Noah at the table

In Noah's world, between the Tigris and the Euphrates, meals revolve around a staple of grains: barley flatbreads or thick porridge placed at the center, around which revolve lentils, dairy, dried fruits, and on blessed days, a bit of meat or wine. There is no separation of 'appetizer, main, dessert': everything arrives together on the mat or low table, and each person dips into the communal dish using bread as a spoon. The hierarchy goes from the humble daily (barley) to the sacred (the offering consumed for Heaven).

Long before cane sugar, it was date honey—thick, brown, fragrant—that sweetened all the cuisine of the Fertile Crescent. It is poured over porridge, mixed into wine, spread on travel cakes. For Noah's people, it is THE sweetness, the one that makes a provision desirable and an offering pleasing.