SC - Olla podrida -- A 13th century Hispano-Arabic version?

[Thomas Gloning]

Rudolf Grewe in his 'Hispano-Arabic cuisine' mentions a 12th/13th
century (forerunner of) olla podrida:

"The sinhaji dish. For this, all kinds of meat -- beef, mutton, chicken,
partridges, etc. -- along with chick-peas and whatever vegetables are
available in the season, are boiled in a very large pot. Sausages and
meatballs are considered indispensable ingredients. This dish is a clear
example, and probably the first documented one, of the olla podrida,
Spain's national dish during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. In
our text, this dish bears the name of one of the most famous Berber
tribes, the Sinhaja, and was probably named in its honor." (p. 145f.).

Looking for the recipe, the situation becomes somewhat complicated. Up
to now, the recipe is published only in an edition of the Arabic text
and a Spanish translation by Ambrosio Huici Miranda. Grewe had much to
critizise about the Huici Miranda edition:

"Huici did not realize that some of the folios had been misplaced when
the manuscript was bound (...). Thus, many recipes are truncated and
improperly connected (...) the order of the recipes in his edition seems
completely haphazard and arbitrary. In addition, his edition lacks any
notes that would clarify the specialized vocabulary (...) due to his
incomprehension of the vocabulary and subject matter, many of Huici's
readings or the manuscript are wrong (...)" (p. 141).

On the other hand, Grewe died, before he could finish his own edition of
the text. Thus, we must use the Huici Miranda edition and translation,
but we must use it with care.

Another point is that the manuscript of the Almohade cookbook is much
younger than the text itself. The manuscript was completed in 1604, but
the text seems to be from the early 13th century (around 1200 or
somewhat earlier or later). Huici Miranda says that certain clues:
„prueba que la obra se redactó en el primer tercio del siglo XIII“ (p.
12; ‘certain clues prove that the work was compiled in the first third
of the 13th century’). Grewe says: „The text can be dated to the end of
the twelfth or the beginning of thirteenth century by the historical
references it contains“ (p. 142).

In the Huici Miranda Spanish translation (1966) of his Arabic edition,
there are two sinhayi-recipes, one for noblemen, one for the common
people. Here is Huici’s Spanish translation of the recipe for noblemen:

„Receta del «Sinhayi» regio
Se toma una sartén grande y honda y se coloca en ella carne
roja de vaca, cortada sin grasa, de su pierna, de su paletilla
y de su cadera y se le añade aceite en mucha cantidad, vinagre
y un poco de almorí macerado, pimienta, azafrán, comino y ajo;
se cuece a medias y luego se le añade carne de oveja, la más
roja también; se cuece y se le añade a esto gallina limpia y en
pedazos, perdiz, pichón o paloma torcaz y pájaros, longanizas
y albóndigas; se espolvorea con almendras molidas y se regula
con sal. Se cubre con mucho aceite, se mete en el horno y se
deja en él hasta que se cuece y entonces se saca. Este es el verdadero
sinhayi, que usan los notables; en cuanto al sinhayi de
la plebe, se expondrá en su lugar, si Dios quiere.“ (p. 19).

The Spanish translation of the recipe for common people goes like this:

„El «Sinhayi»
Se toma una marmita grande y honda, se le pone tres partes
de vinagre fresco y una parte de almorí macerado y de pimienta,
cilantro, comino y azafrán la cantidad necesaria; se pone
a un fuego de carbón moderado y se le prepara antes lo que se
necesite preparar, como la carne de vacuno cortada en pedazos
menudos, y cuando ha hervido una o dos veces, se le pone la
misma cantidad de carne de oveja; luego de gallinas cortadas,
de perdices cortadas y de pichones de paloma y de tórtolas cortadas
del mismo modo y lo que se pueda de aves y se le agrega
garbanzos [p.150] remojados y pelados, almendras peladas
y cortadas y castañas peladas de su corteza, ajo y zumo de
cidra; se cubre con mucho aceite y cuando está casi en sazón,
se le añade lo que se tenga de verduras cocidas hasta el extremo
[184] y se termina su cocción como con nabos, zanahorias, berenjenas,
calabazas, tallos de apio sin hojas y cabezas de lechuga
sin hojas; se toma lo que se presente de estas verduras, según
la estación y el tiempo actual; se cuecen en una olla aparte con
sal, con sus especias y su cebolla hasta que estén a punto; se les
quita su agua y luego se añaden a las carnes citadas en dicha
sartén y es preciso que tenga albóndigas y mirkas hechos con
estas mezclas solamente, y lo que no sea eso es superfluo y mezcla
no buena. Lo propio de este plato es ser bueno para toda
edad y todo temperamento, por lo que reúne de todas las carnes
y clases de verduras y por lo que entra en él de vinagre y
de almorí macerado, de especias y demás.“ (183f.).

In respect to this second version, it is interesting to see, that there
is one big pot, several meat elements, vinegar, spices, and several
vegetables (!) to be used, according to the region and the season.

The distinction between a recipe for "los notables" (the noblemen) and
another one for "la plebe" (the common people) is noteworthy too: the
version for the „notables“ is mentioned as the real thing („el verdadero
sinhayi“).

Again: the situation is complicated: there is a manuscript in poor
physical condition (Grewe) from 1604, that contains an Arabic text
probably from the early 13th century; then, there is (according to
Grewe) an insufficient Arabic edition of this text and a Spanish
translation that relies on this (insufficient) edition. And: Grewe died
prematurely.

I won’t complicate the situation further by trying to translate the
Spanish version into English. Perhaps, Lady Brighid, Phlip, Ana, or XY
could ...

Cheers,
Thomas

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