Question re: CMOT Dibbler...

[RathDarkblade]

I think we all know that CMOT Dibbler has many, many incarnations throughout the Discworld. There's one in Fourecks, one in Omnia, one in the Agatean Empire and so on.

This inspired me to write my own version, based in ancient Babylon. (Of course, I wouldn't be so stupid as to call him "CMOT Dibbler", or even "CMOT Nebuchad-nibbler"!) But I thought it would be fun to write about a sausage salesman - and the Babylonians definitely ate sausages, made from beef or chicken or goat.

So my question is this: what name should the product be? I guess I can't call it a "sausage inna bun", because that's Pterry's idea (can an idea be copyright?) I thought of some alternatives like "sausage inna pita" or "banger inna bread", perhaps, but they're basically plays on the same idea. Does anyone have any other ideas?

Thanks!

 

[=Tamar]

How did you find out that they had sausage-like foods?
There's a significant amount of knowledge of Sumerian around, and Babylonians dealt with Sumer. Maybe it could be found in Sumerian. (I don't know where to look, I just read some translations of Inanna's story.)
Google on "ancient Sumerian food" produced some results, though not specifically sausage. They had bread, and various meats, so my wild guess is that they may have had something vaguely like a "pork pie" - a solid-crust hand-held pastry stuffed with a meat mixture. Or a meat pie in a more American form, like this attempt:
https://medium.com/@writingben/ancient- ... 81f8fb726c

Wikipedia on Iraqi cuisine produced Gauss, a meat-mix sandwich wrap, or Kubbah, a mix of minced meat ground with wheat or rice and spices, though the names are not Sumerian.

 

[=Tamar]

Looking for "Sumerian food words" got a pdf:

https://www.bulgari-istoria-2010.com/Re ... ionary.pdf

 

[RathDarkblade]

I did a huge amount of research on Babylonian food (plus I had a friend who specialised in their culture). The Mesopotamians very kindly wrote down recipes for all sorts of dishes. We know what they ate and how they ate it. Sausages were very common - mostly goat, but there was beef too, and I conjecture that there was probably chicken sausages as well.

When the billy got a bit old, other males left alive were chosen to be the new billy for a while. Most male goats are a surplus to requirement. A good goatherd recognised which males are possible breeding stock, and which are for eating. If there were a lot of female goats, some of those became dinner too.

In general, there's just the one dominant "billy" goat. That's how goats operate. Sure, there's sparring with other males trying to be alpha, but the alpha billy is the one tending to the nanny goats.

Obviously they had no ketchup, but they certainly had mustard plants, and they sowed and reaped garlic and onions (to make fried garlic/onions), as well as wheat and rye (for the bun).

One of their recipes was garlic and onions sauteed and then pureed with a bit of salt, and maybe some fish sauce (i.e. pureed anchovies mixed with olive oil). Dried fish were commonly traded all over the place, including pilchards and anchovies. With the anchovies they may not have needed any salt. These would make an interesting addition to a sausage inna bun.
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Some more notes about Babylonian cooking, courtesy of my friend (who, alas, I've lost touch with)...

Ancient Babylonian cuisine was rich and varied, including meat from cows, sheep, goats, pig, deer and fowl, as well as eggs, fish, shellfish and even turtles. Stews were common, with Akkadian records providing 21 different meat stew recipes and four different vegetable stew recipes.

Among the vegetables eaten by the ancient Babylonians were beets, peas, arugula, lettuce, turnips, legumes (such as chickpeas) and mushrooms. They were especially fond of using onions in their cooking, along with all of its related plants, such as garlic, scallions and leeks. Grains were also common, including pearl barley and oats.

Fruits enjoyed by the ancient Babylonians included apples, figs and pomegranates.

The ancient Babylonians were particularly interested in flavoring their food and used a range of herbs and spices. These included mint, coriander and chives, among others. Condiments, such as a pickled fish sauce (siqqu), were also used, while honey, dates, grape juice and raisins were favored for sweetening dishes.

For cooking, a variety of oils and fats were used, such as clarified butter and animal fat, as well as sesame, linseed and olive oils.

The presentation of food was important to the ancient Babylonians, who used a selection of fresh greens, chicken gizzards, pastry crusts and even bird feathers to garnish their meals.

 

[raisindot]

How about "pork inna pita"?

 

[RathDarkblade]

*giggles* I like that, raisin. OK, done! I'll just make it "pork-a inna pita" to keep the rhythm of the thing. Thanks!

 

[Mixa]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1463420174737063937

This Discworld fan points out Dibbler deserves a similar tombstone despite the quality of his sausages

Mx

 

[Mixa]

But I'm not sure people would think of him as "a good soul and everyone's friend"...

Mx

 

[RathDarkblade]

Why not? Not every sausage seller would have been like CMOT Dibbler!

In the meantime, I finished writing my "sausage seller" story. Now I'm writing one set just after Hannibal and his elephants, with the ancient Sphinx of Thebes (from the Oedipus story) playing a starring role. =D