[Sca-cooks] "Blattes de Bysance" in the Baghdad cookery book

[lilinah at earthlink.net]

Robin Carroll-Mann asked if the recipe for Atraf al-tib gave proportions...

Unfortunately, the recipe for Atraf al-tib in "Kitab al-wusla ila
al-habib..." gives no proportions, only a list of ingredients. While
some Near Eastern recipes list the spices used with the largest
quantity first, grading to the smallest, this is not consistent, so i
will have to experiment.

Atraf al-tib is a spice blend the recipe for 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 Description of Good Dishes
and Perfumes"
This is sometimes called The Book of the Link of the Beloved".

Maxime Rodinson ---- Charles Perry

lavender 	     ---- spikenard
betel
bay leaves
nutmeg
mace
cardamom
cloves
rosebuds	     ---- rose hips
beech-nuts     ----- common ash
-----	     ----- long pepper
ginger
pepper

I'm going primarily with Rodinson's version because:
(1) i find rose *petals/buds* used with great frequency in Near
Eastern recipes, but i have not yet found one that actually uses rose
*hips*
(2) nuts and/or seeds (almonds, pistachios, hazel nuts, sesame seeds)
feature in a number of Near Eastern blends, but i have not run into
"common ash" - whatever that may be (leaves? buds? berries? bark?).
However, it might be hard to find beech nuts (and i don't mean the
chewing gum or baby food :-)... anyone got some growing in their yard?

I don't know why long pepper is in Perry's translation and not in
Rodinson's, but it is used in the Near East, so i'll try it with and
without.

Finally, lavender and spikenard, while very different as plant matter
(flower vs. rhizome) and in flavor, are often confused in literature
in English (there's a lavender called "spike"), so i will try both
and see which flavor i prefer.

Too bad we can't post food tastes to the list. Just imagine if we
could e-mail smells and tastes... or maybe not...

Anahita