[Sca-cooks] Historic Near East Spice Boxes

[lilinah at earthlink.net]

I get this list as a digest, so i will comment on several posts from 
Digest Vol 17, Issue 95

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

From: Susan Fox-Davis <selene at earthlink.net>

>I would like to see this completed.  Please finish counting the allia.
><breathing garlic breath!>

It's on my list of things to do :-)

>You suggest the camping box of each of these pack white sugar?  How
>white was their sugar, or do we have any actual idea?   I tend not to go
>lighter than turbinado when using cane sugar at all for the SCA milieu,
>and prefer to put Piloncillo cones on the table.  But that's just me.

My research indicates that white sugar is what they usually used in 
Dar al-Islam.

>I find Zaatar as an independent breed of Marjoram, "Origanum syriaca" on
>the following seed catalogue page:
>  http://www.genesisseeds.com/organicseed/herbs/catalog_culinaryherbs.htm

In tracking down zaatar (it actually doesn't begin with a "z" in 
Arabic, but with a "dark s") i have found that there isn't just one 
that is used consistently, but rather a lot of different but related, 
local regional plants. And occasionally something that isn't related 
turns up used as zaatar, such as hyssop. This may be in the 
Florilegium file on zaatar from the extended conversation we had on 
this list about 2 years or so ago.

Since i've never managed to find pure zaatar herb, i tend to fake my 
own by blending thyme and marjoram, with perhaps a soupcon of oregano 
(i really hate what is sold as oregano in the US - such a crude 
flavor- i was so thrilled to discover thyme). If i ever find some 
zaatar for sale that isn't part of that ubiquitous but tasty blend of 
saatar, sesame seed, sumac, and salt, i'll be able to try it (and see 
how close my blend comes).

I rather doubt i'll be growing any in my apartment.

>Once this is done, a comparison of the sweets sections of each might be
>interesting too.

I think i mentioned on at least one of the pages that i intend to get 
around to this, too. Or maybe i didn't. But it's probably the next 
thing i'll do after revising the pages under discussion.

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

Jadwiga Zajaczkowa / Jenne Heise <jenne at fiedlerfamily.net>

>Other things it might be useful to comment on -- the use of dates and
>other fruit, if any, for sweetening.

Actually i did count dates - they shows up a time or two. Most other 
fruits aren't all that sweet except maybe grapes.

>Also, how often is 'salt' used?

I started out counting it, but my arm got tired and the page got 
full, it was used so often. So i intentionally didn't include it. I 
might consider counting it later, but i have some other priorities - 
such as collecting data on the sweets and breads.

>Do we know whether it is black, white/yellow, or brown mustard?

I vaguely remember some remark about that in there somewhere. I will 
look into it. I will at least make a note indicating if i don't know. 
Thanks for pointing this out.

>I'm a bit
>doubtful about the derivation of 'the usual spices' based on the most
>used spices...

I noticed in re-reading the pages that i didn't include all the 
different phrases that show up. I will go back and add them in when i 
update the pages in a week or so.

The phrase or something like it is often used when actual spicing is 
not specified, rather than as an adjunct to a list of spices. This is 
why i have assumed that the recipe writer is calling for the most 
commonly used spices.

But sometimes it accompanies some specified seasonings. I should make 
a count of when it is one and when it is the other.

I can see that one might interpret it as meaning, "the usual spices 
for this recipe/dish". Obviously i didn't interpret it that way... 
You've given me food for thought.

How would you interpret the meaning of these sorts of phrases?

>does the translation of the term suggest anything different?

A few times, the phrase is something like, "all the usual spices 
except cumin." I can find the exact wording, but cumin is definitely 
specified to be left out.

Additionally one chapter in al-Andalusi mentions that refined people 
have dishes of salt, pepper, and cinnamon on the table, while the 
less refined have dishes of salt, pepper, and cumin. When i was in 
Morocco, there were always dishes of salt, pepper, and cumin on the 
tables, even today. So i think the usual seasonings include these 
four, with the occasional exclusion of cumin. And i have assumed that 
given the common use of coriander seed it is one of the common or 
usual spices.

>I believe there are 2 kinds of galingale and I always get
>them muddled... you only mention one, so either it's simpler than I
>thought or some logical jump hasn't been elucidated.

I lived in Indonesia where there are at least three kinds, although 
none are called galangal there:  (1) laos/lengkuas (Thai: kha) 
(Greater Galangale, Alpinia galanga L.), (2) kentjoer/kencur (Lesser 
Galangale, Kaempferia galanga L.), and (3) temoe koentji/ temu kunci 
(Thai: ka chai or krachai) (Kaempferia pandurata or Boesenbergia 
pandurata), apparently called Fingerroot in English - i've seen 
non-Indonesians confuse it with kuntji because each has a 
camphoraceous scent and taste - but they do look and taste different. 
Each rhizome tastes distinctly different. But only the first is 
commonly used and the third is rarely used in food, more often 
medicinally.

(BTW, the "c" in Indonesian is pronounced liked an American "ch" - 
the spellings with the "tj" are Dutch and still often found)

I've tried researching which galangal was used in Medieval Europe, 
but i haven't found anything definative. ISTR, however, that Andrew 
Dalby in "Dangerous Tastes" suggests that both laos/lengkuas, which 
is modern common galangal, and kentjur/kencur were used 
interchangeably depending on what was imported.

Since modern galangal/laos/lengkuas is more readily available and 
cheaper than kentjur/kencur, i lean towards it. In Indonesia, laos is 
most often used and on several islands, and whereas kentjur is used 
primarily on Java (and as i said, less often even there). When 
kentjur is used it is intentionally the dominant flavor in the dish 
and the name of the spice often figures in the name of the dish.

Of course, i don't know just how different Indonesian cuisine was in 
SCA period, although i am sure it was different from what it is now. 
It was hard finding cookbooks when i lived there in the late 70s, 
although i bought all i found (and they tend to be written a lot like 
Medieval recipes). I doubt they even bothered to write recipes down 
"in period".

Certainly European entry into the Spice Trade altered things, as well 
as Dutch and Portuguese colonization of the islands. Among the 
changes are the arrival of capsicum peppers with the Portuguese and 
forced labor in sugar cane fields and refineries by the Dutch - they 
weren't growing sugar cane in Indonesia before - they used mostly 
palm sugar, as far as i can tell.

And i would imagine that contact with India, with whom there is a 
very long history of trade, and China, with whom there is an even 
longer history of spice trade (Java was a source of bird's nests for 
the soup of the name), could have altered things, too, although these 
changes would have taken place within SCA period, while European 
contact is just at the end and primarily shortly after the end of SCA 
period.

>  Again, in the Andalusian text, you say "Bee Balm". That could be
>'Melissa' (lemon balm), but the term 'Bee Balm' to modern gardeners
>usually means Bergamot, Monarda didyma.

It is Melissa, not Bergamot (aka Bergamot Mint).

Also, i noticed in re-reading the pages that my addition of botanical 
names is incomplete. So i need to add more of them. I will confess 
here that my primary (but not only) source has been Gernot Katzer's 
website. I mention it on at least one of the pages.
http://www-ang.kfunigraz.ac.at/~katzer/engl/

>Formatting quibbles; you seem to have problems with capitalization of
>'I' and a few more typos.

I have no problem with it - i intentionally do not capitalize the 
word within a sentence, as you may have noticed from my e-mails :-)

I'll re-read and look for typos. I've done it a time or two, but 
there are always a few that slip by.

>But it's still amazing work and wow, wow, I (metaphorically) kiss your
>hands and feet..

I'll be sure not to wash them, to savor the honor :-)

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

From: "Terry Decker" <t.d.decker at worldnet.att.net>

>You might consider evaluating usage on the basis of location.  For example,
>are lavender and rue common in Europe and uncommon in Mesopotamia?

That is my assumption. As you know rue was commonly used in Roman 
food, and the original center of lavender is the Western European 
Mediterranean. I don't recall seeing either in the Formulary of 
al-Khindi, but i'll double check. Certainly dried lavender could be 
imported from the Near East for medicinal use in the Middle East.

>IIRC,
>honeybees are of European origin and were not common in the Middle East,
>while sugar has been grown in in Mesopotamia from around the 5th Century
>BCE.  It would be quite a bit of work, but it would be a useful bit of
>culinary detection.
>
>I like the pages.

Thanks

And thanks to each of you for your comments and suggestions. I'll be 
waiting a week before i make changes.

Anahita