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What Did Jesus Eat at His Last Supper? | Ancient Recipes With Sohla | History

HISTORY

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In this episode of Ancient Recipes, Sohla recreates one of the most iconic meals (and paintings) in history: Jesus and his disciples’ last supper. This estimation of the last supper menu was pieced together by Italian archeologists based on historical evidence, bible verses, and Jewish food traditions.

THE RECIPES

Bean Stew:
2 cups dried white fava beans
3 tablespoons olive oil
3 yellow onions, peeled & finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, smashed, peeled, & chopped
5 cups water
kosher salt & freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoon honey
½ bunch parsley, chopped

1. Soak the fava beans overnight. If they have skins, rub them off but try to buy skinless favas to save time!
2. Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the onions and garlic and cook , stirring frequently, until lightly browned.
3. Add the soaked and drained fava beans and water. Season generously with salt and pepper and bring to a boil on high heat.
4. Reduce to medium-low and gently simmer partially covered until beans are tender.
Add the honey, parsley, and season with more salt and pepper to taste.

Lamb Leg:
1 (5 to 6 pound) trimmed bone-in lamb leg
2 heads garlic, cloves separated, smashed, peeled, & finely chopped
¼ cup olive oil
2 tablespoons kosher salt
1 tablespoon freshly ground black pepper

1. Heat oven to 350F.
2. Pat lamb dry with paper towels. Using a sharp paring knife, stab leg making deep holes all over.
3. In a small bowl, combine garlic, olive oil, salt, and pepper.
4. Place lamb in a covered roasting pan. Spread garlic mixture evenly over the lamb, rubbing it into the cuts.
5. Pour 1 cup of water into the roasting pan.
6. Cover and roast until it is fully cooked & tender, about 2 to 3 hours.
7. Let rest 15 minutes before serving.

Olives & Hyssop Sauce:
12 ounces mixed whole olives
2 cups lightly packed fresh hyssop leaves
olive oil

1. Steam the fresh hyssop leaves to lessen the intensity and bitterness.
2. Grind up hyssop leaves and mix with olive oil.
3. Pour sauce over the olives

Charoset:
½ cup (125 ml) sweet red Passover wine
½ lb (250 g) pitted dates, chopped
½ lb (250 g) large yellow raisins or sultanas
½ cup (60 g) walnuts, coarsely chopped

1. In a medium saucepan, combine the wine, dates, and raisins. Add enough water to cover and cook over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally, until the dates fall apart into a mush.
2. Continue cooking until the mixture thickens to a soft spread paste.
3. Pour into a bowl and sprinkle with walnuts.

#HISTORY #ancientrecipes

Ancient Recipes with Sohla takes the food you know and love and traces it back to its origins. In each episode, Sohla El-Waylly details the surprising history of some of our favorite dishes as she attempts to recreate the original version using historical cooking techniques and ingredients. Along the way, Sohla highlights the differences between the ancient recipe and how we would prepare the modern version today.
http://histv.co/ancientrecipes

CREDITS

Host
Sohla El-Waylly

Created By
Brian Huffman

Executive Producers
Sarah Walker
Brian Huffman
Jon Erwin

Executive Producer
Sohla El-Waylly

Co-Producer
John Schlirf

Writers
Jon Erwin
Matt Romano

Historian - Scripts
Ken Albala

Post-Production Supervisors
Jon Erwin
John Schlirf

Editors
Jordan Podos
Aaron Mackof

Colorist
John Schlirf

Mixer
Tim Wagner

Manager, Rights & Clearances
Chris Kim

Executive Creative Director, A+E Networks
Tim Nolan

VP, Marketing Production, A+E Networks
Kate Leonard

VP, Brand Creative, History
Matt Neary

Music Courtesy of
Extreme Music
A+E Signature Tracks

Additional Footage & Photos Courtesy of
Getty Images
Alamy
Pond5
Wikimedia

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What Did Jesus Eat at His Last Supper? | Ancient Recipes With Sohla | History
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20 Comments

@travisjohnston6687 4 years ago

Words cannot describe how much I love her. She is sooo fun hardworking and makes cooking look like such a breeze. We need a cookbook

@gregmuon 4 years ago

Genius subject to tackle. I'm not sure why nobody seems to have done this before.

@d.b.8203 4 years ago

I just want to point out Sohla was 100% correct when she said "Matzah -- bland on its own, but it wants to be eaten with something" and then she put the charoset on it. That is EXACTLY what the last supper would have been like, if it were a traditional seder!!!! Sohla, I love you

@luisdauajare4842 4 years ago

Some other historical meals I can think of:
-Trimalchio's banquet from Satyricon
-Cleopatra's feast to Marc Anthony
-Spartan black soup
-Belshazzar's feast
-Napoleon's chicken marengo
-Parmentier's potato banquet
-Escoffier's Cuisses de Nymphes l'Aurore

@madelynpowe7503 4 years ago

I’m not sure how historically accurate the depiction of Marie Antoinette’s extravagant meals were in the 2006 movie but I remember how epic the food was in that film!

@rowkingsbury945 4 years ago

I love that you made this video. My dad literally wrote the book on this subject and it's super interesting. It's called "The Food and Feasts of Jesus"

@heyleilanitv 4 years ago

to being underpaid by bon apetite to being apart of one of the coolest cooking series ive seen on the internet alongside the history channel is brilliant. she deserves all this and more

@maudey53 4 years ago

Iconic meals....first American Thanksgiving, Cortez's feast with Montezuma, food found in Pompeii during eruption of Vesuvius, Alexander the Great's feasts, Nero's feasts on Capri, a typical feast at Phillip the Greats and Catherine's palace, what did the Popes eat during the Renaissance?

@a.i.9588 4 years ago

Please show how the influence of Buddhism influenced Asian cuisine!! It would be interesting to see the root of vegetarianism or what monks ate in the past!!! Love your show ❤️!

@jameslongstaff2762 4 years ago (edited)

I love this video so much. I'm a Christian and I love Easter. I think it's interesting how so many other Christians forget that Jesus was Middle Eastern. There's no ambiguity with that in this video because of how similar these dishes are to other middle eastern dishes.

@onemercilessming1342 4 years ago (edited)

Leonardo was painting for a Roman Catholic audience. Ergo, the accoutrements in the painting have much more to do with the institution of the Eucharist (bread for the body; wine for the blood), which is a sacrament in the Roman Catholic, Lutheran, and Episcopalian rites. Judas is pictured next to a spilled salt cellar, an indication of bad luck since salt was rather expensive (ancient Roman soldiers were paid, in part, with salt, hence the word salary).

@donkongo5272 4 years ago

I would love to see this series look at the Hongmen Banquet (鸿门宴), a dinner of political intrigue from the Qin Dynasty!

@raybaker8726 4 years ago

I always imagined the last supper was alot of olives, fish, bread. wine and fruit. Never thought of the Lamb and Beans element. Great show.

@katlynnohr9626 4 years ago

I love how Sohla’s been talking more in these recent episodes about her mom’s cooking and how the ancient recipes remind her of her mom’s cooking or the differences she notices. Such a great personal touch

@ClementineRow 4 years ago

Watching Sohla eat a bunch of dishes meant for a multiperson feast is bittersweet. LET HER BRING FRIENDS TO SUPPER

@julianfoglietti 4 years ago

This might be the most underrated cooking show on the internet/tv. Sohla is brilliant, food and food history are the history of humanity. I love this

@mariumaish 4 years ago

I'm jewish, and we usually do eat lamb during the Passover feast. The one you made looks incredible, I'll try it next year. I had no idea about the bean stew, it looks great too, I must try it. The harosset is very different from the one I make, I mix fresh grated apples, sweet wine and dates and pecan nuts (my son and I are alergic to walnuts) mushed with the food preseso. Mix all up and it's done, no cooking at all.
And, of course, there's allways chicken soup with matza balls and gefiltefish acompanied with hazeret (grated horse raddish mixed with cooked, grated beets and vinegar), but, this two plates, are probably a lot more modern than what you showed.
Thank you, I really enjoyed the program.

@meinhartfrancois 4 years ago

IIRC archeologists found/analysed Ötzi's stomach in 2018. It might be interesting to see what the copper-age man ate before he was preserved in ice in the Alps...
I especially enjoy the details & context you always provide, so I'd really look forward to that!

@heatherjustice2176 4 years ago

Just found this channel and I have already fell absolute in love with it. I'm a historical recreationist for the 1500s, and I love the fact that you give the history as well as the recipes. Thank you so much. I don't know if you've already done one but I would love to see one done on a traditional Viking feast.

@lindafreeman7030 4 years ago

For an iconic meal, how about the Cratchit family Christmas dinner? On s more speculative note, what would Marco Polo have eaten in the court of the Kublai Khan?