[Sca-cooks] Greetings

[lilinah at earthlink.net]

I get the Digest, so i'm grouping together all the messages i've
gotten so far...

Aurore Gaudin wrote:
>I'm new to this list and looking to doing my first feastacrat event in
>September, I'm in need of advice from those that have done feast or know
>about Moroccan cooking.  Thank you for any information that can be given.

Well, there are no SCA period Moroccan cookbooks. If you're cooking
Moroccan, you're cooking modern food.

For modern Moroccan, the best source of recipes is Paula Wolfert's
"Couscous and other good food from Morocco", available in paperback.

Other good books for modern Moroccan food are those by Kitty Morse
(who is actually Moroccan) and Carriere.

If you want to cook historically accurate food, something we on this
list encourage (dispite much levity in our posts), the closest is the
13th century Anonymous Andalusian cookbook. Since several Berber
groups had taken over by the 13th century (the Almoravids and the
Almohads), there is probably some Moroccan influence in some of the
recipes.

The complete translation by Charles Perry can be found on Duke
Cariadoc's website:
http://www.daviddfriedman.com/Medieval/Medieval.htm

In His Miscellany, Cariadoc has some worked out Islamic recipes. I
suggest testing them, as i find them to be vastly underseasoned -
bland even - to my taste. However, they give a good starting point,
if you're not sure how to work out a Medieval recipe.

>I know about Stefan's site, love it, keeps it as a favorite.

While Stefan's Florilegium is an invaluable resource, there's no
period Moroccan food there.

>Just looking for the right info takes a while.  I was told by the shire's old
>feastacrat to expect at least 70-80.

Ooo, ooo, *feastocrat*. Most of us here hope this word gets replaced,
as it makes many of us shudder in horror, although we don't quite
agree on a single replacement. I tend to use Head Cook or Head Chef,
others use Kitchen Steward.

>Alot of my recipes are from the foodtv.com.

Hmmm, dunno about *that*. The recipes may taste ok, but they are:
-----1) not ethnically correct - not really modern Moroccan
-----2) not historically correct - not really "SCA period"

Since you're cooking in September, you've got plenty of time to :

--1) Get some real historic recipes - either the Andalusian ones,
since that's very close to Morocco geographically and in part
ethnically, or from other parts of the Near East. For that i would
recommend
----- a) buying "Medieval Arab Cookery", a fabulous book. This book
contains the text of at least three complete "period" cookbooks.

Maxime Rodinson, A. J. Arberry, and Charles Perry
Medieval Arab Cookery
Prospect Books, Devon UK: 2001
ISBN 0907325-91-2

Among the cookbooks contained in "Medieval Arab Cookery" are the
complete texts of:

-- al-Kitab al-Tabikh (The Book of Dishes) by Muhammad ibn al-Hasan
ibn Muhammad ibn Karim al-Katib al-Baghdadi, a 13th century cookbook.
[complete text as "A Baghdad Cookery Book", trans. A.J. Arberry,
notes by Charles Perry, Medieval Arab Cookery]

and

-- al-Kitab Wasf al-At'ima al-Mu'tada (The Book of the Description of
Familiar Foods),1373 [complete text translated and introduced by
Charles Perry]

I also recommend getting the following book via ILL (Inter-Library
Loan) (because it's long out of print and hard to find - i'd love to
purchase a copy):
David Waines
In a Caliph's Kitchen
Riad El-Rayyes Books Ltd., London: 1989
ISBN 1-869844-60-2

There are some recipes in "In a Caliph's Kitchen" from al-Kitab
al-Tabikh (The Book of Dishes) by Abu Muhammad al-Muzaffar ibn Nasr
ibn Sayyar al-Warraq. This late 10th century cookbook is a compendium
of recipes from cookbooks from several centuries which are now lost
to us. It includes forty recipes from the great gastronome Abu Ishaq
Ibrahim ibn al-Mahdi (779-839 CE), half-brother of the Caliph Harun
al-Rashid, as well as a number of recipes from Abu Samin, a chef to
the Caliph al-Wathiq who died in 847 CE. Apparently Charles Perry is
working on a translation of the complete text, but since it isn't yet
available, Waines will have to do. There are also a few recipes from
this book on His Grace, Duke Cariadoc's website.

Do NOT, i repeat, do NOT use Waines' worked up recipes as they often
do NOT follow the originals. Use the original recipes and work them
up yourself. I used many of them for my Persian feast.

----- b) ordering His Grace, Duke Cariadoc's 2-Volume Cook Book
Collection (about 2 dozen period cookbooks for $20) - it has the text
of the 13th century Anonymous Andalusian Cookbook and a version of
al-Baghdadi's book

--2) Get some real modern Moroccan recipes by ordering some
cookbooks. I can recommend some, as i own many (most) of those in
print, just ask. I suggest Paula Wolfert (title above) first. If you
enjoy cooking, you won't regret getting this book.

>Just alot are lamb and poultry.  I was told by someone that lamb won't go
>well with alot of people, being Texas, it has to be beef, pork and chicken.

Well, pork won't go over in a Muslim feast, as it's against Muslim
law, and the only Muslims i know who eat pork are Central Javanese
court musicians (yes, really from Central Java, really court
musicians).

Out here in the Kingdom of the West, lamb gets gobbled up. Now,
personally, i don't like lamb - a bit of a hardship since i have a
persona that is Muslim born in Morocco, now living in al-Andalus.

>And I know lamb will be expensive if I don't do it right.  I'm just wanting
>help in figuring out what to do with some of the problematic parts.

I got cheap lamb at a local hallal market (hallal is to Islam as
kosher is to Judaism). MUCH cheaper than the lamb at the regular
supermarket. Where do you live? Most cities in the US have Muslim
populations, and getting lamb at a Muslim meat market is *waaay*
cheaper than at the supermarket.

Cooked right, lamb can be edible. The Persian in origin recipe i
cooked for a feast last November combined chicken and lamb with
fruits, nuts, and spices, and it was delicious. I have the recipe on
my website along with other period Near Eastern recipes:
http://witch.drak.net/lilinah/persianrecipes.html

I also have some modern Moroccan recipes on my website:
http://witch.drak.net/lilinah
There's a Site Map on the second page to locate the URLs of the recipes

Anahita
half-Persian, half-Moroccan persona