[Sca-cooks] Fwd: Recipe redaction, A Type of Ahrash

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Goat, maybe? Lamb as we get it in the US is really almost young mutton, and
it has a fairly noticeable flavor and texture that I haven't been able to
duplicate.

Margaret

On Fri, Jul 6, 2018 at 5:05 AM, Terri Morgan <online2much at cox.net> wrote:

> I cannot eat lamb and feel sad when such interesting recipes are
> presented. In your opinion, would there be a type (combination) of ground
> meat that would approximate the flavour of lamb? I have used 2 parts ground
> turkey to one part ground beef, but have no idea if my mix actually came
> close since I haven't tasted lamb in 20 years or more.
>
> Hrothny
>
> -----Original Message-----
> Some more love for the e-list...
>
> Last night I redacted "A Type of Ahrash" from the Anonymous Andalusian
> cookbook for supper:
>
> A Type of Ahrash
> This is the recipe used by Sayyid Abu al-Hasan and others in Morocco, and
> they called it isfîriyâ. Take red lamb, pound it vigorously and season it
> with some murri naqî', vinegar, oil, pounded garlic, pepper, saffron,
> cumin, coriander, lavender, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, chopped lard, and
> meat with all the gristle removed and pounded and divided, and enough egg
> to envelop the whole. Make small round flatbreads (qursas) out of them
> about the size of a palm or smaller, and fry them in a pan with a lot of
> oil until they are browned. Then make for them a sauce of vinegar, oil, and
> garlic, and leave some of it without any sauce: it is very good.
>
> My redaction:
>
> 2 lbs ground lamb
> 2 eggs
> 2 T soy sauce (for a vague murri-esque flavor)
> 2 T vegetable oil
> 1 T cider vinegar (because it was either that or distilled white)
> 3 T spice blend
>
> Smoosh together until thoroughly blended. Make small patties, fry in olive
> oil. We did not use the vinegar/oil/garlic sauce (the Consort referred to
> it as "salad dressing" and informed me it was not necessary), and keen eyes
> will note that although garlic appears in the original recipe it does not
> appear in my redaction, because I forgot it. The resultant patties were
> still delicious. The recipe made 14, it probably would have made 16 if I
> hadn't made them slowly larger over time. The remaining ones are going into
> the freezer to be dinner one night at our camping event next week.
>
> Consort opined that another couple teaspooons of spice blend would not have
> been too much spice--I thought it was fine as it was, but agreed with him
> that any more than another T would be too much. I initially thought that I
> was going to need to add breadcrumbs, because it was very loose to start
> with, but after it was well mixed it was just sticky. I didn't add
> additional lard because the lamb was about 80% lean, and I read (possibly
> in the Flori-thingy, possibly in one of the cookbooks) that "red lamb"
> meant lean meat. As it was, it was just perfect, not too greasy, not at all
> dry.
>
> Spice blend:
> 2 T each whole grains of paradise and cubebs, ground
> 2 T ground cumin
> 2 T ground cinnamon
> 2 T ground ginger
> ~ 1 t whole cloves, ground
> ~ 1/2 t saffron, ground with the cloves, etc.
>
> Keen eyes will note the absence of pepper, coriander, and
> lavender--Dependent #2 is horribly allergic to both pepper and
> coriander/cilantro while Dependent #4 is horribly allergic to lavender. In
> the interests of not poisoning household members, I substituted of grains
> of paradise and cubebs for the pepper and coriander, and just omitted the
> lavender entirely.
>
> --
> Margaret FitzWilliam of Kent, OL
>
>
>