[Sca-cooks] Bardic Feast, was Sugar Plate/Paste; Stained Glass Sugar

[Elaine Koogler]

I made these for Iron Chef Persian. They are stuffed with blanched
almonds according to every translation i've read, not with marzipan
as someone suggested, although it would certainly taste good.

**Yes, the ones I made were done with blanched almonds...I think it's that
silly Olwen person who sees marzipan at every turn ;-) !!

As for baqlawa, there are recipes in Medieval Arabic cookbooks that
call for layering *something* that is made with wheat flour - exactly
what is not quite clear (is it phyllo-like? pancake-like?
bread-like?) - with chopped nuts and honey and rosewater. Some are
called Qata'if, which is rather different than modern qati'if (which
is shredded wheat-like). In any event, the finished product at the
very *least* resembles baqlawa, and if the flat wheat flour product
is close to Moroccan warqa, it will also be close to phyllo, and much
closer to baqlawa...

**I did a dish for the Festival of Kites feast that was similar to what you
describe.  I talked it over with Paul Buell, and he agreed that it was a
"proto-baklava" sort of thing.  It's VERY tasty.

I also made the qata'if many years ago, and it was very tasty...I think I
got my recipe out of Cariadoc's compilation of cook books.  Unfortunately I
don't still have the recipe....it really was a VERY long time ago.

Kiri

I wrote:
>  > I'm also trying to find some
>  > interesting ways to serve fruit - since California is a major
>  > producer of fruit, we get quite a variety of good stuff... But i
>  > don't find many references to raw or only slightly cooked fruit.

Stefan li Rous responded:
>We did discuss whether raw vegetables and fruit were eaten in period,
>recently. If you didn't save those messages, perhaps some of the
>referances in this new file might be of use. They may not cover the
>cultures or the time you are interested in, but perhaps they'll help.

As i recall - and i will check the Florilegium - *Europeans* did not
often eat raw fruit. But remember, i am Near Eastern, and we do not
share the same fears as those barbaric Franji :-)

Something i read somewhere mentioned that Near Easterners did not
have a dessert course - they served their sweets right along with
their meats - but that they finished a meal with ripe fresh fruit. I
am trying to find more information about how it would be presented. I
know that there was a vast wealth of fruits available. Would they be
whole? peeled? cut up? sliced? piled into decoratively carved melons?
I find next to nothing in the otherwise wonderful "Medieval Arab
Cookery".

Anahita
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