[Sca-cooks] looking for middle eastern

[lilinah at earthlink.net]

Lady Sionnan wrote:
>Hi there.  I am looking to plan an event for this year in which it will have
>a definite middle eastern theme (thousand and one arabian nights,
>Concordia's crystal snowflake ball).  I am looking to instead of a feast
>provide what amounts to a never ending buffet through out the day and was
>wondering what suggestions people might have as to where to look for
>recipes, recipes or dishes.

I've sent out recipes to several Laurel Vigils for Near or Middle 
Eastern personae. Since a Laurel Vigil is often something of a never 
ending buffet, i think they would be suitable.

Here's a recent collection of recipes i sent to someone in Canada 
(i'm in The West). There are a couple non-period items which are 
marked as such.

I'm send it in three parts as it is rather long

Anahita

----- MENU -----

BREAD
I suggest using Lavosh and any other Middle Eastern flat breads you 
can find. I get Persian and Afghani breads where i live. But Pita 
will do - pita as we know it is not like period breads - i can find 
no suggestion that they ate such a tough bread with a pocket.
You can also use Ak-mak crackers (in health food stores and Middle 
Eastern markets in the US) - although from what i can gather, folks 
would have dampened the crackers to soften them.

DIPS
Sals Abyad = White Sauce - Spiced Walnut-Sesame Butter
Badhinjan Buran = Princess Buran's Eggplant - pureed with yogurt and spices
Isfanakh Mutajjan - Stir-fried Spinach

SAVORY SIDES
Zaitun Mubakhkhar - Smoked and Spiced Olives
Jazr - Carrots with spiced oil and vinegar dressing
Minted Cucumber Fresh Pickle
Moroccan Carrot, Orange & Radish Salad - MODERN

MEATS
Andalusian "deviled" eggs
Thumiyya - Chicken with garlic, lavender, and spices
Barida - chicken cucumber salad
merguez - lamb sausages with spices and lavender flowers
Andalusian Spiced Meatballs - while recipe calls for lamb these can 
be beef, turkey, whatever
Sinab - Mustard-almond-honey sauce for meatballs

SWEETS
Rutab Mu'assal - Honeyed Dates - stuffed with almonds, scented with rosewater
Sliced Oranges with Rosewater and Cinnamon
Lauzinaj - Phyllo-wrapped rose-scented marzipan
carrot paste
hais
bowls of dried fruit - especially apricots
and nuts (no pecans or peanuts or cashews)
but walnuts, almond, filberts/hazelnuts, and pine nuts are good

BEVERAGES
beverage syrups:
lemon
pomegrante
mint

Coffee - is period only for the very late 15th and the 16th centuries 
even in the Near East. But what the heck, i drink it at events and my 
persona is from the first half of the 10th century. I use my version 
of Paula Wolfert's Ras al-hanout for Coffee. I drink my coffee and 
tea unsweetened, but coffee with this ras al-hanout is definitely 
better slightly sweetened - the sugar seems to bring out the flavors 
of the spices, gums, and flowers in the blend.

Masala Chai - As far as i can tell it isn't period, but it's tasty 
and warming. Hearing it called "chai tea" drives me nuts, and i was 
already close enough to walk.  "Chai" means "tea", so that's like 
saying "tea tea". Well, enough ranting. Masala chai is tasty and 
warming, as i said, and i like it myself with milk and no sweetener.

----- RECIPES PART ONE -----

SALS ABYAD (WHITE SAUCE) - SPICED WALNUT-SESAME BUTTER
Serves 100 - 150

NOTE: If you make this ahead of time, keep in the refrigerator. It 
won't need to be kept refrigerated while travelling. Add water and 
more lemon juice on-site before serving.

The name of this dish is from some European word for sauce. The 
recipe is purely Near Eastern, however. Mustard was used to spike up 
some dishes. In Southwest Asia cooks used powdered mustard seed, 
while in al-Andalus and al-Maghrib they used prepared mustard.

Original Recipe:
Walnuts, garlic, pepper, Chinese cinnamon, white mustard, tahineh and 
lemon juice.
The Book of the Description of Familiar Foods = al-Kitab Wasf 
al-At'ima al-Mu'tada, 1373[complete text translated and introduced by 
Charles Perry, Medieval Arab Cookery], p. 389

My Recipe:

4 pounds walnuts
4 quarts sesame tahini
several ounces prepared garlic paste with NO additives or preservatives
2 Tablespoons pepper
1/4 cup powdered cinnamon
2 ounces yellow mustard powder
juice from 10 lemons

1. Grind walnuts finely in blender or food processor.
2. In large bowl, stir together ground walnuts with 2 quarts of tahini
3. Mix garlic, pepper, cinnamon and mustard into one quart of tahini
4. Mix seasoned tahini into walnut-sesame paste.
5. Let stand overnight for flavors to develop.
6. Shortly before serving stir in fresh lemon juice
7. Serve with Near Eastern flat breads - I served Lavosh and a 
Persian flat bread whose name I have forgotten.

NOTE: Use a Middle Eastern brand of sesame paste/tahini (Sahadi is 
one such brand). Health food brands of sesame paste doesn't work as 
well - they're rather thick and they're less oily.

NOTE:  I suspect this is supposed to be more liquid than the very 
dense nut butter I got. When I make it again, I'll add enough water 
and lemon juice to give this the consistency of modern 
hummos-bi-tahihi. So shortly before serving, add water to the above 
recipe. It will probably suck it up. So to make a dipping 
consistancy, you'll need to add a fair bit. This will dilute the 
flavors, so you'll need more lemon juice, too. RealLemon isn't very 
good, but some of the brands in squeezable plastic bottles are decent.

--------------------

BADHINJAN BURAN (PRINCESS BURAN'S EGGPLANT) - EGGPLANT PUREED WITH 
YOGURT AND SPICES
Serves 100 to 150

This is a dish of legend. And I may have created one of my own, as 
people came up to me after the feast and confessed that they hated 
eggplant and had eaten three servings of it. As for the history of 
the dish, Charles Perry has an entire essay devoted to it in 
"Medieval Arab Cookery". I'm sure that my interpretation was also 
colored by all the multitude of other Buran and Buraniyya recipes I 
read.

Original Recipe:
Take eggplant and boil lightly in water and salt, then take out and 
dry for an hour. Fry this in fresh sesame oil until cooked: peel, put 
into a dish or large cup, and beat well with a ladle, until it 
becomes like khabis [pudding]. Add a little salt and dry coriander. 
Take some Persian milk, mix in garlic, pour over the eggplant, and 
mix together well. Take red meat, mince fine, make into small kabobs, 
add melting fresh tail, throw the meat into it stirring until 
browned. Then cover with water, and stew until the water has 
evaporated and only the oils remain. Pour on top of this eggplant, 
sprinkle with fine-ground cumin and cinnamon, and serve.

al-Baghdadi = al-Kitab al-Tabikh (The Book of Dishes) by Muhammad ibn 
al-Hasan ibn Muhammad ibn Karim al-Katib al-Baghdadi, a 13th century 
cookbook. On p. 59-60, Medieval Arab Cookery

My Recipe:

NOTE: This must be kept refrigerated or in a cooler until shortly 
before serving. Allow to come to room temperature

12 pounds eggplant - I used the large ones because they were cheaper, 
but I suspect that smaller Asian eggplants would be better
1 pint light sesame oil (or olive oil)
2 quarts whole milk yogurt with NO additives or thickeners - I used 
Pavel's Russian Yogurt - there's nothing in it but milk and yogurt 
culture - no gums, no gelatin, no thickeners, etc.
1/4 cup salt
1 Tablespoon pepper
2 to 3 Tablespoons ground cinnamon
1/4 cup plus 2 Tablespoons ground coriander seed
1/4 cup plus 2 Tablespoons ground cumin seed
Fresh mint
1 fresh pomegranate
1 pint whole milk yogurt

1. If using large eggplants, remove stem end and quarter. Small 
eggplants, leave whole.
2. Boil briefly, until just barely tender. I did this in multiple 
stages as all the eggplant wouldn't fit in one pot.
3. Put eggplant in a sieve or colander over a bowl or in a clean sink 
and let drain. Again I did this in stages. I didn't drain the pieces 
for a whole hour. After batches had drained for 15 minutes or so, I 
removed them to a large bowl.
4. Put enough sesame oil in a large frying pan to cover the bottom, 
then heat on a  medium-high fire.
5. When oil is hot, add some of drained eggplants - one layer of 
eggplant only. Cook until tender, then remove - I drained them in a 
colander as I removed them from the pan.
6. When all have been cooked and allowed to cool, puree them. I used 
a food processor but a blender would work. And a potato masher or 
ricer should work too.
7. When all the eggplants were pureed and in a big container, I added 
two quarts of Pavel's yogurt. I honestly believe the quality of the 
yogurt affected the taste of the finished dish. But use the best 
plain yogurt you can find.
8. After mixing yogurt and eggplant, add spices. Allow to sit 
overnight in a cool place for flavor to develop.
9. Peel pomegranate and remove white pith. Separate seeds into a bowl.
10. Dish eggplant into serving bowls, decorate the edge with fresh 
mint leaves or sprigs, place a dollop of yogurt in the center of each 
dish and top with pomegranate seeds.

---------------------

ISFANAKH MUTAJJAN - FRIED SPINACH

Original
al-Baghdadi's Book of Dishes, p. 79, in Medieval Arab Cookery
Take spinach, cut off the lower roots, and wash: then boil lightly in 
salt and water, and dry. Refine sesame-oil, drop in the spinach, and 
stir until fragrant. Chop up a little garlic, and add. Sprinkle with 
fine-ground cumin, coriander seed, and cinnamon: then remove.

My version:
Serves 8 as a primary vegetable side dish

When I was in Morocco in Dec 2000-Jan 2001, I was served a dish very 
like this in a "palace" restaurant in Fez. It was a real surprise to 
find Baghdadi's 14th c. dish in 21st c. Morocco.

2 lb spinach
1/2 c sesame oil (cold pressed, NOT the roasted Asian kind)
6 cloves garlic, smashed
1 tsp. salt
1 t cumin
1 t coriander
1/2 t cinnamon

Parboil spinach in salted water 2-4 min. (or less).
Press out excess water and chop roughly.
Stir fry as recipe directs, adding spices toward the end.

NOTE: I make this at camping events. I buy frozen organic chopped 
spinach. I pour it into a large skillet and cook until thawed. Then I 
pour in the sesame oil and stir.  I push the spinach over to one 
side, put inthe garlic, cook until soft, then add the other 
ingredients, and stir well.

NOTE: It is likely that they didn't use spinach originally, but a 
leafy green called orach. You can also use chard, but you'll need to 
chop it first and par-boil it before putting it in the pan with the 
seasonings.

NOTE: Cook ahead of time and keep chilled before serving. This can be 
served at room temperature or warmed.

If you want to use this as a dip, you might try making it, cooling it 
a little, then putting it in the blender for a smoother consistency.

---------------------

ZAITUN MUBAKHKHAR - SMOKED OLIVES
Serves 100 to 150 people

NOTE: If you make these ahead of time, keep in the refrigerator until 
you leave. They won't need to be kept chilled while you're 
travelling, if you serve them within a day or two

This recipe was quick and easy to make. The original calls for 
smoking the olives. As I don't have the necessary equipment, I added 
a few drops of smoke flavor to the drained olives.

Original Recipe:
Take olives when fully ripe. If you want take them black, and if you 
want take them green, except that the green are better for smoking. 
Bruise them and put some salt on them, as much as needed, and turn 
them over every day until the bitterness goes away. When they throw 
off liquid, pour it off. When the bitterness is gone from them, 
spread them out on a woven tray until quite dry.

Then pound peeled garlic and cleaned thyme, as much as necessary. 
Take the quantity of a dirham of them, and a piece of walnut with its 
meat in it, and a dirham of wax, and a piece of cotton immersed in 
sesame oil, and a piece of date seed. Put these ingredients on a low 
fire on a stove [kanun] and seal its door, and put the tray the 
olives are in on top of it, and cover it with a tray so that it is 
filled with the scent of this smoke, which does not escape. Then 
leave it that way for a whole day.

Then you return them to a container large enough for them and mix the 
pounded garlic and thyme with them, and a little crushed walnut meat, 
and a handful of toasted sesame seeds. Take as much fresh sesame oil 
as needed and fry it with cumin seeds, and throw them on it and mix 
them with it.

Then take a greased pottery jug [barniyya] and smoke it in that 
smoke. Put the olives in it and cover the top, and it is put up for 
[several] days. It is not used until the sharpness of the garlic in 
it is broken.

The Book of the Description of Familiar Foods = al-Kitab Wasf 
al-At'ima al-Mu'tada, 1373 [complete text translated and introduced 
by Charles Perry, Medieval Arab Cookery], p. 403

My Recipe:
4-1/2 pounds cracked green olives in brine, drained
	I bought Greek olives in a resealable plastic barrel for 
under $10 at a Near Eastern food shop
a few drops liquid smoke flavoring
1-1/2 heads garlic, peeled
a couple tablespoons dried thyme or zataar herb
1 cup shelled walnuts
1 cup white sesame seeds
1-1/2 Tablespoons light sesame oil
2 to 3 Tablespoons whole cumin seeds

1. Drain olives well.
2. Add a few drops of smoke flavoring to the drained olives. Be sure 
to mix very very well.
3. Crush garlic cloves in a food processor or by hand with in a 
mortar with a pestle (the latter is what I did).
4. Add thyme to garlic and crush further.
5. Add garlic and thyme to olives. Blend well.
6. Crush walnuts medium-fine in a mortar with a pestle. Add to olives 
and mix well.
7. Toast sesame seeds in a frying pan with NO oil, over medium to 
medium-low heat, stirring very very frequently, until toasted fairly 
evenly to a rich golden color - do NOT allow to burn.
8. Add sesame seeds to to olives and mix well.
9. Put a few tablespoons of sesame oil in frying pan, add several 
tablespoons of whole cumin seeds, and cook on medium to medium-low 
heat until cumin darkens slightly and aroma comes out. Be careful not 
to burn. Stir into olives.
10. Taste. Add more smoke if necessary - use a sparing hand, as too 
much is awful.
11. Let olives season for several days well covered in a cool place, 
stirring once a day to distribute flavorings. I made them Tuesday 
night and served them Saturday night.

NOTE: It is difficult to find plain zataar herb. Every shop I visited 
that had zataar had the kind that was a blend of zataar herb, salt, 
sesame seeds, and sumak. This blend is not suitable for this recipe.

A friend of mine of Lebanese descent suggested I try the herb called 
"Greek oregano". This is NOT the standard oregano sold in 
supermarkets, which is "Mexican oregano" and which flavor I do not 
like. I did see "Greek oregano" in some of the Near Eastern markets 
and will try it when I make these olives again, which I most 
definitely will, as they were delicious.

---------------------

Jazr - pp. 92-93

This was printed in "In a Caliph's Kitchen" by David Waines. The book 
is now out of print. I have not reproduced Waines' worked out 
recipes, since they generally are very far from the originals. The 
part below marked "Waines" is the modern author's comments on the 
recipe.  Next is the original. I've never made this one, but you can 
see my comments at the bottom...

WAINES: There are a few dishes in the medieval Arabic repertoire 
where a vegetable is highlighted by itself. In this case it is used 
to decorate the plate on which something else is served; it is, in 
fact, a perfect accompaniment with a dish of plain rice. Carrots, at 
least, can be treated on their own as the carrot family of plants 
(which includes caraway, cumin, coriander, and dill, all common to 
medieval Arab cooking) is characterized by strongly scented essential 
oils. This recipe is thirteenth century Moroccan.
[Anahita sez: hmm-mmm, this might be in the 13th C. Andalusian Cookbook...]

ORIGINAL: Cut the carrots into pieces without peeling them. Select 
the middle bits and cut each piece in half and cook in salted water. 
Dry the pieces off and fry in a pan with fresh oil. Then pour over it 
boiling vinegar with crushed garlic and caraway. One can then either 
leave the carrot pieces without frying (or else place them after 
frying) as decoration on a platter.

[My Comments: This is *VERY* like a modern Moroccan recipe - the 
biggest differences are that the modern recipe uses cumin, not 
caraway, generally substitutes lemon juice for the vinegar, and often 
includes powdered red chili]

Recipe Breakdown (i haven't made this)

carrots, cleaned
salted water to cover
fresh oil for frying, either olive or sesame
white wine vinegar
crushed garlic
caraway seeds, crushed - or cumin seeds (my preference)
(salt to taste)

1. Cut the carrots across into pieces
2. Cut each piece in half lengthwise.
3. Cook carrots in salted water until just tender.
4. Drain and dry carrots.
5. Put vinegar, garlic, and seeds in a saucepan and simmer for 5 to 10 minutes.
6. Fry carrots in a pan with fresh oil.
7. Then pour hot vinegar with crushed garlic and caraway over carrots.

MY NOTE: This would look nice with flat-leaf parsley chopped and 
tossed with the carrots before serving.

---------------------

Minted Cucumber Fresh Pickle

Original
al-Baghdadi,

Modern version by Anahita bint 'abd al-Karim al-Fassi
Serves 50-75

5 lb. medium cucumbers
salt
water
white wine vinegar
1 very large bunch fresh mint

1. Wash and peel cucumbers. (peels are usually bitter)
2. Cut cucumbers in half and scoop out the seeds.
3. Cut cucumber halves into 1/4" thick "moons".
4. Put cucumbers in a food safe container.
5. Sprinkle cucumbers with salt and toss.
6. Tear up mint leaves.
7. Add mint leaves to cucumbers and stir.
8. Cover cucumbers with equal parts of water and vinegar, enough to 
cover cucumbers, and stir well.
9. Let stand at least several hours.
10. Once pickled, must be kept in refrigerator. Will only keep a couple days.

I think it would be good drained and tossed with shredded fresh mint 
when it's time to serve.

---------------------

Carrot, Orange & Radish Salad
Modern Moroccan Recipe
Serves 8

This isn't Medieval, but i'm very fond of it

NOTE: If you have the facilities, take the ingredients and tools and 
prepare on site. It might travel ok if not made too far ahead of time 
- say, one day - and kept chilled.

1 lb Carrots, peeled & shredded
2 large Oranges, cut into bite-sized chunks - Blood Oranges are good
2-3 bunches red  Radishes, sliced
2 tablespoons Lemon Juice
2 tablespoons Orange Juice
1 tablespoon Orange Flower Water
1 teaspoon ground Cinnamon, or to taste
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
a pinch of salt
1/2 cup Cilantro, chopped

Peel and grate carrots.
Slice radishes.
Peel oranges, remove all outside membrane carefully, so as not to 
break segments--if using blood oranges, remove seeds. When fruit is 
free of membrane, carefully lift out and place in serving dish. As 
orange juice comes out, save it in a bowl.
Combine carrots, oranges, radishes & cilantro in a salad bowl.
Mix juices with sugar, flower water, cinnamon and salt to taste.
Pour over the salad.
Cover and chill. (well, I don't bother with this at events)
Serve sprinkled with cilantro. Alternately, you could use chopped 
flat leaf parsley.

---------------------