hais-msg - 1/11/06 A medieval, Middle Eastern sweet made of dates, bread crumbs, ground nuts, and sugar. NOTE: See also these files: candy-msg, cooking-oils-msg, 14C-Sweets-art, dates-msg, nuts-msg, Andlsn-Pstres-art, mamouls-msg, sugar-msg, Sugarplums-art, desserts-msg, cookies-msg, fd-Mid-East-msg, ME-revel-fds-art. ************************************************************************ 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 ************************************************************************ --- The problem with hais is that people fill up on them before the meal, and so don't have an adequate appetite for the feast. That's why they say "Hais makes waste." Master Cariadoc of the Bow I thought it was "Hais makes waist." Mordonna --- Date: Fri, 2 Oct 1998 12:44:42 -0700 From: kat <kat at kagan.com> Subject: SC - A redacting experience - LONG Hi folks! Did some cooking last night & wanted to share my results with you! A couple of times previously, I have made Hais, that wonderful date-nut confection rolled in sugar. They tasted terrific, but I was always mystified at the statement that they were "excellent for travelers." Ugh! Sticky and gooey, I thought. Well, last night I was mixing up a batch, and I decided to redact the recipe instead of just following it. So, substituting the amounts Cariadoc translated in *his* redaction into the text of the original in place of the unfamiliar uqiya and ratl, I set up the recipe as though I was an English housewife reading it for the first time: "Take fine dry bread or biscuit, and grind up well. Take [2-2/3 cups] of this, and [2 cups] of fresh or preserved dates with the stones removed, together with [2/3 cup] of ground almonds and pistachios. Knead all together very well with the hands. Refine [7 Tbsp] of sesame oil and pour over, working with the hand until it is mixed in. Make into cabobs, and dust with fine ground sugar. If desired, instead of sesame oil, use butter. This is excellent for travelers." I placed a little over two pounds of dates in a large bowl, rinsed them and covered them with water to which I added a little sherry. (Why? See [1] below.) I then pitted the dates and drained them well. I sliced a French loaf, dried it in the oven and had my trusty scullery maid, Little Oster, make it into crumbs. She also ground up a quarter-pound of almonds and the 1/3 pound of pistachios I had shelled and blanched. (Why? [2].) I measured 5-1/3 cups of crumbs and 2/3 cup each of almonds and pistachios into a large bowl and mixed them together. (Previous experience: In my processor you need to add the dry stuff when you're processing the dates, or the dates will just gum up the machine.) In a small bowl, I softened a cube of unsalted butter and added three tablespoons of sesame oil. (Why? [3]) Little Oster then began grinding batches of dates combined with small amounts of the dry mixture and oil/butter mixture. I didn't grind it to a smooth paste, just an evenly combined mixture. I then kneaded that into the remainder of the dry mixture and worked it with my hands for a while. I was still puzzled about the traveling food concept and, thinking "finely ground sugar" might be the clue, I had intended to buy superfine sugar--but my store was out of it. So I went home, threw a cup and a half of white sugar into a tall, narrow pitcher, and sent my other trusty kitchen servant, Braun Hand Blender, to work on it. ;-) Lo and behold, that was the answer! I rolled the balls into the sugar, set them aside, and then rolled them a second time after getting the date goo off my hands. And darned if you couldn't just pick them up! No goo, no stick, nothing! I had made them previously with regular table sugar and once with powdered sugar (I know, I know; I was in a hurry, OK? <g>) and they had been sticky and messy both times--BUT the "finely ground sugar" worked wonders! [1] I had recently redacted a couple of Euro recipes using dried fruits that had called for them to be "washed in wine." I found I liked the idea, and did it for two reasons: One, the slightly antiseptic quality of the alcohol might kill any germs from careless handling in the bulk bins; and two, an English housewife probably would not know that a follower of Allah would forswear wine--and if she did, it wouldn't stop her using it anyway. [2] I didn't think they would roast pistachios, so I tried to remove as much of the "toasted" husks as possible; and I needed to wash off the salt anyway. [3] One, these are rich enough and the extra fat didn't make a noticeable difference any of the times I had made them before; and two, toasted sesame oil is probably a LOT stronger than the stuff they had then, so mixing it with the butter toned it down a lot. Unsalted butter was all they had left of the sale brand. - kat Date: Fri, 16 Oct 1998 11:52:37 -0400 From: "Suzanne Berry"<sberry at primavera.com> Subject: SC - Hais and dates Just a comment on dates and using them in Hais.... I found the Miscellany before Pennsic 26, and made two batches of hais by Cariadoc and Elizabeth's redaction as snack-y food. It was very well received by the friends I camped with, so I made more this year - only I found that my local health-food store now sold three types of dates. I used "medjool" dates this year, and they are *much* moister - the mix before shaping had a consistency like... well, play-doh. *very* sticky, and the finished balls were much date-y-er. Good, though. Aislinn Barony of Stonemarche East Kingdom Date: Fri, 7 Jul 2000 21:17:14 -0400 From: "Robin Carroll-Mann" <harper at idt.net> Subject: Re: SC - Quick inquiry And it came to pass on 7 Jul 00,, that twila hoon wrote: > So the question is does anyone have a _date_ recipe that is period (from > any region) that uses dates honey or sugar and flour to yield a cakeish > type dish that can be cut up like 'fine cakes' There is a recipe in the Miscellany for hais, which is a sweet made of dates, bread crumbs, ground nuts, and sugar. However, hais is rolled into little balls, not shaped into cakes. The recipe is webbed here: http://www.pbm.com/~lindahl/cariadoc/desserts.html#1 Lady Brighid ni Chiarain Settmour Swamp, East (NJ) Date: Sun, 6 Nov 2005 23:37:02 EST From: CLdyroz at aol.com Subject: [Sca-cooks] Hais Report To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org Well, I have tried my hand at making Hais. Interesting task and one I will not duplicate any time soon- The product that I ended up with is an oily crumb mixture that barely, and only with great pressure and a mold, stuck together. It is kind of heavy, and the product tasted rather interesting, with a chewy datey texture and a barely sweet flavor-mostly from the powdered sugar. Was that what I am looking for? Helen Date: Mon, 07 Nov 2005 09:55:08 -0500 From: Tara Sersen Boroson <tara at kolaviv.com> Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Hais Report To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org > The product that I ended up with is an oily crumb mixture that barely, and > only with great pressure and a mold, stuck together. It is kind of heavy, and > the product tasted rather interesting, with a chewy datey texture and a barely > sweet flavor-mostly from the powdered sugar. > > Was that what I am looking for? I've had great success making hais, and in fact it was a favorite snack food 'round these parts until I... uh... burned out my food processor on the dates during one batch. Still have to return that thing to Cuisinart for service... Anyway, I found that it wound up much more oily and less manageable if I used sesame oil, and firmer if I used butter. I also found that dates could vary greatly in their moisture content, and that can make a difference - it helped to use a bit more dry ingredients (nuts, bread crumbs) if the dates were stickier than average. If they were too moist, the balls would be really sticky, but they held together just fine. The only disadvantage to that was, they became a weapon of mass messiness in the hands of a three year old. Hm... I wonder if maybe your dates aren't moist enough? While mine were oily with the sesame oil, they did hold together. The balls were soft and too squish-able and smear-able to use as kiddie finger food, but it wasn't crumbly. If that's the case, perhaps you need to shop for dates that are more squishy? I often rolled them in unsweetened coconut instead of sugar, since my intention was to make a healthful snack for a certain three year old. I've made them with the sugar, and honestly, I didn't miss it. I found the dates to be plenty sweet. Whenever I get my Cuisinart fixed (*sound of head banging on table*) I intend to experiment with it more as a modern healthful type snack. My Dad and a good friend both have Celiac disease, and blood tests show me to have a gluten sensitivity, so I'm going to play with using gluten free breadcrumbs, or more ground nuts instead of bread. I'm also going to try using coconut oil instead of butter to see if I can get the firmer texture while making it casein free for certain other friends. Has anybody noticed that Lara bars are basically Hais without the breadcrumbs? Someone I know was experimenting with making knockoffs of those. She was mixing the dates and nuts and spreading it out, then dehydrating it for a while to get it firmer, and finally cutting it into bars. -Magdalena vander Brugghe Date: Tue, 8 Nov 2005 23:34:53 EST From: CLdyroz at aol.com Subject: [Sca-cooks] Re: Hais report To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org > Hm... I wonder if maybe your dates aren't moist enough? While mine were > oily with the sesame oil, they did hold together. The balls were soft > and too squish-able and smear-able to use as kiddie finger food, but it > wasn't crumbly. If that's the case, perhaps you need to shop for > dates that are more squishy? The ingredients that were used were finely ground breadcrumbs-I had left part of a stale loaf out to dry, and then trimmed the crusts, and gated the bread through a wire strainer. I ground the nuts in a coffee bean grinder. The dates WERE too dry. They had been coated with dextrose as a preservative. Even a tablespoon of water was not enough in the blender to get them to do chop smaller-I had purchased chopped dates. I really do not like the oil. I do agree that the next batch should use butter. But, the next batch will have even more changes: one; a better plan. I went through too many dishes to prepare this and created too big of a mess. Unless I can get a kitchen drudge who loves to wash dishes.... Two, chop my own dates. It is possible to get softer pitted dates. (seriously these were harder then the nuts!) three, vegatable oil is good for frying. Everything is better with a little real butter. I think that butter would have helped greatly with the sweetness of the product. I used the recipe on Caridoc's Page-that is, the original. I did not go with his version. I did pay attention to the proportions. They aren't bad, really-but I do believe there is room for improvement.... Helen Date: Wed, 09 Nov 2005 06:47:45 -0500 From: "Phil Troy / G. Tacitus Adamantius" <adamantius.magister at verizon.net> Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Re: Hais report To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org> On Nov 8, 2005, at 11:34 PM, CLdyroz at aol.com wrote: > I really do not like the oil. I do agree that the next batch should > use butter. If/when you used sesame oil, was it the toasted or untoasted-seed variety? This would make a pretty dramatic difference in the flavor. I assume that, if the original calls for sesame oil, there's a good chance they liked the flavor that way. It only remains to be explored why your experience was different. Which, I of course realize, is what you're doing... Adamantius Date: Thu, 10 Nov 2005 09:01:49 -0800 From: lilinah at earthlink.net Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Hais report To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org Adamantius wrote: > On Nov 8, 2005, at 11:34 PM, CLdyroz at aol.com wrote: >> I really do not like the oil. I do agree that the next batch should >> use butter. > > If/when you used sesame oil, was it the toasted or untoasted-seed > variety? This would make a pretty dramatic difference in the flavor. > > I assume that, if the original calls for sesame oil, there's a good > chance they liked the flavor that way. It only remains to be explored > why your experience was different. Which, I of course realize, is > what you're doing... I find that using *quality* ingredients really does make a difference, at least, i can taste it. For "Middle Eastern" cuisine, *non-toasted* sesame oil is the kind to use. Very definitely NOT the dark roasted Chinese sesame oil. I love sesame oil. I sometimes mix half-and-half butter-and-sesame oil to make pie crusts. I've tried several different kinds. And they are not equals. I suspect the unpleasantness of the sesame oil in the hais was due to an inferior sesame oil. From a halal market: some brand from the Middle East. It was bitter, and had a slightly stale (not rancid) flavor and an unpleasant "greasy" feel. I used it because it was cheap - but i would NOT recommend it and will NOT use it again. From the health food store, Spectrum produces many vegetable oils. -- The Spectrum organic cold-pressed unrefined sesame oil was THE best. But expensive. I use it if i'm making something for myself and a couple other people. -- Spectrum has two other sesame oils that are cheaper - unrefined and refined - not quite as good as the unrefined organic, but good. For feasts i buy the cheaper one - the refined - it doesn't have the same wonderful earthy-nutty flavor of the unrefined organic, but it's not bad, and it's waaaaay better than the awful stuff from the halal market. Why use inferior ingredients that make a bad tasting dish? -- Urtatim (that's err-tah-TEEM) the persona formerly known as Anahita Date: Thu, 10 Nov 2005 13:10:16 -0500 From: cldyroz at aol.com Subject: [Sca-cooks] Re: Sca-cooks Digest, Vol 30, Issue 24 To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org The original does call for the oil, but it says that butter can be used, if you prefer. The oil I used was plain sesame seed oil, not the oriental, which is toasted. Publix, the grocery store, divides most of its 'ethnic' foods into the different countries of origin, so it was easy to find. Not cheap, but easy to find. <G>. When I was molding the cabobs, i kept the mixture stirred up, because I did see a tendency for the oil to go to the bottom. That may be why the ones towards the end were almost dripping in oil. BTW-the mold I used is a tablespoon scoop I bought from the Pampered Chef line. It does turn out all sorts of stuff quickly and cleanly. (When the boss is selling, you have to buy something, so you might as well buy something useful <G>) I do not like heavy, oily foods. That is why I am wondering if I got it right. Of course, it may not be heavy to another person. ::sigh:: Sometimes, I wish we could have a way to give out samples.... Helen Date: Thu, 10 Nov 2005 15:43:40 -0800 From: "K C Francis" <katiracook at hotmail.com> Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Re: Hais report To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org The original recipe gives you the choice of sesame oil OR butter. So many people just seem to miss this fact. I entered this recipe in my first Silver Spoon competition (snack foods to be judged with the brewing competition). I explained in my documentation that I had tried it with the sesame oil and didn't like it (neither the flavor nor the oily texture). My second batch had butter, WAAAAY better on both counts. YET, a judge asked on my judging form "why did you use butter?" as if I had made a substitution for an original ingredient and hadn't mentioned it. Go figure..... As for the dates, I didn't realize there were variations on the moistness of the dates until I got some really DRY ones and had the problems noted here on the list. For some reason, I used fresh bread crumbs the first time and ever since. I do think that this one variation from the original really makes a vast improvement on the 'eating it now' version. If I wanted it to last a really long time as the original was intended, I would use dry bread crumbs and work like heck to bind it into little kabobs. Katira <the end> Edited by Mark S. Harris hais-msg Page 8 of 8