Mersu with dates and sesame — the sweetness of the gods
A sweet, sticky paste of crushed dates, sesame, flour and nuts, perfumed — a dense confit-cake placed on altars and shared at festivals.
A sweet, sticky paste of crushed dates, sesame, flour and nuts, perfumed — a dense confit-cake placed on altars and shared at festivals.
When the gods want to be loved, we bring them mersu. I saw the priests of Uruk place whole cups of it before the statues, heavy with dates and sesame. Crush your ripest dates, mix them with pounded sesame and a little flour, press into balls, and keep them for feast days — or for the god you fear. I who will soon join the house of dust, I wish I could take some with me.
- •Very ripe pitted dates — a large cup (sweet base)
- •Pounded sesame seeds — a handful (binder and flavor)
- •Toasted barley or emmer flour — a little (structure)
- •Pistachios or almonds (as available) — a few (crunch)
- •Honey — a drizzle (binder and shine)
Mersu with dates and sesame — the sweetness of the gods
A sweet, sticky paste of crushed dates, sesame, flour and nuts, perfumed — a dense confit-cake placed on altars and shared at festivals.
Why this dish? Enkidu, a creature of the gods, is also the one who weeps before fate and offers to the celestial powers. The mersu, a date cake placed on altars and served at royal banquets in Uruk, evokes the offerings made to appease the gods — and the sweetness Enkidu dreams of when, dying, he curses then blesses the world of men.
When the gods want to be loved, we bring them mersu. I saw the priests of Uruk place whole cups of it before the statues, heavy with dates and sesame. Crush your ripest dates, mix them with pounded sesame and a little flour, press into balls, and keep them for feast days — or for the god you fear. I who will soon join the house of dust, I wish I could take some with me.
Ingredients (period version)
- Very ripe pitted dates — a large cup (sweet base)
- Pounded sesame seeds — a handful (binder and flavor)
- Toasted barley or emmer flour — a little (structure)
- Pistachios or almonds (as available) — a few (crunch)
- Honey — a drizzle (binder and shine)
Ingredients
- Pitted Medjool dates — 300 g (base)
- Sesame paste (tahini) — 3 tbsp (binder and flavor)
- Toasted sesame seeds — 3 tbsp (coating)
- Unsalted chopped pistachios — 50 g (crunch)
- Toasted barley or wheat flour — 2 tbsp (structure)
- Honey — 1 tbsp (binder)
- Rose water or cardamom (optional) — a pinch (flavor)
Method
- Blend or mash the dates into a thick paste.
- Lightly toast the flour in a dry pan, then mix it into the dates.
- Add the tahini, honey, pistachios and optional flavoring; knead well.
- Form small balls or a slab that you cut into diamond shapes.
- Roll in the toasted sesame seeds.
- Let rest 1 hour in a cool place to firm up, then serve in a bowl.
How it was made : Mersu (or mirsu) is attested in cuneiform tablets, especially in palace and temple accounts: it was a confit-cake made from dates and pistachios, offered to the gods and served at elite banquets. Dates, sesame and honey were the main sources of sweetness in Mesopotamia, which knew no refined cane sugar. With New World fruits excluded, indulgence rested on these three pillars.
The contemporary twist : Present the diamonds on a small 'tablet' of slate engraved with fake cuneiform: the gods' offering meets school snack time.
Enkidu · Charactorium