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Pickled turnips with pomegranate seeds (لفت بحبّ الرمّان)

This dish was clearly very popular since similar recipes can be found in a number of cookery books, one from 13th-century Syria and two from Egypt (14th and 15th centuries). It is made with pomegranate seeds, wine vinegar, and honey (or sugar). Flavours are enhanced by adding, among other things, mint, rue, aṭrāf al-ṭīb, pepper, ginger, poppy seeds, toasted walnut pieces, and garlic at various stages. For those who wish to heighten the visual effect, one of the recipes recommends colouring the pickles with saffron (yellow), indigo (blue), or rose mallow (red).

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Aphrodisiac chickpea mash

This is a recipe included in the astronomer Nasir al-Din al-Tusi’s (1201-1274) book on aphrodisiacs, and one which he personally ‘tried and tested’! It is made with yellow chickpeas, which are soaked in water before being peeled and fried. After pounding them, pine kernels and honey are added. Decorate with a mixture of saffron, lemon peel, (true) cinnamon, cassia, and agarwood. The author recommends eating this every day before going to sleep, and claims it did wonders for his potency…

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Mediaeval Moroccan honey bread pudding

Although the recipe appears in a 13th-century Andalusian cookery book, it was said to be a specialty of the people of Fez, which at the time was the capital of the Marinid sultanate, a Berber empire. This also explains the clearly Berber name of the sweet, tārfist (تارفست). It starts with flatbreads being baked in the oven before being crumbled up. The crumbs are then stirred into a mixture of water and honey, coloured with saffron. The end result is a paste which, after hardening, is shaped into a ring with some clarified butter (ghee) being poured into the hole in the middle. Serve with a sprinkling of sugar, cinnamon, spikenard, cloves, and taffy (fānīd, فانيد).

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Andalusian lamb stew with prunes

This is the oldest known ancestor of one of Morocco’s best known dishes, tagine of laḥm wa barqūq (لحم وبرقوق, ‘meat and prunes’), which is a staple at weddings. This particular recipe (simply called لون بالإجّاص, ‘dish with prunes’) is from a 13th-century Andalusian manual and involves diced fatty young lamb, cooked with salt, pepper, coriander, cumin, saffron, vinegar, mint juice and oil. When it is almost done, it’s time to add the prunes, also known in Andalusian Arabic as ‘cow’s eyes’ (عين البقر, ‘ayn al-baqar), which have previously been candied and soaked in vinegar. Continue the cooking until everything is done, and then leave to cool down before serving with a garnish of egg yolks ad meatballs dusted with aromatics. As for the accompaniment, well that just has to be couscous, doesn’t it? And what about enhancing those taste buds even more with some of that sweet-and-sour pickled fennel?

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Lemon-quince drink

A fourteenth-century Egyptian recipe for a refreshing quince and lemon drink (شراب ليمون سفرجلي, sharāb laymūn safarjalī). It is made by boiling rose-water syrup mixed with quince juice and then lemon juice, to give it that wonderful sweet-and-sour flavour. If you have musk to hand, add that too before serving. If not, it tastes just great without it! This re-creation comes with a twist in that some quince slices were also added to the mix, as these are prescribed in a similar recipe in the same book, for a quince oxymel (سكنجبين, sakanjabīn).

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Egyptian sweet-and-sour pickled fennel

This 14th-century recipe requires fresh fennel (شمر, shamar ), which is cut into pieces and parboiled into wine vinegar before being steeped in a covered container in a mixture of aṭrāf al-ṭīb (أطراف الطيب), sugar, (toasted) caraway seeds, mint, and rosewater. You will find that it can be stored in a jar for quite a long time (preferably in the fridge). In addition to being very flavoursome, this delicacy allegedly also aids digestion, and the anonymous author recommended it as an anti-gas and anti-bloating medicine, in which case the fennel should be chewed by itself, after meals.

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Sumac stew (summaqiyya, سمّاقية)

This is a 13th-century Syrian recipe of a dish said to be a favourite of the caliph Harun al-Rashid, who was particularly partial to the taste of sumac. It is made by first soaking the berries in water and then kneading the sumac with parsley, rue, breadcrumbs, thyme, aṭrāf al-ṭīb spice blend, lemon juice, sesame paste, yoghurt, and pounded toasted walnuts to make a stuffing, to which pieces of pickled lemon are added. The next crucial ingredient is (lamb) meat (chopped) and meatballs, which are kneaded with rice and chickpeas. The dish is rounded off with a variety of vegetables, such as chard stalks, eggplant, gourd, carrots, turnips and leeks. The result truly is a delight fit for a caliph!

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Mulberry pastries

Recipes for this delicious sweet are found in 13th-century Syrian and 14th-century Egyptian cookery books. They are called ‘mulberries’ (tūt, توت) in reference to their shape. The instructions could not be easier; after rolling the dough over a sieve to get the right texture, it is shaped into mulberry-type pieces which are then fried in sesame oil before being dipped in rose-water syrup. Serve with a dusting of sugar. They are an excellent accompaniment to mint tea! There is a direct modern descendant of this delicacy in the form of the Lebanese ma’kroon (معكرون), which in other countries are also known by the more poetical name of ‘Zeineb’s fingers’ (أصابع زينب). They are a very popular treat during Ramadan.