[Sca-cooks] Middle Eastern Food

[Sue Clemenger]

I'm not sure how much help I could be <g>...My experiences with ME foods
are a complete mix of modern stuff and working with the Anon Andalusian
cookbook.  And of course, everyone's MMV, and I sure could be incorrect
(especially this early in the morning w/out enough caffeine).
I think of:
flat and/or unleavened breads
things that are grilled or cooked in tagines (not so much boiled)
the use of meats like goat and lamb, rather than beef or pork
regional? use of fish and lack of recipes for lent
olives
pomegranates
more use of citrus fruits (although that also shows in Italian food)
dates
use of some different dairy products (yogurt, maybe different methods of
cheese making??)
other sweeteners besides "sugar" (things like dibs)
reliance on nutmeats like almonds, pistachios
different ways of serving foods (thinking of the chapter in the Anon.
Andalusian cookbook, here)--alternating courses based on their
"properties"
Different ways of thinking of properties of foods--things are balanced,
but not with "humors"
Greater emphasis/use of non-alcoholic beverages
"Odd" spices like zaatar, nigella, sumac, murrhi
A lot of very sweet desserts (layers of pastry and honey etc.)

I'm sure there's a zillion things I'm forgetting, but....
--maire, hopefully helpfully




lilinah at earthlink.net wrote:
> 
> Greetings,
> 
> I'm teaching a class on "Middle Eastern" food in about a month at our
> Kingdom A&S Tourney. It's a history and survey. I will discuss
> briefly the history of spices. I also want to cover some of the
> basics of historic Near and Middle Eastern food.
> 
> What individual ingredients do you think of when someone says "Middle
> Eastern"? What dishes?
> 
> What else would people want to know about historical Middle Eastern food?
> 
> Thanks for any input - this will help guide my research.
> 
> Anahita
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