Kakavia Fresh Oysters Byzantine Salmon Grilled bonito with unripe grapes and mustard seed  Smelt patty with garlic sauce

Andalusian p. A-8 Take a young, cleaned hen and put it in a pot with a little salt, pepper, coriander, cinnamon, saffron and sufficient of vinegar and sweet oil, and when the meat is cooked, take peeled, crushed almonds and good white sugar, four ounces of each; dissolve them in rosewater, pour in the pot […]

(Andalusian p. A-9) It is made with hens, pigeons, ring doves, small birds, or lamb. Take what you have of it, then clean it and cut it and put it in a pot with salt and onion, pepper, coriander and lavender or cinnamon, some murri naqi, and oil. Put it over a gentle fire until […]

(al-Baghdadi) Cut fat meat small, put into the saucepan with a little salt, and cover with water. Boil and remove the scum. Cut up onions, wash, and throw in on top of the meat. Add seasonings, coriander, cumin, mastic, cinnamon, pepper and ginger, well ground. Take dry apricots, soak in hot water, then wash and […]

Original Recipe Apicius, #268 Assaturam: Assam a furno simplicent salis plurimo conspersam cum melle inferes. Roasted Meat: The meat is roasted plain in the oven, sprinkled generously with salt. Serve with honey. [Giacosa, p. 88] Ingredients: 2-3 pounds beef roast 1 tablespoon salt 1/2 cup honey, divided Preparation Steps: Heat oven to 450 degrees F. Sprinkle […]

Ingredients: 1 kg chicken drumsticks (or 800g boneless breasts) 2 chopped onions 1-2 tbls oil 1 cup ground blanched almonds 2 cups chicken stock 1-1.5 tsp ground ginger fresh ground pepper salt 0.5 tsp pure saffron (threads) infused in 0.25 cup hot stock juice of 1-1.5 lemons Method: Trim chicken pieces as necessary, pat dry. […]

Serves four. This favorite dish of medieval Baghdad consisted of a sweet pudding which was set at the bottom of a tannuur oven to catch the juices of roasting meat, which would be served with the pudding. Here we have a recipe from the collection of Caliph al-Wathiq (842–847). Ingredients: 1 chicken ¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons […]

Serves four. This recipe, from the manuscript of Yahya ibn Khalid al-Barmaki, makes striking use of murri,the indigenous Middle Eastern barley “soy sauce.” Most dishes flavored with murri were vinegary, but this is the exception, being quite sweet. The result is surprisingly reminiscent of a Chinese “red-stewed” meat dish. The name comes from the Persian word for […]

Serves two. Mulahwajah means “hasty.” The book says that this recipe was often prepared for Harun al-Rashid. Galangal is sold in Arabia as ‘irq al-hail or khulanjan, and in Southeast Asian markets under such names as kha and laos. Dried ginger could be substituted. Use the rue sparingly—it’s very bitter. Ingredients: 2 tablespoons oil 1 onion […]

Serves two. A baaridah was a cold meat or vegetable dish served before the hot dishes. Following pre-Islamic Iranian tradition, when a baaridah was made with fowl, it was usually a sort of chopped cucumber salad garnished with the roast meat. Some recipes call for only the seeds of cucumbers, which makes for a luxurious, slippery texture. […]