[Sca-cooks] Barida - Cold Chicken Dish, 9th or 10th C. Abbasid

[lilinah at earthlink.net]

I made this for a double Vigil at West Kingdom Twelfth Night. I made 
it like "chicken salad" because that would be easier for guests to 
eat than whole joints.

I thought it was good and hope to make it again, and at least one of 
the vigilees was quite taken with it :-)

Anahita

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

BARIDA - 9th or 10th C. Abbasid Cold Chicken Dish

-= Original =-
Two parts almonds and sugar and two parts vinegar and mustard mixed 
together in a vessel with partially dried safflower adding colour 
around the [edges] [one short word not legible in my photocopy]. 
Cucumber peeled, qutha and faqqas and pomegranate, chopped up small 
and sprinkled around the vessel. Add a little oil. Take a fine young 
chicken, cooked in vinegar, jointed and cut up in pieces and placed 
over the other ingredients in one vessel. Decorate the dish with 
pomegranate (seeds) and with almonds and olives chopped up fine.

-= Comments =-
This cold dish made from chicken was devised by Ibrahim ibn al-Mahdi. 
The recipe is expressed in poetic form, not surprising from a man who 
was not only a gourmand, but well known as a poet too. He describes 
the dish as perfect summertime fare. The physician al-Razi observes 
that such dishes of the bawarid type, when made with vinegar or with 
the juice of sour fruits, serve to cool the temperament and moderate 
it. Qutha and faqqus, mentioned in the original recipe, are species 
of cucumber.
- - - - - David Waines, In a Caliph's Kitchen, pp. 82-83

-= My Version =-

9 lb. chicken parts
bottle (about 24 oz.) rice vinegar
1/2 cup ground almonds
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup white wine vinegar
1 cup prepared Dijon mustard
partially dried safflower
2 English Cucumbers, diced (no need to peel or seed)
seeds from 3 pomegranates
1/2 cup sesame oil
2 cups slivered blanched almonds
1 cup pitted purple/black olives
1 cup pitted green olives

1. Cook chicken in vinegar, adding a little water, as necessary.
The liquid doesn't need to completely cover the chicken, as long as 
the cook periodically turns pieces so all pieces spend time 
submerged. I don't remember how long this took - 1/2 hour?
2. Mix together almonds and sugar, with vinegar and mustard and 
spread around serving dish, then put safflower around the edges.
3. Cut cucumber into medium sized dice. No need to peel or seed.
4. Peel pomegranates over a bowl of cold water, dropping seeds into 
water. When done, remove "floaty bits" and drain seeds. Take care 
because pomegranate can stain.
5. Sprinkle cucumber and 2/3 of pomegranate seeds around serving dish 
on top of mustard sauce.
6. Sprinkle with a little oil.
7. Cool chicken, joint it and cut up in pieces.
8. Place chicken over the other ingredients in serving dish.
9. Decorate the dish with additional pomegranate seeds, slivered 
almonds, and sliced olives.

-= NOTES =-
1. I used rice vinegar to cook the chicken because it is milder than 
wine vinegar and i didn't want the vinegar taste to be too strong in 
the chicken.
2. Prepared Dijon mustard was a short cut. It is unclear whether 
powdered mustard seed or prepared mustard would be used in the 
original.
3. I used safflower, but i think saffron would be more effective, and 
i wonder if Waines made an error with his translation.
4. English cucumbers are the closest i could find to Middle Eastern 
cucumbers. They are so much nicer than the usual cucumbers, much less 
bitter, and not "burpy" at all.
5. For the Vigil, we skinned the chicken, then separated the meat 
from the bones, discarding fat and connective tissues.
6. For the Vigil, we tossed the cucumber with the mustard sauce, and 
took each ingredient to the site in a separate zip-close bag. Then i 
tossed the chicken with mustard-tossed cucumber and 2/3 of 
pomegranates and dumped it onto the serving dish. Then decorated the 
edges as instructed.
7. I used two colors of olives for aesthetic purposes.