SC - Rhubarb in Period

[David Dendy]

Quite some time ago someone was inquiring about the use of rhubarb in period
cooking, and if I recall correctly the consensus was that it was a
post-period innovation, as "pie-plant".

This may be correct for western Europe, but I was just re-reading a summary
of a mid-13th century Arab cookbook, the "Kitab al-Wusla ila l'Habib" (in
Maxime Rodinson, "Recherches sur les documents arabes relatifs a la
cuisine", in REVUE DES ETUDES ISLAMIQUES, vol. 17 (1949), and a number of
recipes using rhubarb are listed. In Chapter V (Chicken recipes), three
recipes for "poulet a la rhubarbe' (chicken with rhubarb) are given, and in
Chapter VI (Dry dishes, fried, rissoles, etc.) two for "viande a la
rhubarbe" (meat with rhubarb). In a note on the section on Cold Relishes
("bawarid" in Arabic), the editor quotes Najib ad-din as-Samarqandi (a
medieval Arab physician, if I recall correctly): "Les bawarid sont des
legumes verts cuits que l'on met dans des liquides acides comme le vinaigre,
le verjus, le [jus de] sumac, le jus de pommes, le [jus de] rhubarbe et le
lait caille (persan "mast")." (which, roughly translated, is "Bawarids are
chopped green vegetables which are put in acid liquids like vinegar,
verjuice, sumac [juice], apple juice, rhubarb [juice], and yoghurt.")

So it seems clearly that at least by the 13th century rhubarb was being used
in Middle Eastern cookery, as an acidulant or souring agent. It would surely
be the stalks, as today; the leafs are fully of oxalic acid, which causes
horrible pain if ingested, so it's not the leaves; and the root is a
pugative, so it won't be the root.

Unfortunately, Rodinson gives only the summary of the cookbook, with only a
few full recipes, not including any of the rhubarb recipes.  If there is
anyone on the list who can read medieval Arabic, it might be possible to get
a copy of the cookbook (at least one copy, in the British Museum, has been
microfilmed) and translate them (and there are a couple of recipes for spice
mixture I'd dearly love translations of, as well).

Any other examples?

Francesco Sirene
David Dendy / ddendy at silk.net
partner in Francesco Sirene, Spicer / sirene at silk.net
Visit our Website at http://www.silk.net/sirene/

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