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Sauces and condiments from Babylonia and its surroundings

Kutach (Babylonian kutach)כותח הבבלי

Babylonian kutach was a sharp, salty dip of whey, salt and crumbs of bread that had leavened until nearly spoiled and gone mouldy. It is known from rabbinic law texts, so the steps here are a reconstruction from its listed ingredients, with no amounts or times.

Fully documentedSauces and condiments

Recipe

No fixed amounts recordedNo amounts survive. The ingredients come from the Talmud's explanation in Pesachim 42a.
WheyMaimonides' translator glosses it as sour milk[talmud][maimonides]
Salt[talmud]
Crumbs of leavened dough or bread, nearly spoiled and mouldy[talmud]
Start
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What changes: Leavened bread crumbs are left until they are nearly spoiled and mouldy

Step 1 of 3
Let leavened bread crumbs go nearly spoiled
Time
Not documented
Temperature
Not documented
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented

Reconstruction. The Talmud says the crumbs came from dough leavened until it was nearly spoiled, and blames the mould in the bread for weakening the body. Output: nearly spoiled, mouldy crumbs.

Flavour
Not documented
Texture
Not documented
Colour
Not documented

Microbes at work in this step

Not documented for this step.

Method

Measured measured in a studySet fixed by a specification or tested recipeReported one source reports itTypical a general value, not sourced for this fermentUnconfirmed not yet checked against a source

At a glance

Babylonian kutach was a sharp, salty dip of whey, salt and crumbs of bread that had leavened until nearly spoiled and gone mouldy. It is known from rabbinic law texts, so the steps here are a reconstruction from its listed ingredients, with no amounts or times.

What makes this one different

Kutach mixes whey with mouldy leavened bread, so rabbinic law treats it as both a dairy food and chametz, the leavened grain that may not be kept over Passover.

Related ferments

Safety

The only safety statement is rabbinic. Pesachim 42a says kutach blocks the heart because of the whey, blinds the eyes because of the salt, which the Steinsaltz edition notes can be dangerous in the eyes, and weakens the body because of the mould in the bread. These are ancient health claims, not tested ones. Do not remake this with mouldy bread. Germany's Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR) says mouldy food, bread included, should be thrown out and not eaten, because moulds can form mycotoxins that harm health even in small amounts.

History and sources

Every number is labelled with how it is known. How this atlas is made

Mishnah Pesachim 3:1 lists Babylonian kutach among foods containing leaven that may not be kept on Passover. Talmud Pesachim 42a says it blocks the heart because of the whey, blinds the eyes because of the salt and weakens the body because of the mould in the bread. Maimonides counts it among mixtures containing chametz (Leavened and Unleavened Bread 1:6) and rules on a slaughtered fowl that falls into kutach that contains milk (Forbidden Foods 9:19).

Starter
The sources we found do not say how its fermentation begins.
Microbes
No study we found names its microbes.
Process times
The sources we found give no figure for how long any of its steps take.
Temperature, salt and pH
The sources we found give no temperature, salt or pH figure for any of its steps.
  1. [talmud] Babylonian Talmud, Pesachim 42a, William Davidson English edition (Steinsaltz), Sefariabook
  2. [mishnah] Mishnah Pesachim 3:1, William Davidson English edition, Sefariabook
  3. [maimonides] Maimonides, Mishneh Torah, Leavened and Unleavened Bread 1:6 and Forbidden Foods 9:19, trans. Eliyahu Touger (Moznaim), Sefariabook
  4. [s2] he.wikipedia, כותח (kutach; its Aramaic name, taste and use as a dip)wiki
  5. [bfr-mould] German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR), Mould in foods, health risks and how to avoid them (FAQ)gov