“recipes, Relics & Roast Larks: a Wild History of the World’s First Cookbooks”: From Babylonian Banquets to Renaissance Feasts — How Humanity Learned to Write About Food

Before celebrity chefs and viral food blogs, there were clay tablets smeared with stew instructions, scrolls of royal banquets, and handwritten notes on how to roast a peacock. Recipes, Relics & Roast Larks is a fast-paced, fact-packed exploration of the world’s earliest culinary writing — from the 4,000-year-old Babylonian recipes etched in cuneiform to the handwritten gastronomic experiments of the Renaissance elite.This book reveals how cooks became authors, how recipes shaped trade routes and social hierarchies, and how “taste” evolved from survival to status symbol. You’ll discover the world’s first recorded dessert, why Roman cookbooks read like lab manuals, and how medieval monks accidentally preserved ancient flavors. Equal parts scholarship and adventure, this is a witty, beautifully structured deep-dive into the secret history of cooking — where every fact is seasoned to perfection.