[Sca-cooks] Another ME question
lilinah at earthlink.net
lilinah at earthlink.net
Wed Oct 26 19:06:18 PDT 2005
On 10/26/05 2:27 PM, "cldyroz at aol.com" <cldyroz at aol.com> wrote:
> Would walnuts work in Hais?
Pistachios have a very delicate flavor and a tender texture (i love
pistachios that are not salted, roasted, and dyed that awful red).
Almonds (unless boiled) tend to be rather hard and crisp (much
crisper when roasted). Walnuts have a tender texture, but a somewhat
bitter flavor. Another possibility is hazelnuts (aka filberts) which
were also used in the Near and Middle East. I would recommend using a
combination of walnuts in limited quantity and hazelnuts if you can
find and afford them, rather than substituting only walnuts for the
pistachios.
Selene wrote:
> Desert peoples are practical folk, if you have walnuts, use walnuts!
First, these are not the recipes of desert people. The idea that they
are just perpetuates the stereotypic notion that so many SCAdians
have that the Middle East is just a desert full of nomads on camels.
The Near and Middle East are much more complex geographically and
environmentally than that. And don't forget that the first cultivated
crops west of India and China began in the Middle East 10,000 years
ago - and crops are not cultivated in a desert.
There are major regions of the Near and Middle East with quite humid
climates - coastal areas of the Arabian peninsula, for example. Much
of the Near and Middle East is like coastal California, with a mild
Mediterranean climate. And there are high snow covered mountains in,
for example, Morocco and Lebanon (and ski resorts in Lebanon), some
of which have some snow most of the year.
Second, actual desert people have very limited diets. I've been
reading up on SCA-period non-urban Middle Eastern food. Actual desert
people subsisted largely on the dairy products of their flocks,
dates, and rough flat bread. Meat was only for very special
occasions, like weddings.
Third, walnuts don't grow in a desert. If desert people had them,
they would be a very expensive treat.
In fact, recipes such as that for hais are those of sophisticated
urban people. The recipes in al-Baghdadi, the Anonymous Andalusian,
and all the other SCA-period Near and Middle Eastern cookbooks i know
of (minus one) are the recipes of quite wealthy gourmets. Hais may
keep well and be useful for travellers, but it's for travellers with
a bit of scratch. Baghdad was possibly the most sophisticated city in
the world (west of China) for much of SCA period. It had a huge
population and was a trade and cultural center with a wealth of
foodstuffs and trade goods.
--
Urtatim (that's err-tah-TEEM)
the persona formerly known as Anahita
working to strike down stereotypes and misinformation
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