About this season
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 your 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.
Episodes (10)
1. Which Original Pumpkin Pie Is Better?
Aired 9 October 2021
Sohla aims to find out what pie was served at the first Thanksgiving and why the bakers didn't use any spices, as she bakes two pumpkin pie recipes from 1600s.
2. Did This Bread Cause the Salem Witch Trials?
Aired 23 October 2021
Sohla re-creates two recipes with a spooky past; first, she bakes a rye bread that may have been responsible for the Salem witch trials, then she crafts the original Halloween treat: druid soul cakes.
3. Should Meat Jelly Make a Comeback?
Aired 6 November 2021
Sohla tackles an aspic jelly with fish tongues and lips from the earliest known Arabic cookbook.
4. Pemmican: The Original Survival Food
Aired 20 November 2021
To celebrate Native American Heritage Month, Sohla re-creates pemmican, a super food made of meat, fat, and berries that dates back over 5,000 years; Sohla speaks with Indigenous chef Shawn Sherman to learn more about the history of this dish.
5. Who Had the Best Christmas Cookie Recipe?
Aired 4 December 2021
Gingerbread men connect Abe Lincoln and Queen Elizabeth I; Sohla explores two distinct but delicious recipes for classic spiced cookies.
6. Sohla Cooks 3000-Year-Old Tamales for the Holidays
Aired 18 December 2021
It's holiday season in the Ancient Recipes kitchen, so Sohla creates a holiday staple with truly ancient origins: tamales.
7. Sohla Tries a (Vegan?!) Gladiator Grain Bowl
Aired 1 January 2022
Sohla re-creates a staple of the ancient gladiator diet: a chickpea and barley mash topped with fresh goats cheese.
8. Sohla Cooks Ninja Stealth Food From the 1400s
Aired 15 January 2022
Sohla adds fuel to the fire as she re-creates energy-packed foods of feudal Japan; a look into the nutrient-dense food balls that energized ninjas way back in the 1400s.
9. King Henry VIII's Lavish Brunch
Aired 29 January 2022
Sohla makes a meal fit for a king, King Henry VIII to be exact; a lavish brunch including all the works.
10. Making the Lincolns' Fave Dessert
Aired 12 February 2022
Sohla makes a dish that had President Lincoln coming back for more.