[Sca-cooks] Middle Eastern Food

[Jim and Andi]

Couldn't the argument be made that Persia is not "Middle Eastern"? The
food is quite different, the religion is different, the languages are
different, even the iconography is different... 

I have always referred to Persia and central Asia as "Near Eastern"
specifically to distinguish it from "Middle Eastern" which to me denotes
Arabic-speaking and Arab-centric cultures.

Granted, this may be to underscore my irritation with people describing
the food, garb, dance, and music of India as "middle eastern", a common
mistake in the SCA which aggravates me to no end.

Madhavi

-----Original Message-----
From: sca-cooks-bounces+jimandandi=cox.net at lists.ansteorra.org
[mailto:sca-cooks-bounces+jimandandi=cox.net at lists.ansteorra.org] On
Behalf Of Terry Decker
Sent: Friday, January 15, 2010 9:26 PM
To: Cooks within the SCA
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Middle Eastern Food

>>and Afghanistan and Pakistan get added.
>
> Yeah, well... Afghanistan makes sense, since it was an important
center of 
> Persian culture and arts as part of the Persian Empire. Herat, for 
> example, was home to a particularly important school of Persian
miniature 
> painting.
>
> Pakistan... well, its relationship is less clear. It might be better 
> connected to Muslim Mughal India, which is strongly Persian
influenced, 
> but also strongly influenced by local South Asian non-Muslim cultures.
> -- 
> Urtatim [that's err-tah-TEEM]
> the persona formerly known as Anahita

I think Pakistan gets added to the Middle East culturally because Iran 
conquered Afghanistan under the Timurids (losing it in the early 18th 
Century).  Babur, who was the last of the Timurids, invaded Northern
India 
from Afghanistan and founded the Mughal dynasty.  The direct cultural 
influence in Pakistan is from Persia.

Bear 

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