[Sca-cooks] Re: Shish Kabab ton-o-questions

[lilinah at earthlink.net]

Helen Hawksworth wrote:
>Good Evening!
>I have actually been asked to Ýcook a course at our December Event. ;)
>Yes, it will be my first....
>It has been requested that I prepare Shish Kababs with the usual
>accompaniments.

You mean the usual modern accompaniments? Or "period" accompaniments.

>Now, part of the presentation is have the Head Table presented with flaming
>Shish Kabab on fencing foils.

Flaming shish kabob very modern. I don't care if 
you guys want to do it,it's good theater, just 
letting you know it's far from Medieval Middle 
Eastern.

DO NOT cook or serve them on real fencing foils. 
They are not made for cooking on and are not food 
safe.
Use ordinary skewers and decorate them to look like fencing foils.

>So, I have a flood of questions;
>
>1. If Middle/Near Eastern food doesn't contain alcohol, how am I supposed to
>get the things to flame? Would it be better to go Greek, instead of Eastern?

Oh, boff. The wealthy and powerful frequently 
drank wine, from Persia to al-Andalus. The more i 
study period Near Eastern history, literature, 
art, etc. the more this becomes clear. Plenty of 
people did not indulge, but plenty did.

But wine won't flame anyway. You need something 
that's higher proof. I think vodka would taste 
bad (and to me vodka has flavor, despite the myth 
that it is flavorless). Brandy would probably be 
decent.

>2. What cut of meat would be best? Lamb and top sirloin beef are priced about
>the same here. (I don't want to skimp on quality-tough meat doesn't grill
>well)

Lamb. Lamb. Lamb. (my computer goes "baa" every 
time i type "lamb", it's so cute)

>3. ÝFor the populace-the meat goes on a bamboo skewer. How much meat per
>stick? I am thinking of about 4 oz. per person. There will be other courses, I
>just don't know what, so far. Feast will be for about 120-150.

That depends on the size of your skewers. 4 oz. per person is a good serving.

>4. ÝIn prep work, I was thinking of cutting the beef, putting it in the
>marinade and freezing it. But, will the freezing 
>make it too tough? Will sitting in
>the marinade give it an off-flavor?

Freezing might make it more tender. The point of 
a marinade is to give it flavor and to tenderize 
it.

>5. Grill space and time will be limited-and probably charcoal. That means
>doing the charcoal in stages, replenishing and 
>so on. Is there an easier, faster
>way to do it and still get that good flavor? Say, parboil, put on sticks and
>then grill?

Do you have access to a stove with a broiler? You 
could possibly precook them the night before and 
reheat at the event... And make sure you 
understand about getting charcoal to the right 
state for grilling - they have to be burned down 
to white ash covered glowing red. If they're 
still black, they're not hot enough.

>6. I was planning on mushrooms and onions as a veggie spacer, but I would
>like a third if possible-any suggestions?

Mushrooms are clearly not period for kebabs. My 
experience in modern ethnic restaurants is that 
kebabs are meat, meat, meat. I think the veggie 
thing is modern American.

>7. If I do ME, I plan on rice and falafel and pita bread and humus. Greek
>would have rice pilaf, and...and dates. ::sigh::

I suggest you find another bread other than pita. 
>From what i can tell, pita as pocket bread is 
rather modern. Try lavosh.

As far as i can tell falafel is not period. Is this just for the vegetarians?

Hummus bi-tahini is not period. Sals abyad is...

Rice is nice... but bread is really what most 
period and modern Near Easterners eat.

-----

In response Huette wrote:
>You need to buy these books:
>
>Medieval Arab Cookery / essays and translations 
>by Maxime Rodinson, A.J. Arberry & Charles Perry 
>;
>with a foreward by Claudia Roden.  [Devon, England] : Prospect Books, 2001.
>527 p.  ISBN 0907325912
>
>If you want to do Medieval Middle Eastern food, this is the best book to have.

This is the bible of period Middle Eastern 
cooking. A treasure. I sleep with mine. But it's 
not cheap ($55). I'll look through mine and see 
what recipes i can find for you.

>and then there is:
>
>The Ni`matn¯ama manuscript of the sultans of 
>Mandu : the Sultan's book of delights / 
>translated
>by Norah M. Titley. London ; New York : Routledge, 2004.
>xx, 121 p.  ISBN 041535059X
>ISBN: 041535059X (cloth)

Diacritical marks do not travel well in e-mail. 
That's Ni'matnama... You are highly unlikely to 
want to buy this one ($110). I'll look through 
mine and see what  recipes i can find for you.

I might not post for a day or so... i'm going to 
the DMV tomorrow (that's Department of Motor 
Vehicles) - without an appointment. That can 
easily take all day, waiting in line, and i plan 
to get there around 7:30 AM, 1/2 hour before the 
doors open.
-- 
Urtatim (that's err-tah-TEEM)
the persona formerly known as Anahita