[Sca-cooks] Mujadara vs. muzawwara, related or not?

[Christiane]

I am curious as to what the food historians on the list have found out. One of my favorite modern vegetarian dishes to make is mujadara. All I need is the rice, lentils, onions, oil for frying, and some spices (salt, papper, cumin, cardamom) to make a dish I've gotten raves about.

Then there is the medieval muzawwara, which is lentils, chard, pieces of sweet gourd, spices, vinegar, and oil. No rice whatsoever.

All the two dishes really have in common is the lentils, but I am wondering if mujadara evolved from muzawwara, or if rice was ever included in muzawwara in places where it was more plentiful. Or if you served it with plain rice and just spooned the muzawwara over it.

I am just curious, I am not going to be claiming mujadara is period, but it would be interesting to see if it had antecedents in mujawwara.

Gianotta