[Sca-cooks] Andalusian = Middle Eastern?

[Stefan li Rous]

Master Cariadoc suggested:
> > Greetings unto the List, this fine warm evening!
> > Our Queen in Meridies is a Lady of Middle-Eastern interests.
>
> You can also find a substantial 13th c. Andalusian cookbook webbed at:
>
> http://www.daviddfriedman.com/Medieval/Cookbooks/Andalusian/
> andalusian_contents.htm

I've heard Andalusian foods, and probably this specific site,  
suggested before for 'Middle Eastern' foods. I considered suggesting  
that myself in an an earlier message I posted to the Middle Eastern  
nibbles thread.

However, what are the reasons to suggest that the foods of Andalusia  
were common or even used in the Middle East? They may both be Moslem,  
but Andalusia (I thought) was southern Spain and perhaps Morocco?  
That's a long way from the Middle East.

> Do we know when tea came into use in the Middle East? I can't think
> of period references, although given the close ties between the
> Ilkhans and the mongol rulers of China, it doesn't seem impossible.

Who were the "Ilkhans" and what connections to the mongol rulers of  
China are you talking about?

Even so, it seems unlikely to me that tea/chai would have made it to  
the Middle East but not to Europe. Can anyone think of any other  
central or southwestern Asian item that made it to the Middle East  
but not to Europe within a reasonable time after that, which did  
later catch on in Europe?

Coffee certainly doesn't count since it isn't from Asia and it did  
make it from the Middle East to Europe within a century or two.

Stefan
--------
THLord Stefan li Rous    Barony of Bryn Gwlad    Kingdom of Ansteorra
    Mark S. Harris           Austin, Texas           
StefanliRous at austin.rr.com
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