[Sca-cooks] islamic feast, was: Aloeswood substitution

[lilinah at earthlink.net]

Sayyeda al-Kaslaania wrote:
> I'm reading through Lilia Zaouali's _Medieval Cuisine of the Islamic 
> World_. I'm going to being doing an Islamic feast in a few months. I 
> also have the _Anonymous Andalusian Cookbook_. I need to order Arberry's 
> book through ILL. Any other suggestions?

I'm not sure which Arberry book you want.

If what you want is al-Baghdadi's Kitab al-Tabikh... the best translation is by Charles Perry who went back to the original manuscript and translated it fresh. There were some serious issues with Arberry's translation - bearing in mind that his was the first translation of a medieval Arabic language cookbook into English (like incorrectly imagining that atraf al-tibb, a complex spice blend, was made of some sort of snail or insect shell), so he was a groundbreaker. And some of the problems were introduced by the transcriber, Chelebi - Perry goes into the details in his translation. Perry's is a single slim volume, published by Prospect Books:
https://prospectbooks.co.uk/books/1-903018-42-0
for $15.98 from Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/Baghdad-Cookery-Book-n/dp/1903018420/


I also recommend "Medieval Arab Cookery", also published by Prospect Books. It includes essays by Maxime Rodinson and Charles Perry, a version of Arberry's flawed translation of al-Baghdadi with additional footnotes by Perry (but not as accurate as the separate volume mentioned above), and complete translations of the 14th c. Mamluk period "Book of the Description of Familiar Food" and of a slim 15th c. Syrian cookbook (Kitab al-Tibakhah), attributed to someone whose name is variously transliterated as Ibn al-Mabrad or Ibn al-Mubarrad, that is clearly not intended for the wealthy elite. (i'm away from home or i'd add more details).
https://prospectbooks.co.uk/books/0-907325-91-2
for $75 from Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/Medieval-Arab-Cookery-Rodinson-Charles/dp/0907325912

I consider both Prospect publications to be essential for anyone interested in cuisine in the Medieval Muslim world.

I have an incomplete rundown on 12 historical cookbooks and where recipes from them can be found, with my own comments, on my website:
http://home.earthlink.net/~al-tabbakhah/Misc_ME_Food/MECookbooks.html

I hope it is some help.
--
Urtatim (that's err-tah-TEEM)
the persona formerly known as Anahita