Odd and Interesting foods (was Re: SC - food bashing)

[Catherine Deville]

 From _Social Life Under the Abbasids_ by M. M. Ahsan, p. 113
- ---
The Abbasids inherited the art of food preservation from the ancient 
east and the classical civilizations. The drying process was widely 
used and the least expensive. Even the Arabs of the remote past were 
fond of dried meat called qadid. ... The common people of the time 
used this method extensively. Like meat, fish was also dried in the 
sun and used throughout the year.

In one process for food preservation, antiseptic agents, especially 
salt and vinegar, were used. The meat thus preserved was known as 
namaksud, a Persian compound word indicative of hte Persian origin of 
the method. To make namaksud, the meat was cut into slices, seasoned 
with salt, and left in the sun on a plank to dry. When required, the 
slices were moistened with water and cooked.
- ---

I should add that Ahsan is not entirely reliable--he repeatedly 
describes murri as "brine," for example, and makes frequent errors of 
arithmetic in doing currency conversions. The book has a tone of 
"paste together all the references you can find to subject X in the 
literature without really digesting or evaluating them." But I expect 
that on a simple point like this he is accurate. He cites a variety 
of sources, of which the most accessible is probably the Encyclopedia 
of Islam; I haven't yet checked it.
- -- 
David/Cariadoc
http://www.daviddfriedman.com/