SC - Qata'if -- duck and bread

[Elaine Koogler]

I used one of the recipes from al-Baghdadi in a feast several few years ago
(Cariadoc's reprinting of the book).  The thing that confused me about the
recipe was a similar thing to what Thomas mentions below...the role of the
chicken or rib in what appears to be a recipe for a sweet.  I came to the
conclusion, correct or not, that what was being used were the drippings from the
meat, and their purpose was the same as what lard or butter would serve in a
similar western recipe.  I prepared the sweet, using butter in place of the
chicken, and it worked quite well.  Now, I'm not at all certain that my
interpretation was correct...but it seems a reasonable one.

Kiri

TG wrote:

> David/Cariadoc wrote:
> << Note that the description is pretty clearly not of a shredded pastry,
> but of thin sheets--consistent with the material I quoted earlier. >>
>
> Yes, my opinion so far is perfectly in spirit with the
> not-a-shredded-pastry-view.
>
> What I was trying to say: the basic quata'if lookes more like a dessert
> than a chicken dish to me.
>
> So far I can see, three features are typical:
> -- the use of some kind of flat bread
> -- the use of honey and some kind of fat, seasonings
> -- the arrangement, normally, in several layers [the "aberrant" one
> has only one layer, maybe this is only a very "simple" version]
>
> In case you have access to Hosam Elkhadem's critical edition of the
> Taqwim al-sihha (tacuin sanitatis) of Ibn-Butlan (Louvain 1990), there
> is an entry about Quata'if on p. 198-99 (the French translation); It
> goes under the heading:
>
>    "Les desserts simples et composés" (simple and compound desserts)
>
> In the field "meilleure varieté" (best variety):
>    "carré, bien cuit, à base de pâte levée"
>     four-edged, thoroughly cooked, with leavened dough
>
> The version mentioned is with nuts (Utilité: "pour les sportifs"!!!). In
> the commment is said, that it is made with sugar, almonds, nuts and
> seasonings. Then: "Le carré est fait d'un quart de pain farci, d'un
> quart de pâte en couvercle, d'un quart de hall (13) et d'un quart de
> farce. De même, la farce, comme le luzing, est fait d'un tiers
> d'amandes, de deux tiers de sucre et d'aromates en quantité telle que le
> goût n'est pas rebuté". (hall=huile de sésame)
>
> Elkhadem quotes a source (al-Mu'jam) that allows him to call the dish
> "chausson" in French, and this would be "Strudel" in German.
>
> I don't know how this adds to the picture and I am still not sure about
> the role of the chicken (or the fat rib) in the other recipes.
>
> Thomas
>
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