[Sca-cooks] Rishta (was Re: Martino Corno's pasta recipe?)

[lilinah at earthlink.net]

Christiane <christianetrue at earthlink.net>
>Thank you. Very interesting, I had wondered if there were Middle 
>Eastern pasta dishes, and what the period ones were (I had read the 
>Miscellany so briefly and so long ago that rishta didn't stick in my 
>head).

The book, "Medieval Arab Cookery", published by Prospect Books in 
2001, would be of great use to you.

First, there's a substantial essay on Middle Eastern pastas written 
by Charles Perry.

Then, in his introduction to the Kitab al-Tibakha, a 15th cookbook 
from Damascus that is clearly NOT for the wealthy, but the average 
person, Perry notes the "surprising" prominence of pasta dishes.

And, of course, there are quite a number of recipes that include 
noodles or pasta in the several cookbooks, translated and published 
in their entirety, along with foot notes, in "Medieval Arab Cookery", 
not just in the Kitab al-Tibakha. These include, but are not limited 
to rishta, itriya, salma, tutmaj, and shushbarak (like ravioli or 
capelletti).

I would think that "Medieval Arab Cookery" would be of use to you.
-- 
Urtatim, formerly Anahita