[Sca-cooks] Ka'ak recipe -- someone still looking for one?

[David Friedman]

>On Sep 3, 2009, at 11:25 PM, David Friedman wrote:
>
>>>I found the recipe for ka'ak from "Aromas of Aleppo." I don't know 
>>>if anyone's still looking for it, or if it was found, but here it 
>>>is, beginning with the introduction to the recipe (page 22, Aromas 
>>>of Aleppo by Poopa Dweck). I hope it helps. -- Judith / no SCA name
>>
>>Thanks.
>>
>>But what I was looking for were period Ka'ak recipes. I can find 
>>modern ones online.
>>
>>David/Cariadoc
>>www.daviddfriedman.com
>
>Sorry, I should have clarified. (I'm saying that a LOT lately.) My 
>thought was, "Check the modern tasty one, then check the other 
>three. See what they have in common, and ask oneself if those 
>commonalities can be woven into a solid guess as to what 'real' 
>ka'ak was or is."

As best I can tell from the period recipes, there isn't an answer to 
what real ka'ak was or is, because the name was applied to a variety 
of different things. What I'm not sure of is whether the variation 
was over time (the same name is often applied to different dishes at 
different times), over space (consider "biscuit" in the U.S. vs U.K. 
at present), or existed at a single time and place.  The most 
consistent pattern seems to be that ka'ak are ring shaped, but one of 
my three recipes isn't.

>Note, I'm not suggesting creating something new, but rather, 
>divining something old out of the evidence we have left.

That might make sense for filling in gaps in recipes--making a more 
educated guess as to what the author isn't telling you because he 
assumes you know it, or what some ambiguous term means. But I don't 
think it works here.

>In the same way, asking ten people in the same family (let alone, 
>the same town/state/province/region/area) to each make a pot of 
>chili will result in ten different recipes, and everyone eating them 
>will say "None of these taste like mine." As far as I've determined, 
>the only thing that all chili has in common is the chili powder. 
>Maybe all ka'ak has in common is that it's small, crisp, and made 
>with flour and fat, and the rest are just variations on that theme. 
>Find the core theme, yes?
>
>Probably wouldn't win any competitions with it, seeing as how you'd 
>be combining recipes rather than sticking religiously to just one, 
>but I bet the results would be jolly tasty.

I'm not interested in winning competitions. I am interested in 
finding out what period foods were like.
-- 
David/Cariadoc
www.daviddfriedman.com