[Sca-cooks] Habeeb Salloum new books

[lilinah at earthlink.net]

Johnna wrote:
> Scheherazade's Feasts: Foods of the Medieval Arab World by Habeeb Salloum, Muna 
> Salloum, and Leila Salloum Elias is finally out. Includes actual notes 
> (footnotes) pp 203-204 and bibliography pp 205-210. I would guess it's much 
> better than the previously discussed Lilia Zaouali volume.

I bought it at Pennsic. I wouldn't say it's better or worse than Zaouali's book. I think anyone interested in SCA-period cookery, especially from the Near and Middle East, will find useful, if not invaluable, if only because it includes recipes translated into English from books not yet otherwise available in English.

Zaouali translated recipes from 4 books not yet available in English at the time of publication - she did not include worked out versions:

1. al-Kitab al-Tabikh ("The Book of Dishes" or "Cookbook") - Abu Muhammad al-Muzaffar ibn Nasr ibn Sayyar al-Warraq - 9-10 c. recipes compiled in the 2nd half 10 c. - Baghdad - 24 recipes.
(the entire original work was published not long after as: Annals of the Caliphs' Kitchens: Ibn Sayyar al-Warraq's Tenth-century Baghdadi Cookbook (Islamic History and Civilization) by Nawal Nasrallah)

2. al-Kitab Wusla ila'l-habib fi wasf al-tayyabat wa'l-tib (Book of the Relation with the Beloved in the Description of the Best Dishes and Spices) attributed to Ibn al-'Adim of Aleppo (1192–1262) - early 13 c. Syria - 29 recipes. 

3. Kanz al-fawa'id fi tanwi' al-mawa'id (The Treasure of Useful Advice for the Composition of a Varied Table)- 13 c. Egypt - 37 recipes.

4. al-Kitab Fadalat al-Khiwan fi Tayyibat al-Ta'am w'al-Alwan (The Delights of the Table and the Best Types of Prepared Foods) - Ibn Razin al-Tujibi - 13 c. al-Andalus - 53 recipes.


The Salloums do something similar, but use 7 sources and include their worked out versions of recipes. That may make their books better for some people who for some reason hesitate to work out recipes themselves.
(i've abbreviated the full titles of books i cited from Zaouali):

1. al-Kitab al-Tabikh - ibn Sayyar al-Warraq - 21 recipes

2. al-Kitab al-Tabikh ("The Book of Dishes" or "Cookbook") - Muhammad bin al-Hasan bin Muhammad bin al-Karim al-Baghdadi - 1226 Baghdad - 17 recipes
(available fully translated by Charles Perry as "A Baghdad Cookery Book", Prospect Books, 2005)

3. Wusla ila al-habib - 23 recipes

4. Kanz al-fawa'id - 25 recipes (the Salloums claim it is earlier than al-Warraq, which seems unlikely to me)

5. the anonymous Andalusian cookbook - 13 c. al-Andalus - 8 recipes
(available fully translated by Charles Perry, http://www.daviddfriedman.com/Medieval/Cookbooks/Andalusian/andalusian_contents.htm )

6. Fadalat - 16 recipes

7. Kitab al-Tibakha (Book of Cookery/Cooking or Book of the Female Cook) - attributed to ibn Mabrad or Mubarrad - 15 c. Syria - 2 recipes
(available fully translated by Charles Perry, in "Medieval Arab Cookery", Prospect Books, 2001)

> Have not had time to go over it yet with a fine tooth comb, but I noted the 
> Anonymous Andalusian is not cited as to website or date. Just Trans. by Charles 
> Perry.

Actually the Salloums cite *page numbers* for the Anonymous Andalusian. Perhaps they got them from the cookbook collection published by David Friedman / Duke Cariadoc. Or from that PDF someone posted somewhere on the 'net, altered and not for the better.

> Their second book, Sweet Delights from a Thousand and One Nights: The Story of 
> Traditional Arab Sweets, is due out at the end of the month.

I have a proof copy (purchased on the internet) of "The Sweets of Araby: Enchanting Recipes from the Tales of the 1001 Arabian Nights", pub. 2011. "Sweet Delights from the 1001 Nights" is at least twice as big. Guess i need to pick it up, too!

"Scheherazade" and "Sweets of Araby" are similar in that they use period sources, translate recipes into English, and then work out modern recipes from them. Their recipes are pretty good - i own both books. But they do make some non-period substitutions that are within reason - such as cornstarch for wheat starch, although i definitely use wheat starch - and some that seem odd to me - such as almond flavoring for musk. I suspect that "Sweet Delights from 1001 Nights" is probably similar.

Urtatim (that's oor-tah-TEEM)