[Sca-cooks] Four 10th century bread recipes from al-Warraq (including samidh flour)

emilio szabo emilio_szabo at yahoo.it
Fri Feb 22 13:12:16 PST 2008


Gianotta wrote:
<< Still looking for some recipes, and I realized that I've seen several references to samid (semolina) bread, but no recipes for the bread itself. >>

There are four such recipes in the tenth century cookbook of Ibn Sayyar al-Warraq. I quote two of them for your convenience:


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Annals of the Caliphs' Kitchens. Ibn Sayyar al-Warraq's Tenth-Century Baghdadi Cookbook. English Translation with Introduction and Glossary by Nawal Nasrallah. Leiden, Boston 2007, page 119-120. (several bars, underlinings, italics and notes omitted)

MAKING KHUBZ (FLAT BREAD) AND RUQAQ (VERY THIN BREAD)

A recipe for Nabatean water bread (Khubz al-ma' al-Nabati):

Take 1 makkuk (7 1/2 pounds) good quality samidh flour and sift it in a big wooden bowl (jafna). Mix with it 3 uqiyyas (3 ounces) yeast, and add 30 dirhams (3 ounces) salt that has been dissolved in water and strained.

Knead the mixture into very firm dough, as firm as stone (hajar) and press it well. Continue pressing it while rubbing the bottom of the dough 120 times with water in doses of 5 dirhams (1 tablespoon) each until it develops a consistency which is a little firmer than that of the zalabiya dough. Cover the dough and let it ferment. With the help of some oil of hulled sesame seeds {shayraj muqashshar) divide dough into portions and shape them like farani.

Light the tannur and wait until the fire starts to smolder gently. Wipe clean the inside of the oven [with a piece of cloth]. Rub each portion of the dough with 2 dirhams (1 teaspoon) sesame oil or zayt anfaq (olive oil extracted from unripe olives) then flatten it by hand and stick it to the inside of the smoldering oven (tannur hadi'). This recipe will make 15 pieces of bread.

When you are done sticking all the portions in the tannur, cover it with its lid for a short while. As soon as the breads are set (jamuda), sprinkle them lightly with water, about 1/2 kuz (1/2 cup), and return the lid as it was before. Wait for a short while, then remove the cover, and open up the bottom vent hole ('ayn al-tannur) to expose the breads to more heat. (24r) As soon as they brown (ihmarra), take them out. Scrape their backs with a knife and wipe them with a small amount of water. Stack the breads, enclose them in a damp piece of cloth, and set them aside for an hour or so.

Serve this bread whenever you need it, it will be the best, God willing.

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Annals of the Caliphs' Kitchens. Ibn Sayyar al-Warraq's Tenth-Century Baghdadi Cookbook. English Translation with Introduction and Glossary by Nawal Nasrallah. Leiden, Boston 2007, page 120. (several bars, underlinings, italics and notes omitted)

A recipe for bread called khubz al-qanani (bottle bread):

Make soft dough similar in consistency to zalabiya dough, using as much as needed of good quality, fine samidh flour (high in starch and bran-free) [and water].

Pour a little pure olive oil (zayt naqi) or sesame oil into wide-mouthed heatproof thin bottles and sprinkle the inside with rose water. Pour the batter into the bottles until they are almost full. Place the filled bottles on flat tiles (qaramid) spread in the bottom of the tannur, and let them bake in medium heat {mu'tadila) until done. To test for doneness, insert a toothpick (khilal) into the baking dough. If it comes out clean, it is done.

When you take out the bottles and break them, the breads will come out looking like bottles, God willing.

[To serve] moisten the breads, if you like, with refined sweetened milk perfumed with mastic and rose water, or with milk and honey, or eat it plain, God willing.

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There are two more bread recipes with samidh flour on page 123-124 of:
Annals of the Caliphs' Kitchens. Ibn Sayyar al-Warraq's Tenth-Century Baghdadi Cookbook. English Translation with Introduction and Glossary by Nawal Nasrallah. Leiden, Boston 2007.


Emilio



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