[Sca-cooks] Persian

[Stefan li Rous]

On May 3, 2014, at 8:03 PM, lilinah at earthlink.net wrote:

> Gwen Cat wrote:
>> looking for resources for Period Persian. Most specifically, I have been told there are 
>> standard(ish) spice blends... like the  Persian versions of poudre douce and poudre forte; 
>> one primarily for sweet, one for savory.
> 
> Stefan posted a link to messages with Persian food content in his Florilegium.
>> fd-Persia-msg (20K) 8/17/10 Food of medieval Persia. References.
>> http://www.florilegium.org/files/FOOD-BY-REGION/fd-Persia-msg.html
> 
> I value the Florilegium highly. But, of course, one must not take it as the absolute truth. There is speculation as well as misinformation, however well intentioned, in some sections, larded with bits of good solid info.

You won't get an argument about those statements from me. I will note that even if I disagree with something being said, it may likely still get included in the Florilegium as I am not the ultimate expert on all subjects in the Florilegium. Nor do I think I claim that "honor". I do try to present a variety of opinions and let the reader decide for themselves. 

Another problem is that I may have more recent information than what is currently online, but have not had time to update a particular file.

> I'm reading it over and i'd like to make a few comments.
> 
> The Legendary Cuisine of Persia by Margaret Shaida was recommended by someone. It is not a reliable source for SCA-period food. Not mentioned is Food of Life: Ancient Persian and Modern Iranian Cooking by Najmieh Batmanglij.

Thank you. I have saved your message to add to the fd-Persian-msg the next time I update it.

Folks are also welcome to compose and send me an email if they have corrections or additions for any Florilegium -msg file. -art files are the copyright of the author and I won't change the subject matter in them. You are free to contact the author and I always accept updates for articles from the original author.

Of course, if you disagree enough with an author, you are also welcome to write your own article on the same subject and submit it to me. And again, I will leave it up to the reader to decide who seems to be the most correct.

> I know some foods are mentioned in the Shah-nameh, but it is a huge work. I own a highly abridged version which features the paintings, and not so much of the text. It is a long poem that consists of about 50,000 verses composed by Ferdowsi between 977-1010 CE. It's the national epic of Iran (Persia), telling the mythic and legendary history of the Persian empire, from the creation of the world up to the Islamic conquest of Persia in the 7th c. I figure i should read it sometime in the not too distant future.

I think this is the first I've heard of this one. Sounds rougher than reading Shakespeare!!! :-) And longer? (Okay, so I have real problems interpreting Shakespeare).

If you write a review or translate some of this, I would love to have it for the Florilegium.
> 
> Also, i notice i am quoted there in the Florilegium, blathering on a great deal, often with embarrassing typos.

If I have the time I do try to edit out things that I know are typos. Urtatim, you have a fair amount of info in the Florilegium, particularly on specific subjects. The value of the material you've provided greatly exceeds the typos that you might have made.

Hopefully it is understood that the messages captured in the Florilegium are from informal, often non-proofread casual commentary. Of course, I'm more than happy to accept more polished articles on similar subjects to what are already in such message files.

Or if anyone is interested in downloading the RTF versions of any of the message files and is willing to reformat them/clean up typos, spelling etc, I would be happy to have folks do so and give you credit! Please let me know though, so I don't try to edit those particular file(s) in the meantime.

Stefan

> Urtatim

--------
THLord Stefan li Rous    Barony of Bryn Gwlad    Kingdom of Ansteorra
   Mark S. Harris           Austin, Texas          StefanliRous at gmail.com
http://www.linkedin.com/in/marksharris
**** See Stefan's Florilegium files at:  http://www.florilegium.org ****