[Sca-cooks] Memos from a Mastic Marathon....

[lilinah at earthlink.net]

I must be the only one here who purchased "Medieval Arab Cookery" and
actually read it :-)

>  >What is "blattes de Bysance"?
>
>This was the topic of a long discussion on rec.food.historic back in '99.
>Some folks confused this with cochineal. I'm sending th files to you
>privately.
>
>a.k.a. onycha
>    "the fingernail-like operculum or closing flap of certain snails
>    of the murex family, such as the Onyx marinus, Strombus lentiginosus,
>    or Unguis Odaratus (Tifereth Yisrael, Chomer Bakodesh 2:67; Cf. Ben
>    Sirah 24:15, Dioscorides, De Materia Medica 2:10). This emits a very
>    pleasant smell when burned."
>
>HTH,
>
>Cindy

Nope, they weren't using snail trap doors in their cooking. The
recently published book "Medieval Arab Cookery" corrects this error.

Here's how the error came about:
In editing the manuscript of Baghdadi's cookbook, Dr. Da'ud Chelebi
came across the term "atraf al-tib". He did not understand the phrase
and therefore assumed it was a scribal error, amending it to read
azfar al-tib, which lead to Arberry's mistranslation as "blattes de
Bysance", "Byzantine cockroaches" or as "perfumed nails" of the onyx
(the sea creature).

Here is how it was corrected:
In fact Atrab al-tib was the correct phrase. It is a spice blend
which appears in Kitab al-wusla ila al-habib fi wasf al-tayyibat wa
al-tib, "The Book of the Bonds of Friendship or a desctiption of good
dishes and perfumes", sometimes called The Book of the Link of the
Beloved".

Here's the list of ingredients in Maxime Rodinson's essay "Studies in
Arabic Manuscripts", from his analysis of "Wusla ila al-Habib", on p.
132 of "Medieval Arab Cookery":

lavender
betel
bay leaves
nutmeg
mace
cardamom
cloves
rosebuds
beech-nuts
ginger
pepper


Here's the list of ingredients as translated by Charles Perry, on p.
484 in "Medieval Arab Cookery"

spikenard (note difference in translation between Rodinson and Perry
- i've used both lavender and spikenard in recipes, so i don't have
an opinion, although i lean toward Rodinson)
betel
laurel leaf
nutmeg
mace
cardamom
cloves
rose hips (note difference in translation between Rodinson and Perry
- i believe Rodinson here)
common ash (again note difference in translation between Rodinson and
Perry - i think i believe Rodinson here)
long pepper (Rodinson leaves this out)
ginger
pepper


As for the discussion of using cochineal to color food, i find none
in any recipes in "Medieval Arab Cookery", however, *madder* is used
to color a fish dish, "The Making of Good Sahna", in a recipe from
"Wusla ila al-habib", on p. 484 of "Medieval Arab Cookery"

You may forward this message to your other list, Cindy.

Anahita