things will brown the little
2:01
crispies will remain in there You just
2:04
strain them out dip them sail them Them
2:06
are the pups And you need to reserve
2:08
that grease cuz it is the base for this
2:10
stew So we're going to take this lamb
2:13
and we're going to debone it And then
2:15
we're going to also cut it in bite-siz
2:18
pieces So we're going to get that out
2:20
here And you notice we have no pups in
2:23
camp Shen I don't know if they've never
2:25
had lamb or they're just not big on lamb
2:28
in this recipe So we'll find out later
2:30
We will So go ahead and take this piece
2:33
slice it then come back over and just
2:35
slice it into bite-sized pieces So when
2:38
you're trimming that and you
2:40
see a seam in here you know you can make
2:44
meat like this more tender by separating
2:46
that seam And then you're not cutting
2:48
plum through it every time You have two
2:50
different pieces of meat that you're
2:52
really cutting on Dooker since you're
2:55
here there's a piece of fat right there
2:58
Look at
3:00
there Oh come on It ain't that bad We'll
3:03
get this finished up and I'll meet you
3:05
at the
3:14
fire Got our grease back hot got the
3:16
lamb diced up like we want it In the
3:19
original recipe I didn't see nothing
3:20
about them seasoning the meat ahead of
3:22
time but I'm going to just with coarse
3:24
ground black pepper and just regular old
3:32
salt So let's get that in that stock
3:39
pot This is about a
3:41
pound of diced meat that we finished
3:44
with
3:48
We're going to give that a
3:52
stir We just want that to brown on all
3:55
sides before we go on any
4:10
further Well the meat as a brown up It
4:14
has Now this recipe called for about a
4:16
half a cup of
4:19
water We're going to let it have that
4:22
And it called for beer Now I don't have
4:24
any telephone numbers to reach none of
4:26
them folks back 4,000 years ago I ask
4:28
them what kind of beer did they drink
4:30
but the beers that they were sort of
4:32
talking about were sort of a a darker
4:35
beer but maybe a fruity sweetie beer
4:37
This is about the only beer that I could
4:39
find that didn't say Cruz Light or
4:41
Budweiser right here where I'm at So
4:43
we're going to put a cup full in there
4:44
which is 8 oz How much is that bottle oh
4:48
I'd say 11 So we're going to use about
4:50
3/4 So we're going to bring this back to
4:53
a good simmer and let it get begin to
4:55
boil And then we're going to going to
4:56
add our veggies to it some spices and
4:59
get ready to have the 4,000-y old recipe
5:02
setting in a bowl
5:17
You know we've brought that back to a
5:18
simmer nearly a boil and things are
5:20
smelling a little better They are I'm
5:22
like it I am Now remember in this in
5:25
this countryside that they had back then
5:27
very fertile rich ground I mean they had
5:30
a lot of agricultural crops growing
5:31
there Anything you might wish you had in
5:34
your garden I bet they was growing in
5:35
some of that good fertile dirt And we
5:37
got some arugula some beets a shallot
5:41
some garlic and a white onion Now they
5:43
use fresh cilantro but y'all know me if
5:46
you've watched this channel any length
5:47
of time me and Fresh just don't get
5:49
along so I'm going to use dried And they
5:51
use cumin Now they probably ground their
5:53
cumin with a mortar and a pedestal
5:55
before they put it in there Me I'm going
5:57
to shake mine in there So did I mention
6:00
that we had beach shin that was where I
6:02
really thought this recipe sort of got
6:03
off to me is I've never seen a stew
6:06
recipe that had beets in it So we did
6:09
dices up some beets So we're going to
6:10
start with these since they're in my
6:12
hand first Some dried
6:15
cilantro I can't really see in there So
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we're going I hope that that's enough
6:20
Some of that
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cumin Got all our veggies in there and
6:33
got stirring it around And you know this
6:35
called for a half a cup of water and a
6:37
cup of beer Now me I think that's going
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to cook down a little And I I would like
6:41
to have a little of broth more in there
6:43
So let me fetch this beer So I think I'm
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going to add some more beer Shen I think
6:47
it needs some more broth We're just
6:49
going to go ahead and put the whole
6:50
bottle in there That does look better
6:52
mage It does We're going to keep that
6:54
probably I'd say a low to medium simmer
6:57
with a lid on it till that lamb gets
6:59
good and
7:08
tender Now the Babylon tablets there
7:11
were three of them and these contained
7:13
about 40 recipes They did Now really you
7:16
have the makings of the first ever
7:17
cookbook Now there were a lot of recipes
7:19
in there for stew a lot of breads a lot
7:21
of soup and even some bird These recipes
7:24
that are on these tablets were pretty
7:25
vague Uh not like the recipes we see
7:28
today There wasn't any like stepby-step
7:30
instruction Add this add that They just
7:32
had it laid out It was more for the
7:34
experienced chef during the times And he
7:37
could figure this out and he could cook
7:38
it to the best of his ability
7:58
Well it is a done deal it is I hope them
8:01
ancient chefs would be proud We let this
8:03
cook about 45 minutes till that lamb got
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good and tender You don't want to cook
8:07
it to where them beets begin to fall
8:09
apart and you can't see them no more So
8:10
keep an eye on it You really like I say
8:12
a medium low simmer there Stir it every
8:15
once in a while Uh I did have to add a
8:17
little more water to this when I was
8:19
cooking it because it sort of cooked
8:20
down a little So keep an eye on that Now
8:22
I'm serving this with some pita bread
8:24
They have probably had some kind of
8:26
ancient flatbread that they serve this
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with So that's what I have here today
8:30
But I'm going to let y'all in on a
8:31
secret I mean I I need you to listen
8:34
real close Don't judge me okay i have
8:36
cooked lamb for lots of people across
8:38
the United States I've never been fond
8:41
of lamb any way I've ever fixed it from
8:44
barbecued to bake to br to stewed
8:46
anything in the world But if them folks
8:49
can fix it 4,000 years ago and I can try
8:51
to replicate it well I am sure going to
8:53
have me a bite First I'm going to taste
8:55
this broth because I do love a leak I
8:58
think you get that sort of oniony flavor
9:00
with a leak but you get a little
9:01
sweetness too that it brings
9:04
out That broth is pretty good I'm
9:07
telling you Now we're just going to get
9:09
some all of it The beet There's some
9:12
arugula We got it all in one
9:17
bite Do the Egyptian
9:24
dance One of these days I'm going to
9:26
take a hammer and chip me a recipe in
9:28
one of them rocks Maybe somebody will
9:29
use it one of these days But it is with
9:31
great pride privilege and honor that I
9:33
tip my hat to all our servicemen and
9:35
women and all the veterans that have
9:36
kept that old flag of flying over camp
9:38
We commend you all Y'all get up on in
9:40
here I'm going to give you a 4,000-y old
9:42
hug Might even be some mummy dust come
9:44
off of
9:45
me God bless you each and everyone And
9:48
I'll see you down the oldest recipe
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trail
9:56
Go ahead and try that beer Try it cuz
9:59
you're a big Coors light You only drink
10:01
that Just I just drink light beer This
10:03
says dark Just give it a try Tell me
10:05
what you think
10:10
You know I guess if it was really cold
10:12
and you was really hot and there wasn't
10:14
no water in camp you might drink one of
10:15
these
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