SC - Re- eggs

[david friedman]

Stefan asked some questions about the Andalusian recipe for stuffed eggs;
I'm about a week behind, so just came to it.
>
>Any idea what *murri* is?

Real murri was an ingredient made by a long process of fermentation; it has
evidently not been made since about the 14th or 15th century.  Think of it
as occupying the same position in medieval Islamic cuisine as soysauce in
modern Chinese--fermented, strongly flavored, salty flavoring liquid where
a lot is made at once, then you put a spoonful or two of it into half the
things you cook.  (Note that I am not saying it tastes like soy sauce).
There was also a period fake murri made from scorched honey, burnt bread,
quince, anise, fennel, carob (only period use for carob I've seen), etc,
etc., salt.  The recipe for this is in the Miscellany, and this is what we
use when recipes call for murri.  You make up a batch, then keep it in the
refrigerator for months, using it when you are doing medieval Islamic
cooking.  One of my best-received feast dishes ever was lamb in a marinade
based on murri and honey (also in the Miscellany, one of the Tabahaya
recipes).

>Then stuff the whites with this and fasten it
>together, insert a small stick into each egg, and sprinkle them with
>pepper, God willing.
><<<<<<<
>
>What is the stick for? I assume the stick is meant to be put in through
>the thick part of the egg perpendicular to the cut which is lengthwise
>through the egg. Is the stick to hold the egg while eating it?

I think that is how you are to fasten it together; we used a toothpick.
Remember this is a translation from medieval Arabic, not word-for-word the
original.

>Stefan li Rous
>mark_harris at email.sps.mot.com

Elizabeth of Dendermonde/Betty Cook

P. S. I notice a couple people have posted the period fake murri recipe
("Byzantine Murri") from an old edition of the Miscellany.  We later found
out what the measure was for salt and it is a whole lot, not just 1/8 t;
Cariadoc posted the up-tp-date version.


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