[Sca-cooks] Middle Eastern Food

[david friedman]

>>This is a quite interesting link to comments about how the Crusades 
>>changed the food landscape in the Middle East.
>>
>>>http://jeru.huji.ac.il/ef41.htm
>>
>>
>>Ana
>>
>
>I found it interesting they said that lotus was used.  I never read 
>that in any period recipes I have come across.  Nice site though.
>
>They don't give a source or time period for a recipe they have on 
>the site but it sounds good and it even sounds as if it actually may 
>be a period recipe.  What do you all think?  Here is the list of 
>ingredients:
>
>Lamb with broad beans (fava beans) and artichokes
>
>1 shoulder of lamb, cut into individual portions
>
>1/2 cup olive oil
>
>1 teaspoon saffron
>
>5-6 cloves of garlic, crushed
>
>Salt
>
>Black pepper, freshly ground
>
>1 pickled lemon
>
>3 kg artichokes
>
>10 green almonds, fresh or pickled
>
>1 kg fresh broad beans (fava beans)

The page seems to be talking about Jerusalem during and just after 
the First Crusade. It isn't clear that the artichoke existed that 
early. While there is some dispute, I gather  the dominant view is 
that it was bred out of the cardoon sometime in the Middle Ages, 
probably in the Muslim world.
-- 
David/Cariadoc
http://www.daviddfriedman.com/