[Sca-cooks] Senbuse Mukallele ("Crowned Triangles")

[Lilinah]

This is an actual late 15th C. Ottoman recipe. Stephane Yersimos 
translated the recipe from Eski Osmanlici (Old Ottoman) into French. 
I translated from French into English.

A friend and I made the full quantity for an Ottoman feast i cooked 
last November using all historical recipes.
I made about 60 of these myself on Friday last to serve at our 
Principality Investiture.

I really love these. Be sure to use BUTTER, not margarine, and do not 
use artificial butter flavored anything.

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Senbuse Mukallele (Crowned Triangles)  [pronounce all the "e"s]
pp. 124-125, "A la table du Grand Turc"

Stephane Yerasimos says :
"[Senbuse are]...triangular fritters of pate feuilletee filled with 
pounded almonds and sugar that Shirvani calls mukallele, an Arabic 
term which can be translated as "crowned". Senbuse (a Persian term 
which signifies "triangle") are mentioned on several occasions, but 
the fact that they are seasoned with cinnamon in the Nazmu't-tebayi', 
a work of medicine from the beginning of the 15th century, that the 
1,500 pieces fabricated at the palace in 1556 were destined for two 
religious ceremonies, and that they were again mentioned at the 
occasion of the circumcision ceremonies of 1582, indicates that they 
were rather of their sweet version.

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Original Recipe

The art of preparing them is the same as that of the senbuse, with 
the difference that for the mukallele one brays sugar and almonds, 
one kneads it all with musk and rose water and one fills the dough in 
place of meat (one takes the dough, one works it in fine leaves, one 
cuts it in strips, one places the filling, and one fashions them in 
the form of a triangle). Next one fries them in the frying pan in 
sesame oil and certain people after having taken them out of the 
sesame oil plunge them in sugar syrup, they take the out of the syrup 
and they eat them. They plunge them in sugar in powder mixed with 
musk or camphor.
--- Shirvani's translation of al-Baghdadi, folio 69

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Urtatim's Recipe
Makes... mmm... 150? 200?

The Instructions that follow is how i made them for the Fall 
Investiture Ottoman Feast in 2007.

For the Spring Investiture Refreshment Table, i used about 1/3 of the 
ingredients, fried them on Friday, and served them on Saturday 
afternoon.

Senbuse:
3 lb ground almonds
2 lb granulated sugar
1/2 cup rose water
1 package phyllo
clarified melted butter
1 lb butter for frying
(do NOT use margarine)
(do NOT use vegetable oil)

Syrup:
2 lb granulated sugar for syrup
3 cups water for syrup

Garnish:
powdered sugar for garnish
1/4 c ground cinnamon
1 capful small bottle mint extract

Several days ahead of time:
1. Mix almonds, 2 lb. sugar, and rose water to make a paste - i do 
this in a food processor.
2. Cover several sheet pans with baking parchment paper.
3. Fold each sheet of phyllo in half, then fold it in thirds, and cut 
along folds to make 6 strips.
4. Phyllo not in immediate use needs to be covered with paper (waxed 
paper or baking parchment paper, then with a water-moistened, not 
wet, towel)
5. Brush phyllo with melted butter.
6. Place a very small amount of the almond paste at the end of the 
strip and fold diagonally into a triangle, then continue folding - 
like folding the American flag before putting it away. [i can make a 
graphic]
7. Place each pastry triangle on the parchment on the baking sheet. 
When a sheet is full, put it in the freezer.
8. Continue to make and fold Senbuse and put in freezer. After about 
1/2 hour a sheet's worth will be frozen enough to put in a double-zip 
freezer bag. Keep frozen.

NOTE: For the Fall Investiture Feast we also made about 1 dozen of 
these using ground almonds and Splenda(tm) - and no sugar syrup or 
powdered sugar - for people with dietary issues

Day before serving:
1. Put 1/2 stick of butter into a large wok or other wide pan and 
heat until it just foams. Do not allow to brown.
2. Fry frozen pastries until golden brown. Regulate heat - butter 
should not burn, but pastries should brown.
3. As they fry, put them on a plate covered with paper towel.
4. As butter is used up add another 1/4 stick.
5. Continue until all pastries are done.

SYRUP:
1. If desired, make syrup with 2 lb sugar and 3 cups water.
2. Just before serving cover the fried triangles with the sugar syrup.
I skipped this step.

GARNISH:
1. Put about 1 cup powdered sugar in a bowl, add ground cinnamon and 
mix until well-blended.
2. Sprinkle mint extract evenly over sugar, then mix well to 
distribute evenly throughout.
3. Dust pastries with flavored sugar.

I used this blend of cinnamon and mint to simulate camphor, which is 
not really safe for consumption. Camphor has a menthol-like coolness, 
hence the mint, and is in the same family of trees as cinnamon, hence 
the cinnamon. It won't really taste like camphor, but...
-- 
Urtatim (that's err-tah-TEEM)
the persona formerly known as Anahita

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