[Sca-cooks] Re-send of Bright Hills recipes

[Elaine Koogler]

OK, guys, sorry for the blunder.  I will go ahead and include the
recipes in this message:

How to Make Boiled Eggplant.  You take 20 eggplants, two and a half
ounces of garlic, five
dirhams of caraway, two ounces of good oil, one stick Ceylon cinnamon,
two dirhams [sc. of
salt], two dirhams pounded pepper, nine ounces of good Egyptian
vinegar.  You cut off the
long stems of eggplants to the calyxes, then you quarter each of them
lengthwise half way.
Then you moisten them in water and salt for a while.  Then you take them
out and put them in a
small pot and pour sweet water to cover on them, and you boil them such
that they do not
cook to rags but remain whole.  Then you take them down and strain the
water form them and
let them cool.  Then you sprinkle salt on them until they take
sharpness.  Then you pound the
garlic with salt and put it on the fire.  You put the two and a half
ounces of oil on it, and the
garlic fries in that oil until it is fragrant and not burned.  Then you
put it on the vinegar and leave
it until it boils.  Then you throw caraway, mint, pepper and Ceylon
cinnamon on it while you fry
it, until it all smells good.  Then you take it down and pour it on
those eggplants.  Kitab Wasf
al-At’ima al-Mu’tada (The Description of Familiar Foods) trans. Charles
Perry.

Redaction:

1 Oriental Eggplant, halved crosswise, then quartered lengthwise
1 scant Tbsp. Garlic, minced finely
1 Tbsp. Olive oil
1/8 tsp salt
4 1/2 Tbsp. White wine vinegar
1/4 tsp. caraway seeds
1/8 tsp. pepper
1/8 tsp. Ceylon cinnamon, ground.
1/8 tsp. mint (use 1/4 tsp if you use fresh)

Soak eggplant in salted water (a pinch salt to enough water to cover)
for about 10 minutes.
Drain eggplant and boil in clear water to cover until they are tender.
Drain and allow to cool.
Put garlic and salt in a saucepan or small frying pan with olive oil and
fry the garlic until it is
fragrant.  Add vinegar and bring to a boil.  Add the remaining
seasonings and cook for a few
minutes until the seasonings are well blended.  Pour sauce over eggplant
and serve.

Recipe of Marwaziyya [marwazi, of the Central Asian city of Merv].  A
pound and a half of
meat, four ounces of prunes, half a pound of onions, a nisf and a rub
[three quarters, sc. of a
dirham] of saffron, two and a half ounces of raisins, four ounces of
good wine vinegar, an
ounce of jujubes, half a bunch of green mint and atraf al-tib.  Then fry
the meat with the spices,
and when the meat smells good, put in the measure of a bowl of water,
the measure of a pound
and a half.  When the water boils, wash the onions after cutting them
up.  Wash them in salted
water and [then in plain] water water.  Then put them on that meat and
leave them until the
onions boil and are halfway fragrant.  Let the prunes be soaked in
water.  Put them in the pot,
and the raisins and jujubes after them.  Then let it rest until the
prunes and raisins are fragrant.
If you wish, put three ounces of sugar on it after that.  And when it
boils, put vinegar on it.  And
when it boils much, throw in the mint and atraf al-tib and let it
settle.  Kitab Wasf al-At’ima
al-Mu’tada (The Description of Familiar Foods) trans. Charles Perry.

Redaction

1 1/2 lbs. Lamb
3 cups water
4 oz. Prunes
1/2 lb. Onion  (2 medium)
2 ¼ grams saffron
2 ½ oz. Raisins
4 oz. Red wine vinegar
1 oz.  Jujubes
2 tsp. mint
3 tsp. mixture of pepper, mace, cinnamon,
          cloves, nutmeg and cardamom
3 oz. sugar

Soak jujubes in water.  Fry the meat with 1 1/2  tsp. spice mixture.
When browned, add
water to cover and bring to a boil.  Chop onions into a large dice.
Soak prunes in water.  Add
onions to meat/water mixture.  When onions are halfway tender, add
prunes(cut in half), raisins
and jujubes(cut in half and seeded) and bring to a slow boil.  Add
dissolved saffron, vinegar  If
desired, add 3 oz. sugar .  Bring to a full boil and add mint and spice
mixture.  Simmer until
tender.  I served this over couscous, the documentation for which is:

Couscous