fd-Morocco-msg

This document is also available in: text or RTF formats.

fd-Morocco-msg - 10/5/02

Food of medieval Morocco.

************************************************************************

NOTICE -

This file is a collection of various messages having a common theme that I have collected from my reading of the various computer networks. Some messages date back to 1989, some may be as recent as yesterday.

This file is part of a collection of files called Stefan's Florilegium. These files are available on the Internet at: http://www.florilegium.org

I have done a limited amount of editing. Messages having to do with separate topics were sometimes split into different files and sometimes extraneous information was removed. For instance, the message IDs were removed to save space and remove clutter.

The comments made in these messages are not necessarily my viewpoints. I make no claims as to the accuracy of the information given by the individual authors.

Please respect the time and efforts of those who have written these messages. The copyright status of these messages is unclear at this time. If information is published from these messages, please give credit to the originator(s).

Thank you,

Mark S. Harris AKA: THLord Stefan li Rous

Stefan at florilegium.org

************************************************************************

Date: Wed, 10 Apr 2002 12:13:07 -0700

To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org

From: lilinah at earthlink.net

Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Greetings

Aurore Gaudin wrote:

>I'm new to this list and looking to doing my first feastacrat event in

>September, I'm in need of advice from those that have done feast or know

>about Moroccan cooking. Thank you for any information that can be given.

Well, there are no SCA period Moroccan cookbooks. If you're cooking

Moroccan, you're cooking modern food.

For modern Moroccan, the best source of recipes is Paula Wolfert's

"Couscous and other good food from Morocco", available in paperback.

Other good books for modern Moroccan food are those by Kitty Morse

(who is actually Moroccan) and Carriere.

If you want to cook historically accurate food, something we on this

list encourage (dispite much levity in our posts), the closest is the

13th century Anonymous Andalusian cookbook. Since several Berber

groups had taken over by the 13th century (the Almoravids and the

Almohads), there is probably some Moroccan influence in some of the

recipes.

The complete translation by Charles Perry can be found on Duke

Cariadoc's website:

http://www.daviddfriedman.com/Medieval/Medieval.htm

In His Miscellany, Cariadoc has some worked out Islamic recipes. I

suggest testing them, as i find them to be vastly underseasoned -

bland even - to my taste. However, they give a good starting point,

if you're not sure how to work out a Medieval recipe.

>Alot of my recipes are from the foodtv.com.

Hmmm, dunno about *that*. The recipes may taste ok, but they are:

-----1) not ethnically correct - not really modern Moroccan

-----2) not historically correct - not really "SCA period"

Since you're cooking in September, you've got plenty of time to :

--1) Get some real historic recipes - either the Andalusian ones,

since that's very close to Morocco geographically and in part

ethnically, or from other parts of the Near East. For that i would

recommend

----- a) buying "Medieval Arab Cookery", a fabulous book. This book

contains the text of at least three complete "period" cookbooks.

Maxime Rodinson, A. J. Arberry, and Charles Perry

Medieval Arab Cookery

Prospect Books, Devon UK: 2001

ISBN 0907325-91-2

Among the cookbooks contained in "Medieval Arab Cookery" are the

complete texts of:

-- al-Kitab al-Tabikh (The Book of Dishes) by Muhammad ibn al-Hasan

ibn Muhammad ibn Karim al-Katib al-Baghdadi, a 13th century cookbook.

[complete text as "A Baghdad Cookery Book", trans. A.J. Arberry,

notes by Charles Perry, Medieval Arab Cookery]

and

-- al-Kitab Wasf al-At'ima al-Mu'tada (The Book of the Description of

Familiar Foods),1373 [complete text translated and introduced by

Charles Perry]

I also recommend getting the following book via ILL (Inter-Library

Loan) (because it's long out of print and hard to find - i'd love to

purchase a copy):

David Waines

In a Caliph's Kitchen

Riad El-Rayyes Books Ltd., London: 1989

ISBN 1-869844-60-2

There are some recipes in "In a Caliph's Kitchen" from al-Kitab

al-Tabikh (The Book of Dishes) by Abu Muhammad al-Muzaffar ibn Nasr

ibn Sayyar al-Warraq. This late 10th century cookbook is a compendium

of recipes from cookbooks from several centuries which are now lost

to us. It includes forty recipes from the great gastronome Abu Ishaq

Ibrahim ibn al-Mahdi (779-839 CE), half-brother of the Caliph Harun

al-Rashid, as well as a number of recipes from Abu Samin, a chef to

the Caliph al-Wathiq who died in 847 CE. Apparently Charles Perry is

working on a translation of the complete text, but since it isn't yet

available, Waines will have to do. There are also a few recipes from

this book on His Grace, Duke Cariadoc's website.

Do NOT, i repeat, do NOT use Waines' worked up recipes as they often

do NOT follow the originals. Use the original recipes and work them

up yourself. I used many of them for my Persian feast.

----- b) ordering His Grace, Duke Cariadoc's 2-Volume Cook Book

Collection (about 2 dozen period cookbooks for $20) - it has the text

of the 13th century Anonymous Andalusian Cookbook and a version of

al-Baghdadi's book

--2) Get some real modern Moroccan recipes by ordering some

cookbooks. I can recommend some, as i own many (most) of those in

print, just ask. I suggest Paula Wolfert (title above) first. If you

enjoy cooking, you won't regret getting this book.

>Just alot are lamb and poultry. I was told by someone that lamb won't go

>well with alot of people, being Texas, it has to be beef, pork and chicken.

Well, pork won't go over in a Muslim feast, as it's against Muslim

law, and the only Muslims i know who eat pork are Central Javanese

court musicians (yes, really from Central Java, really court

musicians).

Out here in the Kingdom of the West, lamb gets gobbled up. Now,

personally, i don't like lamb - a bit of a hardship since i have a

persona that is Muslim born in Morocco, now living in al-Andalus.

>And I know lamb will be expensive if I don't do it right. I'm just wanting

>help in figuring out what to do with some of the problematic parts.

I got cheap lamb at a local hallal market (hallal is to Islam as

kosher is to Judaism). MUCH cheaper than the lamb at the regular

supermarket. Where do you live? Most cities in the US have Muslim

populations, and getting lamb at a Muslim meat market is *waaay*

cheaper than at the supermarket.

Cooked right, lamb can be edible. The Persian in origin recipe i

cooked for a feast last November combined chicken and lamb with

fruits, nuts, and spices, and it was delicious. I have the recipe on

my website along with other period Near Eastern recipes:

http://witch.drak.net/lilinah/persianrecipes.html

I also have some modern Moroccan recipes on my website:

http://witch.drak.net/lilinah

There's a Site Map on the second page to locate the URLs of the recipes

Anahita

half-Persian, half-Moroccan persona