[Sca-cooks] Pt. 3 - Medieval Persian Iron Chef

[lilinah at earthlink.net]

And finally, the last three recipes...

Bear in mind that all the dishes were served together.

Anahita

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al-Mauz - Batter-fried Bananas

I served this dish for the surprise factor. Bananas at a Medieval
feast? Yes, if it's Medieval Persia or Baghdad. Bananas travelled
from South and South East Asia to Persia and the rest of the Arab
world, although they would remain a rarity in the Western world until
the advent of refrigeration. In the original, the bananas are
batter-fried, then layered with bread and cooked under a roasting
chicken. I just served the bananas.

Original:
Jawadhib al-Mauz - Banana Jawadhib (a sort of parallel to Yorkshire
Pudding) (Jawadhib are Persian in origin)
Take bananas that are fully ripe. Peel them and immerse them in a
fine samid [semolina] sourdough, kneaded as for pancakes (Anahita
sez: see my note below - using the word "pancake" is misleading).
Then take them up and leave on something woven. Boil sesame oil, fry
the bananas, take them out and throw them in syrup. Take them up and
throw them in pounded sugar, then arrange them in a tray with thin
flat bread above and below. Hang fat chicken above it [in the tannour
[oven]].
(in "The Book of the Description of Familiar Foods, p. 411, "Medieval
Arab Cookery")

33 bananas cut into thirds
2 cups semolina flour
4. cups unbleached white wheat flour
2 eggs, beaten
water as needed
sesame oil for frying
crushed almonds
cinnamon powder

1. Peel bananas and cut into thirds - they were easily handled on a
clean dry baking sheet - I think this was better than dumping them
all in a bowl.
2. Mix together semolina and white flour in a large bowl.
3. Beat eggs in a smaller bowl and beat in a cup of water.
4. With a whisk, beat eggs into flour, adding water as needed to
achieve a batter thicker than pancake patter. Keep some water handy,
as over the course of the frying process, you will likely need to add
more water.
5. Put banana pieces into batter - I could fit about five whole
bananas into my bowl and into my pan...
6. Put enough sesame oil to cover the bottom of a large skillet and
put on a high fire. When pan begins to warm, turn fire down to medium.
7. Put batter covered bananas into hot oil - I allowed them to drain
a bit over the batter bowl before putting them on to cook. Make sure
that there is only one layer of bananas in the pan so they will cook
evenly.
8. Cook on one side until golden - turn to brown whole surface - I
found my bananas ended up with three sides.
9. While bananas are cooking, put another bunch of pieces into the batter.
10. When medium golden brown on all sides, remove to tray or serving
dishes to cool slightly. Keep them in one layer, don't pile them on
top of each other. When cooling/draining tray gets full, move banana
pieces to serving dishes.
11. Keep repeating process, adding more oil to pan as necessary (I
added about every three or four pansful I cooked); add more water to
batter if it gets thick and make more batter if you run out.
12. When all banana pieces are cooked and on serving dishes, sprinkle
with crushed almonds and powdered cinnamon. This was a last minute
idea - if you think of another way to garnish them, feel free. They
are certainly sweet enough that they don't need honey or syrup in my
opinion.

NOTE: These were surprisingly well received. I figured that once the
initial surprise was over, no one would be terribly interested in
fried bananas. Yet there were very few pieces left after the course
was cleared and some folks came back to nibble or take them home.

The original was made of some sort of semolina sourdough batter.
Although it is described as being for "pancakes", there really aren't
any pancakes like our modern ones that i can think of in the Near
Eastern corpus. Rather there are some very flat, almost translucent,
stretched-out, stove-top cooked pan breads. I haven't eaten any Near
Eastern sourdough breads that i know of... so this would be something
to test and experiment with... I did use semolina flour, which give
the batter a golden color, more flavor, and a chewy-crunchy texture
that many folks commented on positively. I added a couple eggs to my
batter to help hold it together and give it some lift, since i wasn't
working with a kneaded sourdough.

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Laimun Safarjali - Lemon-Quince-Rosewater Syrup Beverage

When I was shopping for ingredients for the feast, I went to a
Persian food store. I was searching the shelves in hopes of finding a
(synthetic) musk flavored extract or syrup called for in a couple
recipes. Much to my surprise, I found a bottle of Lemon-Quince syrup
from an American Persian food supplier. I bought it to taste test. It
was delicious. My homemade syrup was even more delicious.

Original:
One part quince juice and three parts filtered syrup, in both of
which you have boiled pieces of quince until nearly done. They are
taken up, and the syrup takes it consistency. To every pound of the
whole you add two ounces of lemon juice. Then return the pieces of
quince; they improve the consistency. It is scented with musk,
saffron and rose-water and taken up and used.
(in "The Book of the Description of Familiar Foods", p. 442-443, in
"Medieval Arab Cookery")

2 dozen quinces
5 - 8 pounds granulated white sugar
juice of 12 lemons
several capsful rosewater, Cortas brand

1. Cut quinces in quarters. Core and remove flower and stem ends. Cut
again so that each fruit is cut into eighths.
2. Put quinces in deep kettle, cover with water and turn fire to high.
3. Pour in 5 lb. sugar. Stir well.
4. When liquid begins to boil, reduce fire to medium and continue to
simmer, stirring frequently so bottom of pan doesn't burn.
5. Do NOT mash quinces. I did and it was a BIG mistake. I did not get
enough syrup, although the mashed quinces were delicious.
6. When liquid has thickened and has become a lovely amber-rose color
- many hours later - remove from heat and allow to cool.
7. When cool enough to manage, put a strainer over a deep bowl, and
begin scooping out quinces and liquid. Allow to strain without
mashing or pressing fruit. Remove resulting liquid to another large
container.
8. After you've drained the quinces well, and syrup has cooled, check
the consistency and flavor. It should be somewhat syrupy and have a
tart-sweet flavor. It doesn't need to be clear. In fact, the original
recommends having some fruity bits in it, so you can add some mashed
quince at this point. If syrup isn't sweet enough, put in kettle on
high fire, add more sugar, stir well, bring to boil, then reduce to
high simmer, and cook down a little more.
9. When syrup is thoroughly cooled, add lemon juice and rose water.
10. To drink, fill a pitcher about 2/3 full of water and add a bit of
syrup. Taste. Add more syrup until you are satisfied. It should have
a sweet-tart flavor, redolent of quinces and roses. (the commercial
syrup, much denser than mine, is diluted 1 to 5)

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Lauzinaj - Phyllo-wrapped rose-scented marzipan

This is a originally a Persian dish. References to it can be found in
pre-Muslim Persian literature. It was the only dish in the pre-Muslim
legendary history of "King Khusraw and His Page" recommended as being
suitable for both summer and winter.  Isa ibn Hisham said, "Bring us
some throat-easing Lauzinaj, for it slips into the veins. Let it be
[fresh]..., the crust paper thin, generously filled, pearled with
almond oil, starry in color, melting before it meets the teeth..."
Another writer said, "lauzinaj... in a wrapper as gossamer as
grasshopper wings."

The historic dough that wrapped lauzinaj was precooked. Not having a
recipe for it, i used purchased phyllo and baked it after filling.
Also, the amount of sugar and syrup was just too sweet for me, so i
reduced them. The marzipan was quite sweet enough. I just don't have
a Medieval Near Eastern sweet tooth...

Original:
      Lauzinaj: One part almonds, pounded coarsely. Put a like
quantity of finely pounded sugar on it with a third as much
rosewater, and melt it with it. When it thickens, throw one part
sugar on it and take it from the fire. It is dry lauzinaj.
      As For The Moist: It is that you take a pound of finely milled
sugar, and you take a third of a pound of finely milled blanched
almonds, and knead it with rose-water. Take thin bread such as
sanbusak bread - it is better if even thinner; the best and most
suitable is kunafa - and spread out a sheet of that bread and put the
kneaded sugar and almonds on it, then roll it up and cut it in small
pieces. Arrange them in a vessel and refine as much fresh sesame oil
as needed and put it on them. Then cover them with syrup dissolved
with rose-water and sprinkle them with sugar and finely pounded
pistachios, and serve.
      Another Variety: It is that you take starch [sc. flour?] and
knead it hard, and as much as it stiffens, thin it carefully so that
it becomes like fresh milk. Take the carved mirror and heat it and
pour in it with the "emptier" and take it up. Then roll up
pistachios, sugar, musk, and rosewater in it. Pack them snugly, cut
them, and put hot sesame oil and syrup on them, and sprinkle them
with sugar. This can be eaten right away.

(in "The Book of the Description of Familiar Foods" - which has over
1/2 dozen Lauzinaj recipes - pp. 456-457, also see "A Baghdad Cookery
Book", trans. A. J. Arberry, notes by Charles Perry, p. 84, both in
"Medieval Arab Cookery")

1 package phyllo / filo dough sheets
5 pounds purchased marzipan (made of almonds, sugar, and bitter almonds)
several capsful rose water, Cortas brand
1 cup light sesame oil
1 cup honey
6 ounces shelled natural (i.e., uncolored) pistachio nuts

The directions look complicated, but this was actually a rather
simple and easy procedure.

1. Thaw and prepare phyllo according to package directions - thaw for
several hours then place on a clean plate, cover with waxed paper and
then with a clean damp towel. Do not let the towel touch the phyllo.
2. Put marzipan in a large bowl and with the hands work rose water into it.
3. Prepare a clean dry surface large enough to hold 10 marzipan
snakes about 1/2 inch in diameter as as long as the largest dimension
of your phyllo sheets. Cover with waxed paper.
4. Then with the hands, roll the marzipan into "snakes" no more than
1/2" in diameter and as long as the longest dimension of your phyllo
sheets, then place them on the waxed papered surface. Make ten
"snakes".
5. Prepare a clean dry baking sheet about the size of a phyllo sheet
- cover with baker's "parchment" - this is a type of paper available
in baking and gourmet shops. It will keep the pastry from sticking to
the pan.
6. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees Farenheit.
7. Cover another clean dry surface the size of a phyllo sheet with
waxed paper. Fold back the damp towel and the waxed paper, very
carefully and gently remove one phyllo sheet, and place on prepared
waxed paper surface. Recover remaining phyllo sheets.
8. With a pastry brush, gently brush phyllo sheet with sesame oil,
being sure to get the edges very well.
9.  Again, gently take a phyllo sheet from the pile, lay it on top of
the first prepared sheet, and brush well with sesame oil.
10. Then place one marzipan "snake" about 1" from the long edge of
the phyllo sheets. Carefully draw up the one inch margin over the
"snake", then roll "snake" in the dough.
11. Gently remove phyllo-wrapped "snake" to parchment  covered baking
sheet and brush well with sesame oil.
12. Continue process of brushing phyllo sheets with oil, layering
them, and rolling marzipan "snakes" in them, then transferring them
to baking sheet and brushing outer surface with oil. Repeat until you
have make ten "snakes".
13. Although my directions look long, this whole process went rapidly
with me and one assistant.
14. With a sharp knife mark the top "snake" into ten equal pieces.
Then with the knife, cut through all ten "snakes" so that you have
one hundred pieces. Size will vary depending on size of phyllo
sheets. Mine were 18 inches in the largest dimension, so each cut
piece was approximately 1-3/4 inches long.
15. Put baking sheet in center of oven and bake for about 5 minutes.
Check to see if pastries are browning evenly. If not, turn pan so
paler pieces are in the warmer part of the oven.
16. Bake for several more minutes and check again. The phyllo will
brown fairly quickly and you don't want to over cook them. Most ovens
don't heat exactly accurately, some being hotter and some cooler,
which is why it is important to check frequently.
17. When pastries are a medium golden-brown, remove from oven and let
cool on heat-proof surface.
18. If you decide they aren't brown enough, you can reheat them before serving.
19. Just before serving, gently and carefully remove pastries from
baking sheet onto serving plates, drizzle with warm honey and
sprinkle with crushed pistachio nuts.

NOTE: I used three large baking sheets as work surfaces - one covered
with waxed paper for the marzipan "snakes", a second covered with
waxed paper to hold unfolded phyllo sheets and on which "snakes" were
rolled in phyllo, and a third on which to actually bake the
phyllo-wrapped marzipan. All the sheets were approximately 18 inches
long and 12 inches wide.

NOTE: For the event, the marzipan snakes were a bit larger in
diameter and only wrapped in one sheet of phyllo. The directions
above will make what I think is a better pastry.