SC - bananas

[Decker, Terry D.]

> I have read that bananas were eaten by Near Easterners in period, 
> however. So perhaps at a Near Eastern banquet, although i haven't 
> found a recipe that includes them yet.
> 
> Anahita

Thomas Gloning provided the following a while back:


The 11th century Taqwim al-Sihha of Ibn Butlan (Tacuin sanitatis) has an
entry on bananas with one sentence on how to eat them. Here is a rough
English paraphrase based on the Editor's French translation of his arab
edition: 
- - -- 'To eat it with sugar and honey helps to make good use of it (?). Make
sure that the banana is ripe and thoroughly peeled and drink some perfumed
wine afterwards' - -- "La manger avec du sucre et du miel aide á la faire
bien appr»cier, surtout quand elle est mfre, bien pel»e et suivie d'un vin
parfum»". (Elkhadem 155) 

According to Maxime Rodinson's 'Recherches sur les documents arabes relatifs
á la cuisine' [1950; Inquiries into the arab texts pertinent to cookery],
there are two recipes with bananas in the 'Kitab al-Wusla ila l-Habib' (Book
of the connection to the friend; 12th century; later manuscripts). As far as
I know, there is no edition of this text yet, but at least Rodinson's
summary [On donne ci-dessous un sommaire du contenu de l'ouvrage; 130]
indicates, that there _are_ two banana recipes: 
- - -- 'Two dishes of meat with bananas' 
- - -- "2 plats de viande aux bananes" (p. 138). 

While I came across a recipe in a 1920's textbook on bananas which purports
to be Medieval and Arabic but has no provenance:

slice a banana into a dish, add blanched almonds and honey, stir to mix,
pour sesame oil upon it and serve it forth. 

Bear