[Sca-cooks] The last items from Spring Investiture

[Lilinah]

OK, i think i've covered most of what i made. Here's what is left is...

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Khabisa with Pomegranate
13th C. anonymous Andalusian cookbook

This recipe has been discussed here. I followed the original recipe 
quite closely. However, i left out the ground almonds so there's be 
something without nuts for those with allergies.

I planned to make the Carrot Paste from the anonymous Andalusian, too 
(i made it several years ago for a feast), so there'd be something 
else without almonds.

And i was going to make modern North African briwats - warqa - but i 
would use phyllo  filled with a mix of almonds and toasted sesame 
seeds and some other stuff, then folded in to more or less little 
rectangular packets and fried and served with syrup - i consider 
these to be peri-oid, since they're not too different from period 
folded and fried pastries,

I had all the necessary ingredients on hand for both dishes, but i 
just didn't have time.

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Fruit Syrups

I made the two fruit syrups. Do i need to discuss? Well, ok...

I put 4 cups of granulated sugar into a saucepan and poured in 1 
quart of pure unsweetened juice. These proportions follow the recipes 
in the anonymous Andalusian cookbook. I stirred to help the sugar 
dissolve and let it sit for a few minutes while i did something else. 
Then i came back and stirred again...The sugar was all moistened and 
much had dissolved.

Then i turned on the fire and brought it to a boil, first stirring 
constantly until all the sugar dissolved into the juice. Then i just 
came back to stir from time to time.

This doesn't take long and it's good to be there so it doesn't foam 
up and boil over. As soon as it is at a rolling boil, turn the fire 
down to a simmer - there needs to be movement on the surface of the 
liquid.

Let it cook for a while - say 15 minutes - stirring occasionally. Let 
the liquid pour slowly off the spoon and watch it. At first it will 
be very "wet", but after a while it becomes more cohesive. It won't 
be thick - it will thicken as it cools.

Let the syrup cool. Have ready a well-cleaned glass bottle or jar 
with a lid that screws on tightly for each flavor. When the syrup is 
below body temperature, pour it into the bottle and seal.

I have found that thicker syrup keeps fine out of the fridge, while 
thinner syrup needs to be refrigerated.

For this event i used purchased pure unsweetened cherry juice (not 
sour morellos, more's the pity) and pure organic lemon juice.

I have also made black currant syrup (the berry, not the tiny dried 
raisin), peach syrup, dried pear syrup, quince syrup, and pomegranate 
syrup. I confess that for the black currant and pomegranate i used 
pure unsweetened juice, and did not juice fresh fruit myself. The 
others i made from scratch. I have also made lemon from scratch.

For anyone who wants to make beverage syrups, here's a list of 
flavors used in the Ottoman capital, Constantinople, in the 15th-17th 
C. I included the 17th C. flavors because so far i've only seen three 
flavors listed in the 16th C. and the flavors used in the 15th and 
the 17th C. are practically the same, so it seems likely to me that 
they didn't suddenly stop making all those syrups in the 16th C.

bitter orange
date
date palm flower (no, i'm not sure what this would be like)
grape
honey
lavender
lemon
mint
mulberry
peach
pear
rose
sour apple
sour cherry
sour pomegranate
sweet pomegranate
tamarind
violet
water lily

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Na'arah, the person who kindly the walnut macaroons at my request, 
has not yet shared her recipe. She used only walnuts, granulated 
sugar, and egg white (not whipped).

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For the modern Moroccan mint tea, look in any Moroccan cook book.

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I think i covered it all...
-- 
Urtatim (that's err-tah-TEEM)
the persona formerly known as Anahita

My LibraryThing
http://www.librarything.com/catalog/lilinah