Category: Spices, condiments and pickles

The opium poppy (Papaver somniferum) is a member of the plant genus Papaver and is native to the western Mediterranean, spanning Spain, Italy, and North Africa. It was cultivated in prehistoric Europe and spread widely through Eurasia. Although best known today for its opiate derivatives, poppy leaves, the seeds and their oil are non-narcotic and have long been incorporated into both medicine and food. The common poppy, Papaver rhoeas was also grown for oil.

Classical and medieval sources distinguished between several types: the white, cultivated poppy, which was preferred for culinary use due to its low narcotic properties; and black –often wild variety.

The poppy was already used in cooking by the Romans and Greeks, and the seeds were commonly poppy seeds sprinkled on bread before baking. Their status as a luxury ingredient is evidenced by their use is in a dish of dormice rolled in honey and poppy seeds, which was on the menu at the famous ‘Trimalchio’s Dinner’ (Cena Trimalchionis) in Petronius’ picaresque novel Satyricon (1^st century CE), which describes the extravagant cuisine of the upper classes in Rome. Galen describes their use alongside sesame seeds, praising the whiter seeds for their taste and soporific effects, although he notes they are nutritionally negligible and difficult to digest.

In Arabic, the term for poppy is khashkhāsh (خشخاش) and in medieval Arabic cuisine, the seeds (both ground and whole) — especially the white variety— were widely used, especially in Mamluk (Egyptian) cookery books (some thirty recipes). Poppy seeds are called for in a variety of recipes, for instance in sweets (puddings, candy, biscuits, and halva), meat stews (e.g. with dates, raisins), judhabas (drip puddings), pickles, and beverages. In one gourd-based sweetmeat, the author explicitly recommends adding as many poppy seeds as possible to cause sleep, revealing both culinary and pharmacological intent. Sometimes the seeds could be toasted and used as garnish.

In the medicinal literature, where the black poppy was preferred, the seeds were used in a variety of recipes, as in the famous formulary by Sabur Ibn Sahl (9^th c.), for robs (ربّ, rubb; syrups), lohochs (لعوق, la’ūq; lick medicines), pastilles (قرص, qurs), powders (سفوف, safūf), poultices (ضماد, ḍimād), and decoctions (مطبوخ, matbūkh). The conditions are very varied, ranging from coughing and pains in the kidney and bladder to hepatic fever), and even consumption. Maimonides considered poppy seeds non-harmful when used in moderation, and cautioned against head heaviness and excessive consumption, which induces drowsiness. Physicians held that poppies provide little nourishment, and cause constipation. However, when taken with honey, it had aphrodisiac properties since it was thought to increase semen. This also explains why poppy seeds often co-occur with honey in recipes.

The poppy in the Vienna Dioscorides codex

The word baysar (بيسار) referred to dried broad beans (فول, ful) in medieval Andalus and North Africa, but also to a dish made with them. This recipe from The Exile’s Cookbook requires cooking the beans in water with some onion, garlic, cumin, coriander and fennel until It becomes a smooth mass, at which point salt is added. It was eaten with cumin and olive oil, and the author recommended rue, onions or olives as an accompaniment.

The dish has survived to the present day in the form of the bissara (بصارة) of Morocco, Algeria and Egypt, where it probably originated since the word, itself, goes back to the Coptic pesouro. It tends to be eaten for breakfast (especially in winter) or as a filling snack or dip with bread, and is still served with a sprinkling of cumin.

One can also draw parallels with other dishes such as the Egyptian national dish ful medammis (فول مدمّس) or the Cretan koukofava.

Usually, murrī (مري) — the most widely used condiment in medieval Arab cuisine — was made by rotting and fermenting barley. However, in this unusual recipe from The Exile’s Cookbook, wheat flour is used together with must (grape juice). The flour is kneaded into a dough and then baked until it is black before being crushed and them put in a pot with must and salt. The final unusual element in the recipe that quinces, fennel seeds, nigella, oregano and citron leaves are added to the mixture, as well as some honey, if desired, which gives the murrī a slightly sweet edge. After an overnight oven bake, it is ready for straining, and then use. It is a perfect dip, but can also be used as a great flavour enhancer in savory dishes.

A recreation of a 14th-century Egyptian dipping sauce, known as sals (صَلْص, pl. صُلُوص, sulus), which were very popular at the time. This one was called kāmilī (كاملي) and is made with citron leaves, parsley, lemon balm, salt and lime juice. Before serving, it should get a sprinkling of galangal, ginger, cloves and pepper. The recipe does not specify what is should be served with, but I think fish is the way to go.

The word clearly reflects a European origin, mediated by the Crusades — ultimately deriving from the Latin salsus, ‘salty’ — while the earliest recipes are found in a Syrian collection. However, the ingredients of the Arab sauce gainsay a Europea component in the composition. In Andalusi Arabic, the word salas (صَلَص) refers to watercress (usually known as حرف, hurf), with the Romance jalja (جلجة) or shalsha (شلشة) denoting the sauce.