Title: hais-msg
Subject: A medieval, Middle Eastern sweet made of dates, bread crumbs, ground nuts, and sugar.
Author: Edited by Mark S. Harris
Last saved by: Mark S. Harris
Keywords: medieval, candy, sweet, hais, dates, nuts, sugar, Middle Eastern

hais-msg – 3/7/10

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

Date: Mon, 19 Oct 2009 18:11:23 -0400
From: "Daniel & Elizabeth Phelps" <dephelps at embarqmail.com>
To: "Cooks within the SCA" <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Hais question

I've only made hais once using David Waines's recipe out of  "In a Caliph's Kitchen".

His is as follows:

Ingredients:
225 g./8 oz cooking dates, cut up
175 g./6 oz. digestive biscuits, powdered
50 g./2 oz. shelled pistachios, chopped fine
50 g/2 oz. ground almonds
2 tablespoons sesame seed oil
castor or granulated sugar as required

Method:

1)If the dates are very solid, you will need to soften them up by placing 
them in a pan with a little water and heating very gently while masking tem 
with a wooden spoon.

2)Mix together all the ingredients and knead well into one large ball. 
Then pinch off small portions of the mixture and roll in the palms of the 
hands forming bite sized balls.  Place them next in a container which has 
sugar spread across the bottom and shake the balls around so that they 
become thoroughly coated with the sugar.  Keep in the refrigerator until 
ready to use.

There is a picture of some covered with powdered sugar and some not coated 
at all.

What are digestive biscuits and what are the US equivalents?

Dan 

Date: Mon, 19 Oct 2009 16:22:40 -0600
From: Susan Lin <susanrlin at gmail.com>
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Hais question

On Mon, Oct 19, 2009 at 4:11 PM, Daniel & Elizabeth Phelps <
dephelps at embarqmail.com> wrote:
<<< What are digestive biscuits and what are the US equivalents? >>>

They're cookies.  Kind of like Social Teas.  We can get actual British
digestives (McVitte's) at the Asian market and the British shop in
Louisville (Colorado).  I think I may also have seen them at the regular
grocers on occasion.

They are not shortbread.  You could probably substitute an equivalent weight
(not number) of Petit Beurre or Social Teas.  Digestives are usually
thicker.

Shoshanna

Date: Mon, 19 Oct 2009 19:34:43 -0400
From: "tudorpot at gmail.com" <tudorpot at gmail.com>
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Hais question/digestive biscuits

I beg to disagree. Digestive biscuits are sweeter, more crumbly and 
larger than social tea. Also, they are made from whole wheat flour. 
There is a quite a good wiki- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digestive_biscuit

If you are looking to substitute- try half social tea and half graham 
crackers.

Theadora

Date: Mon, 19 Oct 2009 19:34:34 -0500
From: "Marcha" <nigsdaughter at satx.rr.com>
To: "Cooks within the SCA" <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] hais

I use the recipe for Hais in "Serving the Guest the Sufi Way" and I swear by it. Matter of fact I have three Hais left from the batch I made for Laurel's prize last month and they are still edible.

 I have never had a failure plus I search for the softest, stickiest, pitted dates I can find at my local Sun Harvest.

Bertha

Date: Tue, 20 Oct 2009 14:05:36 -0700
From: K C Francis <katiracook at hotmail.com>
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] hais

From: nigsdaughter at satx.rr.com
<<< Sorry...I buy whole dates and then process them until ...well until they are 
a homogenous mixture and then I add everything else. Plus I use melted 
butter.
Bertie >>>

At last, someone else who uses the butter option!  

In my early days of sca cooking I made this recipe for a 'snack foods' cooking competition.  I bought a box of dates (good and sticky).  For whatever reason at the time, I used fresh bread crumbs and I used sesame oil for the first test batch.  I ground the nuts and bread in batches, then the dates and added the other ingredients to complete the grinding/mixing.  The mixture held together well but was 'oily' and the oil overpowered the other flavors so I did it again with butter and loved it.  I used superfine sugar for the coating and still feel it works better than regular sugar but avoids the sticky coating you would get with powdered sugar.

I know that these were made to keep for long periods of time as food for travelers and the dry bread crumbs and drier dates would all help prevent spoiling, BUT today, they are made for eating now and the moister versions of dates and crumbs make them so much nicer.  They still keep well.    I've eaten a version made with the really dry ingredients and it wasn't enjoyable at all.

As to the competition, I had hoped to find a 'salty' snack as the competition was to be run with the brewing competition, but ended up with a sweet one, think beer nuts.  One other entry also included hais, but I took home the silver spoon that day.

Katira al-Maghrebiyya

Date: Tue, 20 Oct 2009 14:19:50 -0700
From: Susan Fox <selene at earthlink.net>
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] hais

K C Francis wrote:
<<< The mixture held together well but was 'oily' and the oil overpowered the other flavors so I did it again with butter and loved it. >>>

I see an "uh-oh" here.  Did you use plain sesame oil, or the dark 
aromatic Chinese kind pressed from toasted sesame seeds?  I suspect the 
latter and that's not what one is supposed to use.  I like dark sesame 
oil a lot in things like Chinese Chicken Salad but not in Hais, where a 
more neutral oil should be used.

Cheers,
Selene Colfox

Date: Tue, 20 Oct 2009 14:27:20 -0700
From: K C Francis <katiracook at hotmail.com>
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] hais

I should have mentioned that myself.  It is possible, and I don't remember, but that was only half the dislike that the butter solved.  The butter is absorbed so that the mixture doesn't look/feel oily.  The texture as well as the flavor was vastly improved.  I was very happy that the original recipe actually gave the option.   Had I tried that first, I probably wouldn't have even tried the oil.  Thanks for mentioning the difference for those who don't know.

Katira

Date: Sun, 6 Dec 2009 17:22:38 -0600
From: "Terry Decker" <t.d.decker at att.net>
To: "Cooks within the SCA" <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Sugarplums or Hais?

I think this type of sweetmeat probably predates (the word) hais.  I 
suspect, but cannot prove that it dates to the Late Neolithic and the 
domesticated honeybee with honey being found from England through the Levant 
and on to parts East (there is at least one reference to Borneo). 
Sweetmeats of ground nutsedge tubers and honey show up in Egyptian tombs 
from the 4th Millenia BCE to Ptolemic Egypt.

Sugarplum, as a word, appears to have a Late 17th Century origin, so while 
some of the ingredients would need to be imported, they would likely have 
been available, thus the recipe can not be directly attributed to a Middle 
Eastern source.  The earliest European variant I've located is from Apicius, 
although I think it is made as a small cake rather than a ball.

Bear

<<< I just caught the last few minutes of Alton Brown's new Christmas show,
featuring roasted duck, stuffing, and sugarplums.  (One of my students is
Tiny Tim).  Watching the recipe he makes for SugarPlums, I am struck at just
how similar they are to Hais.  He uses almonds, prunes, apricots and dates
in a food processor, then mixes that with honey, fine sugar, spices and
rolls the whole thing up into balls, then rolls in more sugar.  When I make
Hais, I use almonds and pistachios, dates and sugar, sometimes with other
spices and sometimes not.  They are a bit hit at Pennsic.  Are we looking 
at this form of sugar plums being a direct descendant of the Middle Eastern
hais balls?

Christianna >>>

<the end>

Edited by Mark S. Harris	hais-msg	Page  of