[Sca-cooks] Andalusian feast

[phoenissa at netscape.net]

So, I came back after the weekend and found my mailbox full of messages about the feast...I'm replying in one long message, rather than sending several separate ones.  (It's *really* long - sorry about that.)  I am very encouraged by the range of comments; you are all catching many details I've missed.  I'm not going to comment on the length of the service, though...that's one of the things I'm working out with the autocrats, etc, and I can't really decide anything about it just yet.  But I'm taking note of all the discussion here just the same.


david friedman <ddfr at daviddfriedman.com> wrote:

>
>>Lamb meatballs with eggplant-yogurt dip ["buran" B8]
>
>I think if you look at the recipe, it's pretty clear that it isn't a
>dip; it ends:
>
>  "Pour on top of this the eggplant, sprinkle with fine-ground cumin
>and cinnamon, and serve. "

Whoops!  The first time I tried this recipe (before I knew I was cooking the feast) I read it backwards, and thought you were supposed to serve the meatballs on top of the eggplant :-/  I used approximately equal proportions of eggplant and yogurt, and the texture came out much more like a dip (like, thick enough to eat it with a fork) than a sauce.  Well, whether the eggplant or the meatballs go on top, I am going to keep some of the eggplant sauce separate for vegetarians (I think it's too tasty to miss out on), and it seemed to me that the likeliest way for it to be eaten plain was as a dip.  But, when I write up the menu, I should probably change it to "sauce."

>>>Although I guess the lamb meatballs can be eaten without the eggplant.
>>Exactly!
>How do you  get that from the recipe? Doesn't it specifically say to
>serve the eggplant and yogurt stuff over the meatballs, with spices
>on top? I believe the title of the dish is a reference to the
>eggplant, via a wife of al Ma'mun to whom Buraniya is attributed.
>Look at other recipes with "buran" in their names.

Oops.  Again, I plead guilty to not (re)reading the recipe carefully enough :(  Well, supposing the meatballs and eggplant were to go to the table in separate bowls (I'd originally thought to have them side-by-side on a platter), and people can pour the sauce over the meatballs in their own plates, or not, as they choose.  Then those who won't eat meat or won't eat eggplant will both be satisfied.  Or am I trying to hard to please everybody at the table...?

>
>>Yogurt and cucumber salad ["qar bi-laban" B12]
>>Fava beans with vinaigrette ["baqili b-khall" B13]
>
>I haven't done it; does it require fresh fava beans or dried? You can
>frozen green fava beans in a middle eastern grocery store with luck.

It says, "Take green beans [I assumed this meant favas] as soon as firm, and peel..."  So, yeah, fresh.  I made it with fresh beans and it was very nice.  I've also used frozen beans (for a different recipe), and if I can find a store that has them, I will probably use them to save myself the trouble of shelling all those beans by hand.

>I believe that middle eastern sesame oil is the kind done from
>untoasted sesame seeds, not the highly flavored chinese condiment fro
>toasted sesame seeds. I mention this because when I originally did
>that recipe I didn't know that and used the chinese version. It was
>good, but I 'm reasonably sure it was wrong.

Yeah, I used the toasted kind too.  Anahita also warned me about that (she tried some of the test recipes), so I'm all set to buy the untoasted kind for the feast.

>Something we like to do is a rehearsal--the whole feast scaled down
>to one table. That has three advantages
<snip>

I like this idea, and will probably do it once I have the final version of the menu set.  On Friday some friends and I started testing recipes: each of us made one dish and brought it to dinner.  This has a *lot* of inherent problems, I realize; I only cooked two of the dishes myself, and the rest were beyond my control (but assigned to cooks I trusted ;->).  However, we all found it useful to "get an idea" of what it would taste like, what proportions could be altered, which dishes to use or not to use.  We didn't make the whole menu, only a few of the simpler recipes.  Once I have the menu finalized, I'll do it again with my kitchen crew, keeping careful track of ingredient amounts, and use that as the basis for the feast.

>My main reservation is that it sounds like a very ambitious feast,
>especially if you haven't done one before. I would be inclined to
>start with something considerably simpler Elizabeth and I did an
>Islamic feast recently and there were a total of six main dishes, not
>counting the barmakiya and dips that were served during the afternoon
>or the desserts. You don't say how many cooks you have, how many
>burners, or any of that stuff.

Six burners, a smallish oven, and an undecided number of cooks.  However, I think several of the dishes can be served cold or at room temperature, and so some of the work can be done in advance.  But like I said, this is just a first draft, and I could easily pare down the menu or rearrange it to make it a little less hectic.  I know it's ambitious, but I can never break the habit of attempting things that seem beyond my range :-)

>>That's true.  One of the autocrats is also doing the bulk of research on fe=
>>asting traditions, in the Middle and Near East in general but mostly in 12t=
>>h-13th c. Andalusia.
>
>I assume you have already noticed the discussion in Manuscrito
>Anonimo (the andalusian cookbook).

Yes, I have.

>Your researcher should probably
>look for information on Ziryab--I believe he is the one credited with
>shifting Andalusian serving patterns away from what was (and I gather
>still is) the standard Middle Eastern approach.

Ok, I'll tell him about that (not sure if he knows already).  Thanks!

>>   The problem is, though, I have barely any exact r=
>>edactions for any of the historic recipes I've tried.  I spice things almos=
>>t entirely by taste, and I don't always keep track of proportions of meat a=
>>nd vegetables...I just do what looks and tastes right to me.
>
>With the number of dishes you plan you are unlikely to be cooking all
>of them yourself, which is a problem if you don't have reasonably
>complete recipes. Shopping is another problem if you don't know the
>proportions.

Good point <sigh>.  Just goes to show I haven't thought things through carefully enough.  Well, by the time I have a final version of the menu, I will do precise redactions for all the dishes.


Mark Calderwood <mark-c at acay.com.au> wrote:

>Hello Vittoria, Giles here,
>Just de-lurking for a moment to throw my tuppence worth in on this
>discussion, as I've recently done a bit of research in this area for the
>Andalusian feast I was going to do for Twelfth Night (which was cancelled
>due to the bushfire crisis).

Hi Giles! :-) I remember you talking, I mean writing, about the Twelfth Night feast - it sounded wonderful, I'm sorry it was cancelled (better to be safe from the fires, though, of course).  Are you planning to reschedule it?

>The menu overall looks very good, although I agree with Anahita, perhaps a
>touch heavy on the meats.

I'm starting to agree about too much meat; I'm thinking of replacing the lamb in the third course with something lighter.  (I should point out, though, I haven't really been counting the fish as a "meat," since I know some otherwise-vegetarians will eat it, but unless it's salmon, many carnivores won't.  I was thinking of it as a side dish rather than a main course.)

>
>>Each table is going to be set before the feast is served with little
>>plates...
>
>A good idea, although as Anahita pointed out, people can be tempted to fill
>up on the nibblies so don't put out too much. A small plate of things like
>perfumed olives, nuts, dried figs and apricots etc, and another small plate
>of various dip things like shiraz bi-buqul and qar bi-laban.

Well, the qar bi-laban was going to be part of the first course, but otherwise that sounds like a good idea.  (I think putting dried fruits out at the beginning would be good too, since everything else is salty.)

>I was planning
>on using loaves of Turkish bread cut into small strips for dipping; lavash
>would also be good.

Um, I'm not quite certain what you mean by Turkish bread.  (I'm guessing it's something I know by a different name...pita bread, maybe??)

>You've got two yogurt dishes in the same course, perhaps the lamb cabobs
>could be moved or dropped.

Yeah, that's been pointed out to me already.  Hmmm...I'll try to figure out a way to rearrange it.

>Personally I think the garlic chicken is the
>nicer of the two, although for my taste nothing can beat chicken in
>pomegranate! Major yumbo.

Well, I haven't tried either one yet, but I'm leaning towards the garlic too.  (Although didn't the garbanzo-chicken recipe have pomegranate and quince, or something?  I thought that sounded good too.)  I'll try them both first.

>Actually, I'd swap the courses around, with fish
>first, red meat second and chicken third. This means people will be much
>more likely to eat the fish (can't believe you guys won't eat fish over
>there...!) and eat less lamb than they otherwise might. This also seems to
>be a more period order of service.

OK...how about this: Get rid of the lamb and turnip dish entirely.  The first course will have the meatballs and fish, the second has red meat (with the couscous), and the third has chicken.  The qar bi-laban could go in the second course (trading places with the fish) so the two yogurt dishes aren't together.  And the first course has one less dish in it.

>Also consider samuk makhdur (?) that Mari was talking about a while ago,
>that sounds really easy to do, and dead tasty.

I can't find it...what's it like?  (And what page is it on?)  I've tried both fish recipes, and while both were delicious, the fennel one was by far the easier to prepare, so that's the one I'll do.

>I'd consider ditching the jananiyya, the couscous
>makes a good starch and can be used as a base for serving the fish.

Well, I'm thinking the fish may not go in the same course as the couscous after all.  But I don't want to ditch the jananiyya - see, the couscous recipe says to put cooked meat and vegetables over it.  So, my idea was to offer both a meaty tharida and the jananiyya (as the veg. alternative) to be served over it.  Besides, we tried the jananiyya this weekend and it was really yummy :-)

>
>>Third course:
>>Lamb with turnips ["tharda of meat with turnips and walnuts" A31]
>>Lentils ["muzawarra" A52]
>>A spiced eggplant dish ["arnabi" A52, or "a dish of eggplants" A24]
>>A cheese pie ["mujabbana" A22]
>
>Personally, I'd lose the lentils as they are bit heavy, especially this
>late in the menu. The eggplant and mujabbana are plenty (Btw it's worth
>using a nice tasty cheese in the mujabbana, and make tiny little pies).

Good point about the lentils - I hadn't thought about that.  It probably would be too filling for the last course, but I'll try it first anyway and see.  I like the idea of making tiny little pies but I think it would take way too long...easier to make one big one for each table, I guess.

>Hais, lauzinaj, khabisa (with pomegranate) etc are all winners.

I've been looking at all of those.  Anahita made lauzinaj for her Persian feast in November, and I loved it.  I've been trying to figure out an qataif recipe too.

>People are
>going to be stuffed by this stage, so perhaps one sweet and some fresh
>fruit like orange slices, grapes, and plums would be sufficient.

Might watermelon be a possibilty?  I don't know how available it will be in early March, but I bet it would go over well with the diners - very light and refreshing, and quantity is hardly a problem ;)  (Assuming watermelons were eaten in the Mediterranean around the 13th century...)

>
>My main suggestion would be to slightly rejig the menu- my suggestion would be:
>On table
>perfumed olives, nuts, dried figs, dried apricots, bread, shiraz bi-buqul, qar bi-laban, badhinjan bi-laban, tahina (all in small quantities)

Plain tahini??  I have to admit, I don't care for it that much by itself :-/

>First course
>(Gives you the meat, a starch/base, and a contrasting substantial vegetable)

But fava beans may not be very popular.  I think i definitely want to keep in the jananiyya- it's the most substantial of any of the veg. dishes on the menu.

>
>Second course
<snip>

>Of course, this is only my suggestion, please feel free to ignore it or
>tell me to bag my head. :o)

Well, I have definitely decided to rearrange the menu, but not quite in the same order as you did :-)  Rather than switching around entire courses, I think I'll just move around a few dishes...I'll post a revised menu later this week and we'll see how it goes over with everyone.

>I assume of course, being a feast in the Islamic style,
>people will be seated on carpets and cushions etc, rather than
>tables-and-chairs.

We're working that out...depends on what the folks who run the site will let us set up that way!

>Have you given much thought to the decoration/ambience of the feasting
>hall? Things like wall hangings, tiraz curtains, music?

Yes, but we don't know how much they'll let us do.  Apparently the site prohibits wall hangings :(  We'll negotiate with them, but basically we have to work around their rules.  (We're doing the event on campus, so we have a lot of red tape to deal with.)

>I hope all this has been of some help: if I can be of any further
>assistance please don't hesitate to contact me!
>al-salam alayqum 'Llah,
>Giles

Yes, it has!  Thank you to *everybody* who's offered help with this.  I really do appreciate it :-)

Vittoria
--




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