Fudhalat al-Khiwan fi Tayyibat al-Taam wal-Alwan

March 26, 2023 3:54 PM

Palestinian writer Mahmoud Habboush on how Medieval Arabic Culinary Literature Offers Lessons for the Present. [New Lines Magazine] Aside from the excitement of knowing what people ate centuries ago, these books are priceless because they reveal the social life of the upper strata of Arab and Muslim medieval societies. Medical treatises, for example, abound, containing information about ingredients — their benefits and side effects — as well as some dishes by name, but rarely do they provide nonmedicinal recipes. Literary sources — also easy to find — shed a little more insight into the cuisine of the past, sometimes delivering the recipe in prose or as a poem, but that is the extent of it. They don’t reveal the full richness of medieval haute cuisine.

Also includes a selection of recipes translated from some of the cookbooks.

posted by Ahmad Khani (12 comments total)

Looks like I need to find myself a source of sheep tail fat but with that I could probably manage a close approximation of several of the recipes listed at the end. I also liked the idea of stuffing a fish with nuts and fruit - that's an idea that could lead to some interesting experiments.
posted by some loser at 5:31 PM on March 26, 2023 [1 favorite]

I noticed that sheep tail fat detail too.

A lower melting point than regular sheep fat, I presume?

Very sophisticated use of tree nuts, as well. I don’t doubt I’d love the tastes of these foods, particularly since my favorite vegetable flavor is eggplant, but my immune system would inevitably exercise veto powers from which there is no appeal, I’m afraid.
posted by jamjam at 6:06 PM on March 26, 2023

I have no connection to this culinary tradition, but I strongly feel we need more of this. What I want to see is other people pick up where the author leaves off and document the ingredients and work to more accurately approximate the recipes. On one hand I'm fascinated by the food preservation technologies (like raisins) that were so critical to the cuisine, but also the stuff that's no longer readily available--even in the region.
posted by galago at 6:19 PM on March 26, 2023 [1 favorite]

A lower melting point than regular sheep fat, I presume?

Correct.

Like all warm-blooded animals, sheep deposit fat in several parts of their bodies. Deep in the interior it takes the convenient form of big chunks, but a lot of fat (in thin-tailed sheep) is deposited right under the skin. This makes it harder to harvest, and it also makes it a different kind of fat. Temperatures are always higher deep in the body, so internal fat has to have a high melting point, while subcutaneous fat is exposed to ambient temperatures and has to have a low melting point for the sheep to be able to metabolize it. Many westerners have had the experience of starting to work on a lamb chop and then getting distracted by lively conversation, only to find that when they returned to the chop it was lukewarm and chewing it deposited an unpleasant tallowy coating on the roof of the mouth. That’s because sheep have relatively high body temperatures, so their internal fat doesn’t melt in the human mouth.

Tail fat doesn’t have that problem. Since the tail is exposed to low temperatures on four sides, it has a particularly low melting point – it’s more like bacon fat or butter; slightly muttony bacon fat or butter.

posted by away for regrooving at 11:02 PM on March 26, 2023 [8 favorites]

Those big butts on sheep are kinda something.
posted by away for regrooving at 11:05 PM on March 26, 2023

The one time I want the article to actually be the marketing for a book.
posted by aniola at 11:32 PM on March 26, 2023 [4 favorites]

Or at least a collab with Tasting History!
posted by clew at 11:33 PM on March 26, 2023

A friend gave me some history-based cookbooks by Habeeb Salloum that are pretty great. Mine are OOP but here's some more.
posted by CCBC at 2:08 AM on March 27, 2023 [1 favorite]

This was a fascinating (long) read! Thanks for posting.
posted by mumimor at 5:18 AM on March 27, 2023

Excellent find!
posted by chavenet at 6:06 AM on March 27, 2023

So glad he mentioned Charlie Perry, former restaurant critic for the LATimes—eaten many meals, good and not as good with him.
posted by Ideefixe at 10:22 AM on March 27, 2023

This was such a tasty read.
posted by Oyéah at 2:24 PM on March 27, 2023