[Sca-cooks] Iron Chef Andalusiyya

[lilinah at earthlink.net]

We had a really truly nice Principality of the Mists Spring Coronet
this weekend.

Among other things was the final cook-off between the tied winners of
the Fall Investiture, for which, i'm sure you are all tired of
hearing, i cooked mostly Medieval Persian food. For the tie-breaker,
the Prince requested one dish, for the high table, in which the
featured ingredient was garlic.

Euriol, the head of the West Kingdom Cookerie Guild (which doesn't do
much, mostly because we seem to be an apathetic lot here in the
West), and former head of the Principality of the Mists Silver Spoon
(cooking competitions), made an Italian garlic tarte - it was only
served to the High Table, so i didn't get to taste it. It looked
rather like a quiche, so i'm assuming it was a cheese and egg dish
seasoned with garlic. I don't know what her source was. She did turn
in some documentation, as did i.

I made Thumiyya, from the 13th c. Anonymous Andalusian cookbook. I won.

Translation by Charles Perry

Take a plump hen and take out what is inside it, clean that and leave
aside. Then take four uqiyas of peeled garlic and pound them until
they are like brains, and mix with what comes out of the interior of
the chicken. Fry it in enough oil to cover, until the smell of the
garlic comes out. Mix this with the chicken in a clean pot with salt,
pepper, cinnamon, lavender, ginger, cloves, saffron, peeled almonds,
both pounded and whole, and a little murri naqi. Seal the pot with
dough, place it in the oven and leave it until it is done. Then take
it out and open the pot, pour its contents in a clean dish and an
aromatic scent will come forth from it and perfume the area. This
chicken was made for the Sayyid Abu al-Hasan and much appreciated.

Redaction by Anahita al-Qurtubiyya bint 'abd al-Karim al-Fassi, 2002

4 lb. chicken breasts and thighs
4 ounces of garlic, peeled
3 Tb. olive oil
1-1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
2 tsp. cinnamon
2 tsp. lavender
1 tsp. powdered ginger
1/2 tsp. powdered cloves
hearty pinch saffron
1/2 c. ground blanched almonds
3/4 c. peeled whole almonds
1-1/2 Tb. murri naqi

1. Puree peeled garlic.
2. Heat oil on medium heat, and cook garlic, stirring, until the
smell of the garlic comes out.
3. Put chicken in pot, spoon garlic over it, add remaining
ingredients and stir.
4. Cover the pot well, place it on a medium-low fire, and cook until
done, stirring occasionally, and adjusting the heat, as necessary.
5. When done, pour contents onto serving dish.

----------------------

When i tested this recipe, i used regular chicken pieces with skin
and bone. However, for the competition i wanted something easier to
eat, so i used skinless boneless breasts and thighs. Also the
princess appeared to me to have "sensitive" taste, so i eliminated
the liver and other guts. To serve, i cut the cooked meat into
"fajita" sized slices, so it was all well coated with sauce. I put a
ceramic place on a brass charger, mounded the meat in the middle and
decorated the edge with nasturtiums, yellow and orange flowers which
are edible, and flat leaf parsley.

I made two test batches and they were yummy, even though i changed
the recipe a bit each time - the first time it didn't have enough
spices in it. The second time it had a tad too much lavender.

If you're not making this for a "sensitive" princess, puree the liver
and heart from one chicken with the garlic, then cook as in step two.

Anahita