Category: Fish

ِAn exceptionally delicate fish tajine with fennel from 13th-century Andalusia. It takes its name from the Andalusian and North African Arabic word for fennel. After boiling the fish, it is immersed in fresh fennel juice, to which onion juice, pepper coriander and ginger are added. Then, it is cooked in the oven until done. It is found in both the Anonymous Andalusian cookbook and that by al-Tujībī.

This is one dish that is guaranteed to wow your guests as much as it did the tenth-century Baghdadi chef! As with many things, its genius lies in its simplicity. The principle is to cook fish in three different ways simultaneously; the head is roasted (mashwī), the centre poached (maṭbūkh), and the tail fried (maqluww). But that is not all! The fish is also stuffed with a rich filling fish, salt, eggs, honey, a variety of herbs and spices (among them spikenard, cloves, ginger, cumin, rue, coriander) and olive oil. To complete the package, citron leaves, apple peel, salt, thyme and rue are put inside the mouth of the fish. And for the main event thick cloth soaked in water is wrapped around the centre of the fish, with the lower part bandaged with linen also soaked in oil. Cook in a pre-heated oven until it is done. Remove the wrapping before serving (with three sauces, one for each part of the fish!). This is a dish that travelled beyond the Arab world very early on as a very similar recipe is found in the Vivendier, a 15th-century French cookery manual .

A wonderful 10th-century recipe made with a filling of shrimp, taro root, onion and spices stuffed inside thin sheets of bread fried in olive oil. Complement with soya sauce on the side for dipping. A great snack, or light lunch or dinner! [al-Warrāq, 1987, p. 123]

This recipe from 15th-century Egypt requires coating fish with coriander, caraway and flour before frying it in a pan. The sauce, which is cooked separately, is made with the following ingredients: carrots, sumac, coriander, thyme, garlic, pepper, chopped up salted lemons, and celery. [Ibn Mubārak Shāh, fol. 18r.]

For these 13th-century fish cakes, you need two meaty fish of your choosing (we opted for cod), which are boned, cleaned and mashed. The following are added to the mixture before kneading it into cakes: salt, pepper, cinnamon, ginger, mastic, cumin, saffron, dried coriander, onion juice, garlic, mint juice, murri (a fermented barley condiment which can be replaced with soya sauce), and oil. Serve with a tangy sauce made with garlic, vinegar, soya sauce and olive oil. [al-Tujibi, 2012, 199]