[Sca-cooks] Period Recipe Fail.

David Friedman ddfr at daviddfriedman.com
Thu Mar 1 20:29:21 PST 2012


I've done it--here's the Miscellany version:

½ lb blanched almonds     ½ lb semolina
½ lb sugar               ½ lb ghee

Process almonds in food processor until quite fine. Stir together dry ingredients, melt ghee, add, stir until blended. Mold into the shape of breasts, using a small Chinese teacup or something similar, total volume of each from 1 T (small) to 4 T (large). Put on a baking sheet, bake at 350° for about 13 minutes (small) to 18 minutes (large).

Don't know why it worked better for me than for you.


At Wed, 29 Feb 2012 20:16:28 -0800, Susan Fox wrote:
>
>
>Chronicled for future edification.
>
>Recipe:  NUHUD AL-ADHRA [Virgin's breasts]
>found in KITAB WASF AL-AT 'IMA AL-MU 'TADA, The Description of Familiar 
>Foods
>published in MEDIEVAL ARAB COOKERY
>translated by Charles Perry
>
>"Knead sugar, almonds, samid [semolina] and clarified butter, equal 
>parts, and make them like breasts, and arrange them in a brass tray.Put 
>into a bread oven until done, and take it out.It comes out excellently."
>
>
>So that's what I did.  Almonds ground in food processor, conventional 
>table sugar, fine semolina and ghee.
>
>Two shape versions:  one in small balls in muffin tins, the other 
>free-standing ovoids on a flat baking pan.
>
>Everything collapsed.  The ones in the muffin pans crawled up the sides 
>and over the edges.  If these were in individual pie tins they might 
>have made an interesting crust for a fruit tart.  The ones in the flat 
>pan just flattened out.  Somebody is going to get a tasty if 
>non-cohering baked treat in his lunchbox for a few days, anyway.
>
>Two things I'm considering here. Firstly "semolina" might have been too 
>coarse, or maybe a better translation might be flour. I'm not sure that 
>would help, this mix has much too high a proportion of butter to flour 
>and almonds.  Compare with my usual shortbread formula:   2 parts 
>butter, 1 part sugar, 3 parts plain white flour, 1 part rice flour.
>
>Secondly the "brass tray".  I recall having seen specific brass trays 
>with round depressions for serving of condiments or sweetmeats.  Could 
>this be the kind of tray they meant?
>
>Your comments, questions and alternate redactions are invited.
>
>Cheers,
>Selen e Colfox
>
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David Friedman
www.daviddfriedman.com
daviddfriedman.blogspot.com/



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