This 13th-century Andalusi recipe from ‘The Exile’s Cookbook’ is a rather unusually named preparation of fresh broad beans; after topping and tailing the beans, they are fried in olive oil, and served with the very distinct Andalusi spice combination of pepper, cinnamon and salt. The name of the dish — ‘the sparrow’s head’ (رأس برطال, ra’s bartal) — is somewhat mysterious. It could refer to the shape of the beans, or perhaps it is linked to the high-pitched sound they make when they’re being fried? This recipe can, according to the author, also be made with sprouted broad beans.
Chickpeas (Cicer arietinum) are one of the oldest cultivated pulses of the Near East with the earliest evidence going back to Palestine 8000 BCE. They were cultivated in Egypt at least since Pharaonic times and the flour was used to make bread.
In ancient Greece, chickpeas were served (green, roasted, dried or boiled) as a snack eaten with alcohol. Chickpea soup was a popular street food for the Romans.
In the medieval Arabic culinary tradition, chickpeas (himmaṣ, himmiṣ with hummus being the usual dialectal form) a number of savoury dishes (stews, omelettes), condiments and pickles. In Mamluk recipe collections we already fine modern-day favourites like qaḍāma (roasted and salted chickpeas) and what is possibly the most famous dip – hummus. The historical ancestor of the latter can be found in a number of mashed chickpea recipes – most of them from Egypt, but a few more from 13th-century Aleppo. cookery book, was known as mashed chickpeas) and though the ingredients are a bit different, there are enough similarities (including the use of tahini) to establish a clear ancestral link.
All of the recipes start with boiled chickpeas mashed into a paste (sometimes sieved for smoothness), with textures ranging from soft and spreadable to firmer paste-like consistency. In terms of fat source, olive oil predominates, but some recipes use rendered sheep-tail fat or nut oils (walnut, linseed). Most variations contain nuts — usually walnuts, sometimes added with almonds, pistachios and hazelnuts (which are used as garnish as well). Common herbs used in the recipe are rue, mint, parsley and thyme, with leeks and celery being added in a couple of recipes. The spices generally include caraway, coriander, and cassia/cinnamon, while the more expensive galangal and saffron occur in only one recipe each. Vinegar is used in all of them, sometimes balanced with lemon juice or salt-preserved lemon. The fermented condiment murrī is also frequently used.
The pharmacological literature distinguishes between white, red and black chickpea varieties, all of which were said to cause bloating and difficult to digest, but highly nutritious. Roasted chickpeas were thought to be less bloating than fresh chickpeas, while drinking water immediately after eating them increases their bloating effect. The water in which chickpeas are cooked with cumin, cinnamon, and dill is beneficial for phlegmatic illnesses, bloating, and back pain. Chickpea flour was reportedly useful against testicular tumours, scabies and freckles, and a soup of the flour and milk was said to be beneficial for people with dry lungs and weak voices. Chickpeas, especially the black variety, were widely known as a diuretic, emmenagogue and powerful aphrodisiac, often linked to the bloating effect which also manifests itself in the veins; this stimulates desire and increases semen. For this reason, black chickpeas were fed to breeding male animals (especially horses and camels). Interestingly enough, the same variety, when taken by a pregnant woman, could cause miscarriage.
The aphrodisiac effect is allegedly strongest when chickpeas are soaked in water and eaten raw on an empty stomach. Scholars held that chickpeas were particularly effective in increasing sexual potency because they combined three basic qualities: creating coarse winds, high in nutritional value, and moderate in heat. If one does not wish to engage in sexual activity after eating chickpeas, so al-Samarqandī (12th century) tells us, one should eat them with thyme, salt, and pennyroyal
Chickpeas in an Arabic-annotated manuscript of Dioscorides’ Materia medica
This scrumptious recipe from The Exile’s Cookbook is easy to make, but does require a bit of preparation since you first need to germinate broad beans (فول, fūl). Once that is done, however, you’re good to go; after a quick rinse, the beans are fried in olive oil until golden brown. Before serving, add a dusting of salt, pepper and cinnamon — or, as the author says ‘anything else you like to enhance the flavour’ — and enjoy! It’s an amazing snack, and much healthier than crisps!
And what’s more, there are quite a few benefits to eating broad beans, which, according to medieval physicians, were among the foods that preserve health. In addition, they were said to soften the throat, and even clear freckles. Unpeeled broad beans boiled in vinegar were recommended against diarrhoea and vomiting. On the downside, their flatulent effect was said to be unmatched, and may cause heaviness in the head and confused dreams! Life is all about choices…
A recipe from 14th-century Egypt involving cut onions being pickled in salty water, vinegar, lemon juice, parsley, mint, coriander, caraway, and the aṭrāf al-ṭīb (أطراف الطيب) spice mixture. And the best thing about it is that one only has to wait one day before eating it (though it can be kept for much longer, of course)! The medieval Arab culinary tradition reveals the importance of pickled vegetables in the diet, with onions being a particular favourite.
This is a most apt recipe for this time of the year, as we are inexorably sliding into autumn, which, so the Tunisian-born scholar Ahmad Ibn Yusuf al-Tifashi (أحمد بن يوسف التيفاشي, d. 1253) reminds us, is “marked by a cold, dry nature. It contrasts with the temperament of the blood, making it a time when illnesses are common due to fluctuating conditions. It increases the risk of diseases like quartan fevers and spleen disorders due to the build-up of black bile. Therefore, during autumn, it is recommended to avoid purging or vomiting, and limit food intake. Fruits should be avoided, and one should refrain from cold baths.” Good advice, as ever!
This unique dish from 13th-century al-Andalus and North Africa from The Exile’s Cookbook for shrimp (prawns), known as qamarun (قمرون), a borowing from the Latin cammarus. They could not be easier to make: take as many prawn as you like and bring them to a boil three times over a gentle fire. Then they’re ready to serve, with a sprinkling of crushed salt and oregano. The author recommended prawns from the Seville region, but said that a similar variety was found in Bijāya, Algeria. In addition to being delicious, the dish also serves a medicinal purpose since the prawns were allegedly prescribed for breaking up calculi
This recipe for bakhūr Barmakiyya from a 14th-century Egyptian cookery book is named after the Barmakids, a powerful family of Persian origin, several of whose members held high offices — including that of vizier — to a number of Abbasid caliphs in the 8th and 9th centuries. The most renowned member of the family is no doubt Ja’far, who was the favourite companion of Harun al-Rashid, and both occur as protagonists in several stories from the 1001 Nights, often involving them roaming around Baghdad at night. With such great favour came untold wealth and power, but the Barmakid rule came to a brutal end when, for reasons that are still a mystery, Harun suddenly turned on them, had Ja’far executed, and their property confiscated. However, their fame and generosity lived on through many stories in Arabic literature.
In the Arabian Nights, the Barmakids are also involved in a wonderful story where food — or rather the absence thereof — is the plot. A beggar is invited to share a meal at one of the Barmakid houses but finds that all the food is invisible, while his mischievous host (whose name is never mentioned) pretends to be eating and praises the quality of the dishes. The beggar plays along until, at the end of the meal, he rises and hits his host on the neck. When asked why he did this, the beggar apologizes profusely, blaming his behaviour on the effect of the (invisible) wine he was given! The host is so enchanted by this astute reaction that he orders a real banquet be served to the beggar. Much later, the beggar meets with a particularly gruesome way but that, as they say, is another story… The invisible banquet is the origin of the English expression ‘a Barmecide feast’, which refers to pretended or imaginary wealth, generosity or hosptality.
Returning to more fragrant matters, today’s recreation is of an incense which, according to the author of the cookbook, is particularly suited for those in the toilet! It is made with a number of aromatics, such as costus, myrtle leaves, labdanum resin, sour orange and lemon peels, saffron, and honey. So, cook, dry, light up, and let yourself be carried away on the wisps of Mamluk Cairo!
It should not come as a surprise that a cuisine as technically complex as that of the medieval Arab world required a wide array of skills and tools. We’ll return to the latter in another post, but for now, let’s take a look at some of the advice offered in the cookery books about good culinary practice. There seems to have been a commonly agreed set of rules very early on as a number of cookery books start with a chapter on ‘useful things the cook should know’, which reveal quite a few overlaps across the centuries. Some things will sound very familiar, as they are still applied in modern kitchens, whilst others are perhaps more arcane.
In terms of ingredients, the principal advice was the fresher the better, particularly spices, and one should only pound the quantity that will be used so as not to weaken the potency of the spice. Nor should spices be crushed in a mortar that contains traces of other spices. Incidentally, the material of the mortar also matters; for meat, it should be made out of stone, but for spices, copper.
If you want food to cook quickly, add melon grounds; if it is chickpeas you’re making, throw a few mustard seeds into the pot. When it comes to the sequence of adding ingredients, salt should be added at the end, especially if you’re cooking grains, since it slows down their cooking time. The quantity of spices is linked to the type of dishes; al-Baghdādī (13th c.) suggests using large quantities in fried (dry) dishes, but only a limited amount in sour stews.
Cleanliness and the removal of bad odours are often mentioned, and authors frequently specify using a new pot. Al-Warrāq (10th c.), recommended washing pots both before and after coating the insides with clay. The Sultan’s Feast, for its part, tells us to wash cooking vessels with hot clay, saltwort, and dried roses, after which they should be wiped down with rubbed dried sour orange or citron leaves. Porcelain bowls should be fumigated with mastic and agarwood before putting food in them. And if you overcook the food and it starts smelling, one or two walnuts in the pot apparently does the trick as they absorb the bad odour. They can be used in the same way, to remove any bad smells from a cooking pot.
“Preparation for a Feast” (Folio from a Divan of the Persian poet Jami), Metropolitan Museum of Art
At today’s webinar on Digital Humanities in the MENA region organized by Hamad bin Khalifa University, I presented an exciting joint project with Prof. George Mikros related to the analysis of recipes in mediaeval Arab cookery books using advanced Natural Language Processing methods. This is the first time state-of-the art Natural Language Processing (NLP) methods are applied to a corpus of mediaeval Arab recipes. The aim is to identify (1) patterns of ingredients and flavours; (2) diachronic changes in the selection and frequency of ingredients; and (3) relationships among the treatises. This analysis will not only help us detect the core themes of Arabic cuisine in medieval times, but will also show how these topics evolved over time as the structure of the constituent ingredients changed. Finally, this information will reveal crucial evidence about the authorship of recipes since quantitative profiling can reveal significant aspects of style. These findings are especially useful in the identification of anonymous texts.
Today is the official release of The Sultan’s Feast, a study, edition and annotated English translation of a fifteenth-century Egyptian cookbook (London: Saqi Books). Based on the sole surviving manuscript, it contains 332 recipes, ranging from bread-making and savoury stews, to roasts, sweets, pickles and condiments, as well as perfumes.
This is a 13th-century Syrian recipe for fragrant chickpea-sized pills made with rosewater, ambergris, sugar, musk, cloves and agarwood. Though primarily intended to sweeten the breath, the lozenges were also used as a digestive, or even to perfume dishes. They should be taken twice a day, one in the morning and one in the evening.
