recipe-Re: Fw: SC - hummus-LONG

[LrdRas at aol.com]

In a message dated 9/10/00 9:37:36 AM Eastern Daylight Time, 
rkappler at home.com writes:

<< Hmmm.... Are you sure about this Ras?  >>

Yes.

<< IIRC the resource you had with you on the sailing trip was Curye on 
Inglysche, not Cariadoc's wonderful volumes, >>

I had brought all my period cookery books with me. You are correct in that 
the White Sals recipe used at Ladies was The garlic and yogurt one. It is in 
fact, the white sals recipe found in the Book of the Beloved in Cariadoc's 
Collection. HOWEVER, the White Sals recipe that was redacted and made on the 
boat was the White Sals recipe from A Collection of Medieval and Renaissance 
Cookbooks, Vol. 2, pg. Misc-3. It is one of the three recipes translated from 
Kitab al-Tabikh (The Book of 
Dishes): Oriental 5000 (British Library) pp.70b, 71a, 74b. 

The finished dish looked and tasted so much like garbanzo based hummus that a 
person with an untrained palette would be hard pressed to tell them apart. In 
fact we made modern hummus and were able to compare them ourselves. I much 
prefer the medieval version below. 

Original (translation)- 
White sals. Walnut meats, garlic, pepper, cinnamon, white mustard, Tahini and 
lemon juice. 

Redaction- 
White sals 
(copyright c 1999 Ras, Elysant, Puck) 

1 cp. Walnuts 
2 cloves Garlic 
1/8 tsp. Black pepper, ground 
1/2 tsp. True cinnamon, ground 
3/4 tsp. prepared mustard (see notes below) 
2 Tblsp Tahini 
Lemon juice, as needed 

In a food processor combine walnuts and garlic until they form a smooth 
paste. Put walnut mixture in a bowl. Add pepper. cinnamon, mustard and 
Tahini. Mix thoroughly adding lemon juice by the teaspoonful until a smooth 
very thick mixture is achieved. 

NOTE: There is a description of mustard as prepared in the medieval middle 
east in another section of Caraidoc's Collection. We used a modern mustard 
that most fit this description. Any country-style mustard would work.

<<Sals is the dish we did for  the first course at the Ladies Champions feast 
in Confed and consists of  yoghurt and seasonings, >>

Correct. See above. There are at least 2 recipes with the title of White Sals 
in at least 2 different manuscripts. The White Sals done on the boat did not 
contain chickpeas and very closely resembles modern hummus when prepared.

<<Why substitute peanut butter for chickpeas or tahini when both are so
 readily available?  Again, my memory is a little fuzzy, but perhaps it was
 because we were out and about on the Narragannsett and had neither of those
 with us, but plenty of peanut butter? >>

Correct. It was during the time we were stranded in the water after we our 
little adventure with the non-running engine and becalmed seas. There were no 
chickpeas in the recipe but Tahini was mentioned.

<< I cannot otherwise imagine why a man as renowned for meticulous adherence 
to period practices and ingredients would use a new world food in a period 
recipe.>>

IIRC, the addition of peanut butter was done because of a lack of tahini at 
the time. The recipe was subsequently prepared correctly without the 
offending ingredient according to our actual redaction after the boat trip 
and was fine. It was prepared by Margali at Pennsic before last. Again it 
turned out fine.

<<hummus is  actually a cheese like spread and not a paste of roasted sesame 
seeds and/or chickpeas as I thought. >>

Modern hummus is as you describe. White Sals, OTOH, can be a garlic flavored 
yogurt cheese or a walnut paste/sesame seed dish that resembles modern hummus 
in flavor and texture.

<< Would it be possible for me to get a copy of this from you, or would that 
be in
 violation of copyright protections?>>

His Grace kindly provides that up to 500 copies can be made for educational 
purposes. I think it is in the back of Vol II though. If not the back of II 
then I. It is in there. Again the Walnut paste sals is NOT in The Book of the 
Beloved. It is from the Kitab al-Tabikh. The Yogurt based sals is from the 
Book of the Beloved.
 
 <<regards, Puck >>


Ras
The test of good manners is to be patient with bad ones.- Solomon Ibn Gabirol
http://members.aol.com/AbhainnCG/