The author of a 13th-century cook book claimed to have learned this recipe from concubines at the court of the Ayyubid sultan of Egypt, al-Malik al-‘Adil (1200-1218). It requires a rather unusual citrus fruit called kabbad. However, it works splendidly with whatever large lemons you have to hand. The peel is fried in sesame oil, while the flesh of the lemons is immersed in wine vinegar sweetened with honey or sugar. Other ingredients include (toasted and pounded) hazelnuts, the atraf al-tib spice mix, as well as mint. [Wusla, 2017, No. 8.52]
Bringing Medieval Arab Cooking to Life
