Caliphs-Ktchn-rev - 1/10/09

A review by THL Johnnae llyn Lewis of "Annals of the Caliphs' Kitchens - Ibn Sayya-r al-Warra-q's Tenth-Century Baghdadi Cookbook".

NOTE: See also the files: fd-Mid-East-msg, fd-Turkey-msg, E-Arab-recip-art, ME-revel-fds-art, fd-Persia-msg, murri-msg, goat-msg, dates-msg, puddings-msg.

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Date: Thu, 10 Jan 2008 13:41:50 -0500
From: Johnna Holloway <johnna at sitka.engin.umich.edu>
Subject: [Sca-cooks] Annals of the Caliphs' Kitchens-- a Review
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>,
	"SCAFoodandFeasts at yahoogroups.com" <SCAFoodandFeasts at yahoogroups.com>

My copy has arrived and I have been very pleasantly immersed in
another time and place. It really is a marvelous book and I am so
impressed that I have already written the following up.

Johnnae

*Annals of the Caliphs' Kitchens*

*Ibn Sayya-r al-Warra-q's Tenth-Century Baghdadi Cookbook*

English Translation with Introduction and Glossary by Nawal Nasrallah
Leiden and Boston: Brill, 2007 xii, 876 pp., 32 pp of color plates.
ISBN (13): 978 90 04 15867 2 * ISBN-10:*90 04 15867 7

Massive and impressive and marvelous are some of the adjectives that
come to mind when attempting to describe this book. For the first time
we can hold in our hands an English translation of the complete text of
the /Kitab al ? Tabikh/ or (Book of Dishes or Book of Cookery) a cookery
book by Ibn Sayya-r al-Warra-q. This means that 600 plus recipes dating
from the tenth century are now available. This edition is drawn from and
cross-checked through the three surviving manuscripts which are located
in England, Helsinki, and Istanbul.

In translation, the work begins on page 65 of this volume and extends
through page 519. This results in 455 pages of recipes for dishes
ranging from stews, cold and hot poultry dishes, dips and sauces, boiled
dishes, porridges, vegetables, fried dishes, roasted kid and other
meats, puddings, pastries, confections, and beverages. The text also
includes discussions of the utensils needed, the spices, foods for the
elderly and very young, the humors, numerous food poems, manners and
decorum. Footnotes abound to guide the reader and point out differences
between the texts.

The editor and translator Nawal Nasrallah includes a comprehensive
introduction, glossary of Arabic to English and English to Arabic terms,
an appendix of important people and places mentioned in the text, and
works cited. A full range of five sub-divided indexes, including an
ingredients index and a separate index for prepared foods and drinks,
compliments the text. The medical terms, recipes, and advice are in yet
another index.

The only drawback is the price. The work is being sold at 139.00 / US$
195.00. I can report that it seems well worth the cost. For those of us
seriously interested in food and culinary history, this is a volume to
treasure and honor with a place on our shelves.

In her /Preface/, the editor writes that she was most concerned with
accuracy and readability. She seems to have accomplished her aims in
this fascinating volume about "this most interesting book."

Unsure? Take a look at the actual book. Go to
http://www.brill.nl/product_id24049.htm and click on the link to look at
the book through Google book search.

SCA Cooks' Note: Can you cook a feast from is provided here? I think the
answer will be a resounding yes. I suspect that the volume (if enough
people can scrape together the funds to buy it) will be used by many
cooks who are interested in preparing Middle Eastern fare and feasts. I
would suggest that owners keep the volume out of the actual kitchen and
off any countertops. Xerox your chosen recipes and take those to the
kitchen. It would be a tragedy to splatter the actual volume. With some
work, testing of versions, adapting to our ingredients and kitchens, I
predict that the recipes are going to be able to be adapted and used in
the SCA.

Review by Johnnae llyn Lewis, CE

Copyright//JK Holloway. 10 January 2008
<Johnna at mac.com>. Please don't reprint without permission from the author.

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