Isfunj al-Qulla: Sponge Cake Cooked in a Jar

I have a memory, more plausible than most from that time, that soon before my first stroke I ordered
cake to share with my husband on his birthday. I didn't get the cake, I don't even know if this is a real
memory or one of those confused hallucinations but I have decided that if I had to die I would like to
eat cake.

Isfunj al-Qulla

(Sponge Cake Cooked in a Jar)

I have learned in the last year or two that bread has been made for thousands of years and that some of that early bread was flat unleavened bread and some was raised by yeast.(1) But packaged yeast didn't come out until many centuries later. It could only be made in quantity after yeasts were discovered by Louis Pasteur who saw yeasts under the microscope for the first time.(2) Before that point wild yeasts developed in mixtures of flour and water (sourdough) which were kept going for centuries and passed down from generation to generation. Yeasts were also cultivated from the Lees which is a by product of making alcohol. Period recipes for some breads such as Manchet call for Beer or Ale Yeast or Barm.(3)
This is a medieval middle eastern cake made with sourdough. I have made this several times since
February and what I handed out at the Newcomers Event in May went over very well. It seems we all
like cake. This is a translation from Kitab Fadalat al-khiwan fi tayyibat al-ta'am wa-l-alwan (“Book of
the Excellent Table Composed of the Best Foods and the Best Dishes”) an Andalusian cookbook(4)
written by Ibn Rezinin in the 13th century.(5)

“Knead semolina or extra-fine flour, making a soft, light dough. Take a small new jar and pour into it
quite a lot of oil, enough to coat the walls and the bottom. When the dough has risen, fill up the jar
[with it], almost as far as the neck, and stick a palm rib inside, or a reed without knots that has been
soaked in oil, and take the jar to the oven. Leave it far from the fire until the cooking [is done]. At this
point, remove it from the oven and gently stake it to pull out the reed. Into the space occupied by the
reed pour some honey and samn or melted butter, let it sit for a moment, and then delicately break the
jar so that the contents remain perfectly intact. Sprinkle with cinnamon, moisten again with samn and
honey, and eat, may it please God.”

When I first tried redacting this recipe I followed the instructions as closely as I could. The first step was to make the sourdough. I've tried many recipes for making sourdough and I find this one works best for me:
½ cup whole wheat flour
mix ½ tsp honey in ½ cup unchlorinated water
(since I have city water I boil tap water for a couple of minutes and let it sit uncovered until only warm, that takes about an hour and releases the chlorine back into its gas form. It takes a lot less time to do that than to let it sit overnight.)
Mix the ingredients to make a batter. Cover with a cloth towel and leave in a warm dark place with
some air circulation.
Stir once a day and feed with more water and flour every 5 to 6 days.

When you make the sourdough starter you need to do it in a glass container (I use a jar) and stir it with a wooden spoon. The reason for this is that metal can give it an off taste and the sourdough doesn't develop well in plastic. Once it has started fermentation it can be transferred to a plastic container if you wish. You must use un-chlorinated water because chlorine will kill the yeast you are trying to develop. You must keep it out of direct sunlight because sunlight will also kill yeast.

Since at that time I didn't have semolina and the gluten content is so high in that type of flour that it would make the cake tough I used a combination of white and whole wheat all purpose flour figuring that was close to the “extra-fine flour” of the middle ages. I use about 1 part whole wheat flour to 3 parts white flour and then add a little wheat germ.

After 2 to 3 days you should find that it no longer smells like wet flour and has taken on a pleasantly
sour smell or may even smells like fresh baked bread. You should also see some good bubbles (that is
fermentation). If you get fermentation but the smell isn't pleasant that means that your local yeasts will probably not taste good either. (Different varieties of yeasts and bacterias which also live in sourdough live in different areas and they all taste different.) I thought I had photos at this step but they never get saved in the camera.

Continue stirring once a day until day 5 or 6. This is a photo of the dough at day 5. You can see that
fermentation has almost stopped. It is time to feed the yeasts.

Feeding is just adding more flour and water in an equal amount to what is already in the batter, because I was in a hurry to get a decent amount of sourdough started I started with one cup each of flour and water and 1 tsp of honey. Here I am splitting it in half so that there is ½ cup of flour in each batch and then adding ½ cup of flour and ½ cup of water (remember to use un-chlorinated water). The honey only needs to be added to get fermentation, after that you don't need to add it.

10/23/12 This morning it didn't seem like there were many bubbles but in looking closer I realized that the dough was just kind of thin so it couldn't rise well. I added about ½ a cup of whole wheat flour and 1 ½ cups white flour with some wheat germ added to total 2 cups flour. I also added 1 cup of water and ½ tsp of kosher salt. I mixed the flour in a ½ cup at a time and added the water part way in so that I could keep the dough mixable. Below is showing the additions of flour, how full that made the glass jar which holds 5 to 5 ½ cups and the last photo showing how dark the batter ended up. The mix of whole wheat and white flour is because in order to make what they referred to as a “white flour” they “bolted” or sifted much of the bran out of it.

 The flour can be added to the sourdough starter all at once or over 2 or 3 days. This time I did it all at once. Since it was more than half full I put the jar in a bowel (non-reactive metal) because when it rises it often overflows and makes a big mess if the overflow is not contained and the overflow is needed to fill the baking dish. Since I did that in the morning I stirred it in the evening to work in more oxygen (yeasts breathe oxygen and need it to continue multiplying, it's the same reason for the final kneading of bread.)

10/24/12 I checked the sourdough this morning and it had only risen enough to touch the cloth cover

and not overflow. The other one I was running with the extra was only about half full and completely

overflowed. I figured out that it probably works better with my yeasts to feed them more slowly but I

am working on a deadline. It also still seems just a little thin so I added ½ cup of bread flour and another ½ tsp of kosher salt to help strengthen the gluten strands. I will let it rise till this evening and

then see if it is ready to bake. The other batch of sourdough I am hoping will be ready soon enough so

that I can make a second cake with ground candied orange peel (my modification of the original

recipe). Since there is a recipe in the same book for candied citron peel which I followed in making the candied orange peel I don't think it is too much of a stretch to think that it could have been ground and added to the cake.

The cake dough is ready to bake. I coated a glass bread pan with butter (the recipe said oil but I used

butter since the cake has melted butter and honey drizzled over it and more ingredients mean more

chance of allergy issues) The first cake I tried to make I tried baking it in a can with a wooden spoon

soaked in oil inserted into the center. I tried to do it that way because I didn't have a reed or palm rib to use and I didn't bake it in a jar because the only jars I have are glass and when it is broken to get the cake out it would leave small invisible shards that would kill anyone who tried to eat the cake. Using the can didn't work either. In the first couple of pictures on making the sourdough it shows a burnt wooden spoon lying in front of the glass jar. That's how the spoon got burnt. In order to get the cake cooked on the inside it had to become so overdone and burnt on the outside that the whole thing

including the can had to be thrown away. This is how I do it now.

Coat a glass bread pan with butter on nonstick cooking spray. Fill it about ¾ full with the sourdough

cake batter. Let it rise in a warm place for about 30 to 60 minutes, hopefully it will rise almost to the

top of the bread pan. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and bake on the middle rack until it separates

from the sides of the baking dish and a toothpick inserted in several places comes out clean. I thought

that takes about 30 minutes but I was checking it every 5 to 15 minutes for at least another half hour. I

think if I had not taken it out to check it as often it would probably have taken 50 to 70 minutes. The

second cake I made with ground orange peel was still slightly moist at 50 minutes so I gave it another

15 minutes.

After it is removed from the oven start heating ¼ cup of butter and 1/3 cup of honey over medium high heat. Bring it to a boil and remove from the heat until the bubbles die down, you can speed up this process by stirring. Do this 3 to 4 times then remove from the heat. Let the syrup cool a little while you take a skewer and poke holes all over the top of the cake (still in the bread pan) then carefully pour the melted honey-butter mixture over the cake and let it soak into the holes and fill the space between the bread pan and the cake. This works just as well as the reed inserted into the cake in the original recipe.

Let the cake sit until the syrup is soaked in, about 30 minutes. Carefully remove the cake from the pan and place on a platter. Dust the top and sides of the cake with ground cinnamon until it is well covered.

Boil another ¼ cup of butter and 1/3 cup honey just as before. After boiling the syrup it helps to let it

cool about 10 to15 minutes before you pour it over the top of the cake and let it drizzle over the sides.

Take a spoon and scoop up the syrup puddling around the cake and keep drizzling it over the cake until it has cooled enough where more of it stays on the cake than runs off. Let cool before eating or store in a covered container.

This cake will have a slightly sour taste as if lemon was used in the batter. That taste is from the

sourdough being feed every day and not allowed to continue to a much more sour flavor. Because you

bring the honey-butter to a boil a couple of times it thickens a little bit and tastes more like

butterscotch. To make the orange version add 1/2 to 2/3 cup ground orange peel and into the last

feedings. You may need to reduce the flour just slightly, you want to end up with about 4 cups of cake

mix, adding the orange peel will cause the cake to rise higher and faster because of the extra sugar.

After the cake is made and the last coating of honey-butter is added garnish with candied orange peel.

Below are pictures of some of the cakes I have done before. They got taller as I practiced and learned

that a thicker batter makes a taller cake. I also learned that if you add sugar but not orange peel to the

batter you don't get that lemony flavor and it ends up a little bland.

1. “Artisan Breads” by Jan Hedh, 2011
originally published in Swedish as Brod by Prisma, 2004
2. http://www.exploreyeast.com/article/history-yeast
3. http:/ www.whirlwind-design.com/madbaker/breadfaq.html
4. “Medieval Cuisine of the Islamic World” by Ailia Zaouali, English translation 2007 by the
Regents of California, University of California Press
5. http://medievalcookery.com/etexts.html

Lady Esther's impression of Rose Soda

Lady Esther's Impression of Rose Soda

I've added in some comments in red. These are answers to questions posed by the judges of A&S. I
learned several months ago that although people of the middle ages didn't commonly drink water
because it was often unsafe that they had other choices than alcoholic drinks. Among other listings for
non-alcoholic drinks I found Rose Soda. When I first tried to redact it I didn't realize that I had only
copied part of the information. This is what I went off of:

“Rose Soda (Water) and Lavender Drink were common among refined ladies of the
middle ages. This was usually petals of the flowers soaked in a mixture of very sweet water. While
thought to be a medicine, it found popularity at the dinner table and was thought to sooth a well fed
belly.”(1)

Thinking it needed to be redacted I guessed it would have the same amount of sugar as Kool-aid. To
make it I use 2 cups of sugar to 1 gallon of water and shake that together in a screw-top container. Then
I put ½ cup of dried rose buds I get at Kabul Market and shake that in. I started making this with dried
rose buds I got at the Herb Pantry but I found out that they were for decoration not taking internally.
Those were much stronger so I think they have something added to increase the scent/flavor. I feel
more comfortable with the ones I get from Kabul Market because they are for use in food. Because
they are not as strong I add 1 tsp of rosewater because it would take a lot more rosebuds to get enough
flavor. I leave it in a warm place for 24 to 48 hours. As long as it takes for the liquid to change from
clear to a tea color. If I had thought to take a picture at this step you would see the darker color actually

starting to fill the bottle from the top where the rose buds were floating.

I used to figure when the rosebuds had steeped in the liquid so that it turned into something like a rose
tea it was done but then I decided that in the middle ages if it wasn't used right away it would have
been stored in a container that was not air-tight. From when I learned to cultivate yeasts from organic
materials like raisins, apples and orange peels I knew that if such an item was exposed to the air even
partially for 2 to 3 days yeasts would grow in the sugar water and it would become carbonated. (2)
Some people like it more carbonated and some don't. What I have brought is the carbonated version. I
feel the results are best if you let air into it then shake it at least once a day for approximately 2 weeks
then leave it in cold storage (like the refrigerator) for up to 2 more weeks. The carbonated version is
less sweet than the fresh version because the yeasts use carbohydrates as food, in other words they

literally eat the sugar. I think it is still sweet enough and very refreshing as a carbonated beverage.

I later found the rest of the information on how to make it at that same web site:

Rose Soda / Lavender Drink

Adapted from _The 'Libre de Diversis Medicinis' in the Thornton Manuscript (MS. Lincoln Cathedral,

A.5.2)_. Edited by Margaret Sinclair Ogden. Published for the Early English Text Society by

Humphrey Milford, Oxford University Press. Amen House, E.C. 4. England. 1938. Text circa early

1400 CE.

1 part rose/lavender petals

2 parts water

2 parts sugar/honey

Soak a number of petals in a pitcher of water holding twice as much water as petals for one night.

Press, but not squeeze, the water from the petals and reuse them as needed. Mix into the water enough honey or sugar as to taste, and serve cold. (3)

If I had used more rose buds instead of supplementing the taste with rose water I may have ended up

with a similar flavor but in my opinion it would have been too sweet for most of us to drink, with that

much sugar/honey it would have been a fairly thick syrup. It looks like the amounts listed are a modern

redaction and not part of the original recipe. I have mixed enough sugar for my taste and served cold.

Etienne commented that I should have mentioned how, when, and what tools should be used for

straining. I strained the sample I had out for judging because I felt it would be easier for the judges to

sample and easier for me to clean out the decorative bottle if it didn't have rose petals in it. As for if you should strain it, in the words of many of the middle eastern cook book authors, “do as you wish”. If you were to make it using more rose petals and no rose water I would recommend straining at least most of them out. If you strain the roses out that should be done just before serving and using a strainer is period.

I am remembering in a recipe that I had read which called for rose water it said that different brands

have different strengths so the amount of rose water used (if you choose to go that way) will depend on the brand used and your personal taste.

If you use this as a sourdough starter instead of just a beverage you will probably want to strain it

unless you like the look of roses in your bread but the center and stem of the rose are woody and hard

to chew.

1 & 3 http://mbhp.forgottensea.org/noalcohol.html

2. “Artisan Breads” by Jan Hedh, 2011

originally published in Swedish as Brod by Prisma, 2004

chapter “Baking with Levain” pg 31

Roman Sourdough Bread

http://www.coquinaria.nl/english/recipes/Rombread.htm

Used for the May Cooks Guild Meeting and the May Newcomers Event

Roman Sourdough Bread

The Romans knew several kinds of bread. Mostly these breads were made with sourdough. The bread
could be made of wheat, spelt, barley, millet or rice. Even ground pulses were used. In the second
century before Christ bread started to displace pottages with pulses as basic food. Bread was eaten
every day, at every meal. This explains the "bread and circuses": both were considered essential to the
well-being of the plebs.
The bread in this recipe I have composed from the description; by Faas of several Roman kinds of
bread (P.C.P. Faas, Around the table of the Romans: Food and feasting in ancient Rome (Palgrave
McMillan 2002). This is not a historical recipe, but an 'impressionistic' recipe.
Faas mentions bread shaped like a ring with a laurel wreath, a flat bread like pizza, a long breadroll, a
mushroom shape, a square bread shaped like a dice, and a bread shaped like the breast of a young
woman.

Ingredients:
500 gram (4 1/4 cup) spelt flour
1/4 litre (1 cup) white grape juice
200 gram (7 fl.oz) sourdough on room temperature
75 gram (1/3 cup) fresh goat cheese (chevre) at room temperature
2 Tbsp. olive oil
1 Tbsp. honey
1 tsp. each of aniseed and cumin seeds
1/2 tsp. salt
and also some yeast (15 gram/1/2 oz. fresh or 5 gram/1 tsp. dried)

Temper the sourdough with 1 deciliter of the grape juice, 100 gram spelt flour and honey (sponge). Let this stand for at least one to three hours on a warm spot until it has doubled in volume, then mix in the other ingredients. Knead well until you have an elastic dough. Let it rise on a warm spot under a damp cloth. If you use extra yeast, one or two hours will suffice, but when sourdough is the only rising-agent, you can also leave it an entire night. When the temperature goes down, rising will be slower. To prevent the dough from drying out, place it in a plastic box with lid, together with some glasses of hot water.
You can knead and let rise for a third time, but this is not mandatory. Now you can create your bread in any form you like. Use your fantasy, or create a simple loaf. When the bread is formed, let is again rise, this time for half an hour. Preheat the oven to 220 dg C/425 dg F. Bake the bread for 20 to 25 minutes.

I made two of these, one for the Cooks Guild May meeting and one for the May Newcomers Event
(that one I excluded the cheese and spices so that it could be used to sample any of the condiments
brought and to reduce the chance of allergy problems. Because I had left out some ingredients in that
one I needed to add some more of the other ingredients so that I would have enough bread to shape into a decorative loaf. I left out the suggested yeast because I was already using a wild yeast sourdough starter and there is no need to use both, even though some people do. I followed the recipe for each batch of bread, put them each on pizza pans and poking a hole through the center of the mound of dough formed them into rings. Then I covered them loosely with an oiled plastic wrap and left them in a warm place to rise over night.

The next morning I put them one at a time on a pizza peel and preheated the oven with a baking stone. I then snipped leaf shapes into them with kitchen scissors and stuck bay leaves into the wreaths so that they would have some bread leaves and some bay laurel leaves in the laurel rings. Then I sprinkled them with more spelt flour before sliding them onto the pizza stone, sprayed in some water water (to replicate baking in a stone oven) and baked them. When the first one was baked I could take it out of the oven then start the process on the second one.

The ingredients are almost identical to Mustachi or Must Rolls that I made the year before except each one of those small rolls are set on top of a bay leaf. Then I sprinkled more spelt flour on them and loosely covered them with plastic wrap and left them in a warm place over night to rise. The next
morning I baked the loaves one at a time. I liked the fact that these call for olive oil instead of the lard
the Must Rolls called for so they are better for you and are kosher for those who have that concern.
They are not a dry heavy bread and keep well in the freezer but because of the shape do need the
support of a pan under them when storing in the freezer. They went well at both things I served them at and this being the first time I tried to make decorative bread I will certainly be doing it again.

Loaf Kneaded with Butter (or olive oil)

http://www.daviddfriedman.com/Medieval/miscellany_pdf/Misc9recipes.pdf
Loaf Kneaded with Butter (Non-dairy Version)
Andalusian p. A-24

Take three ratls of white flour and knead it with a ratl of butter and when the mixing is complete, leave it to rise and make bread from it; send it to the oven in a dish and when it has cooked, turn it on the other side in another dish and return it to the oven. When it is thoroughly cooked, take it out of the oven, then cover it a while and present it.

5 c flour unsifted (1 1/2 lb)                               1 c water
1/2 lb butter    (or olive oil)                               1 c sourdough starter

Note: we assume that “make bread from it” requires water and leavening.
Melt butter and mix into flour. Mix lukewarm water with sourdough starter and stir into flour
mixture; knead until smooth. Cover bowl with damp cloth and let rise about 15 hours, it will rise
somewhat faster in a warm place. Shape into single round loaf about 1 1/2 " thick and 8" in
diameter. Heat oven to 350°. Bake bread about 45 minutes on ungreased cookie sheet; flip onto
second cookie sheet and bake another 15 minutes. Remove from oven, put on wooden board and
cover with cloth for 10 minutes, then serve.

In honor of our Baroness and anyone else who can't have dairy I used olive oil instead of butter.
One person who I asked to taste it commented that it needed salt, I hadn't realized it didn't have any. I
will have to see how much salt works next time I make it. For the flour I used 1 cup of bread flour and
the rest was a mix of half whole wheat, half all purpose white and a little wheat germ to approximate
the flour that was used in the middle ages which had most of the bran sifted (bolted) out. I was very
surprised that this bread didn't have the strong sour flavor that many of my sourdough breads do. I
think it was the fat content of the olive oil (when you make yogurt the more fat content of the milk the sweeter the yogurt turns out.) It may have also helped that it was a newly made sourdough so it may not have turned as sour as if it had been older.

Medieval and more modern (but could pass) Beverages

This is a list of web-sites with recipes for non-alcoholic and alcoholic beverages.

https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=1934603095201939769#editor/src=dashboard

Under the section for Beverages:

Almond Milk Barley Water Buttered Beere 
Claret Z
Hazelnut Beverage G
Hypocras (spiced wine)

A list of recipes for both alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages:

http://www.godecookery.com/allrec/allrec01.htm

Non-alcoholic beverages and syrups (drink concentrates)

http://www.pbm.com/~lindahl/cariadoc/drinks.html

Non Alcoholic Beverages of the Middle Ages  :

http://mbhp.forgottensea.org/noalcohol.html

To drink or not to drink – on Non-Alcoholic Beverages,  Presented at Ides of March Collegia 20/3/2010 by Kara of Kirriemuir : (an essay and recipes)

http://lochac.sca.org/bacchus_wood/A&S/Cordials%20-%20Alcoholic%20or%20Non-Alcoholic.pdf 

Stewed Beef Sandwich

Subject_July, Cold dishes

Annals of the Caliphs' Kitchens Page 151

A Recipe for wast (filled sandwich) made by Ibn Dihqana:

Choose a round and thick bread made with fine, bran-free flour (raghif samik huwwara). Using a knife, cut it crosswise in half and set it aside.

     Take meat of cooled sikbaj (beef stew soured with vinegar) and shred it. Finely chop leaf vegetables (baql).

Cover the [cut side of] one piece of the bread with the [chopped] vegetables followed by another layer of the prepared meat. Sprinkle the surface with pleasant tasting salt followed by chopped cheese, chopped olives, and [chopped] walnuts, almonds, pistachios, and pine nuts. Put another layer of chopped vegetables and cover the [the filling] with the other half of the bread [cut side down]. Keep the prepared sandwich pressed [using a weight] for about an hour. Make as many as you wish of these sandwiches following the same rule.    

     Cut the filled sandwiches into squares and then cut them into triangles (shawabir). Arrange the pieces on a platter (jam) and serve them, God willing.

Esther's Redaction:

Bread:

I made a Gluten Free bread so that certain people would be able to try it. Below is the recipe I used. I made the dough a day or two ahead. I followed this recipe because I wanted a yeast bread with a slight sourdough flavor and a firmness that could hold up to the hour pressing of the sandwich. I halved the recipe to make enough for 2 loaves, and I used half the dough for my first one. Unfortunately I made the dough too wet and it wouldn't hold it's shape and it turned into a flat, hard pancake.

http://www.artisanbreadinfive.com/2010/01/05/gluten-free-crusty-boule

This is a loaf I made in a previous batch and the one I just did.

Then instead of trying to add more of the dry ingredients from this bread I decided to add the ingredients from this recipe but making some alterations to save time or to make the 2 recipes compatible.

http://adventuresomekitchen.com/2010/06/16/the-conquering-hero-meets-everyman-a-feast-fit-for-bloomsday-gluten-free-irish-soda-bread-and-pan-seared-chipotle-corned-beef/

The dough was still too wet to hold up free form so I decided to just give up on that and bake it in something.

I coated an oven safe bowl with olive oil and put some batter in it to about half full then I put the rest in my cast aluminum dutch oven (coated with foil, then olive oil...I remember how hard it was to get the bread out the last time when I only oiled it.) I put the ceramic bowl in the cold oven and turned it on to 400 degrees F. After 10 minutes I put in the pot. After about 10 more minutes I turned the heat down to 350 degrees F. I cooked them both together until the small one tested done and I moved it to a cooling rack, I took out the other one when it tested done.

With all of the maneuvering these are the ingredient amounts I ended up using:

1/2 cup brown rice flour

1/4 cup + 2 TBSP sorghum flour

1 cup millet flour (I can't find millet flour here so I grind my own)

2 3/4 cup tapioca flour

1/4 TBSP yeast (can use 1 TBSP if you don't want to take 2-3 days to make bread)

2 tsp kosher salt (or to taste)

3 1/2 tsp guar gum

2-2 1/2 cup warm water

2 large egg

1/2 cup olive oil

2 1/2 TBSP sugar

2 TBSP lemon juice

I can't be sure how much water I actually used because when I put the ingredients in the food processor to blend them till smooth a bunch of the water overflowed and went all over the counter. What's listed is a guess. Next time I'll use my stick blender. The ingredient mix must have been good because I still ended up with a firm crust and somewhat firm bread. Cooking the bread in the ceramic oven safe bowl was perfect. I ended up with a bun shape.

For the non-gluten-free sandwiches I used store bought Torta Sandwich Rolls which are almost square and then cut the sandwiches in half diagonally.

The Meat:

I read through several recipes on how to make sikbaj (beef stew soured with vinegar) and decided to use those as inspiration rather than following one exactly. I took a 3.9 lb. beef chuck pot roast, rinsed it and put it in a slow cooker. To this I added 2 TBSP chopped garlic, 1/2 cup chopped onion (I had a mix of red and yellow onions), 1 cup finely diced or grated carrot, 1/2 tsp dried thyme, 2 tsp kosher salt. Coarsely grind together 1/2 tsp whole black pepper corns, 1 tsp whole coriander seed, 1/4 tsp whole celery seed and add it to the pot. Add 1 cup balsamic vinegar and 1 cup water. Cook on low over night or up to 18 hrs. Add 1.3 oz chopped parsley and 1/3 cup more balsamic vinegar cook 1-6 hours more. Then remove the meat and shred it. Mix in the chopped vegetables and enough of the broth to make the meat moist. Use right away or refrigerate.

Nut Mixture:

Toast together 1/2 cup pine nuts and 3/4 cup slivered almonds (whole almonds would work but I didn't have them). Put them in the food processor along with 1/2 cup walnut halves and 1 cup pistachios. Grind coarsely (makes 3 cups.) Remove the nuts from the food processor and add two 6 oz cans of black olives (drained) and .42 lbs Manchego cheese and 5.7 oz Formaggio Piave (aged over 14 months) Both cut into cubes. (You can use any aged cheese, these are just what I chose. I would've liked to have gotten Halloumi which is an actual middle eastern cheese but it was much more expensive.) Instead of adding salt right before this layer I added 1 tsp of kosher salt into it and ran the food processor on low until it was blended but with chunks. I stored this mixture in a sealed container in the refrigerator until ready to use.

​The mix of chopped nuts, olives and cheese

Vegetable Mixture:

1.9 oz of roughly chopped parsley

4.5 oz arugula

.1 oz mint

.5 oz spinach

Added 1 oz sweet basil finely chopped

Finely chop together.

Because I made this a couple of days ahead I mixed the greens with 1/2 tsp lemon juice and 1 tsp extra virgin olive oil to keep it fresh.

To make the sandwiches I followed the recipe and cut the cold bread crosswise like a hamburger bun. I spread a layer of the chopped greens on each cut side, followed by a nice thick layer of shredded beef on one piece of bread. Then I put a layer of the nut/cheese/olive mixture on the other half of the bun and sprinkled coarse salt on both sides.  Then I put the top on and pressed it down with my hand for a minute till it seemed to hold together. I sliced it crosswise into triangular pieces as directed and when it was time to serve arranged the sandwiches on a platter.

Counterfeit (Vegetarian) Isfî riyâ of Garbanzos

http://www.daviddfriedman.com/Medieval/Recipes_Done.html

Counterfeit (Vegetarian) Isfî riyâ of Garbanzos

Andalusian p. A-1
Pound some garbanzos, take out the skins and grind them into flour. And take some of
the flour and put into a bowl with a bit of sourdough and some egg, and beat with spices
until it's all mixed. Fry it as before in thin cakes, and make a sauce for them.
chickpea flour: 1 c
sourdough: 1/2 c
eggs: 4
spices:
2 t pepper
2 t coriander
16 threads saffron
2 t cumin
4t cinnamon
1/4 c Cilantro, chopped
Garlic Sauce:
3 cloves garlic
2 T oil
2T vinegar
Chickpea flour can be made in a mortar and pestle or a spice grinder (a food processor
would probably work too). Pound or process until the dried chickpeas are broken, then
remove the loose skins and reduce what is left to a powder. An easier approach is to buy
the flour in a health food store; a middle eastern grocery store might also have it. Use
untoasted chickpea flour if you can get it.
Crush the garlic in a garlic press, combine with vinegar and oil, beat together.
Combine the flour, sourdough, eggs, spices and beat with a fork to a uniform batter. Fry
in about 1/4 c oil in a 9" frying pan at medium high temperature until brown on both
sides, turning once. Add more oil as necessary. Drain on a paper towel.
note: The ingredients for the sauce are from "A Type of Ahrash [Isfî riyâ ]". What is
done with them is pure conjecture.

These were very good but I and the children thought they tasted better with pancake syrup then the

recommended sauce.

Apple Dish (Pomada)

http://www.fridayvalentine.com/rafaella/kingdom_AS/spanish_food.pdf

Recipe #16. Apple Dish (Pomada)

Take apples which should be sour and sweet, and quarter each of them; and peel them, and remove the core; and then put them in cold water, and if they are very sour give them a boil; and then take peeled almonds and grind them well; and put the apples in the mortar and grind them together with the almonds very vigorously; and when they are well-ground, blend it all with good hen's broth and strain it all through a woolen cloth; and put everything in the pot where it must cook; and take ginger which is fine, peel off the skin until it is white, and make of it little pieces the size of half a finger; and put them to soak the night before in good rosewater until the morning; then take whole cinnamon, and tie it with a thread together with cloves and scald them with hot broth and when the cloves and the cinnamon are scalded, put the pot on the fire with the apples; and put a good quantity of sugar in it, and when it is more than half cooked, take the soaked ginger and cloves and cinnamon; and put them all in the pot, and if it does not taste enough of ginger, put in a little which is ground until the sauce tastes of ginger; and when it is cooked you will cast the rosewater in the pot; and prepare dishes; on top of them cast sugar, and cinnamon if you wish.

My Redaction:
5 each Apples, medium, Granny Smith & Red Delicious
3 Cinnamon sticks 
2 tsp Cloves, whole
2 cups Almonds, whole plain 
2 tsp Ginger, powdered
3” pc. Ginger, fresh 
½ cup Dark brown sugar
2 oz. Rosewater 
1 tsp Cinnamon, powdered
~17oz. Chicken broth

Peel fresh ginger and mince; soak overnight in rosewater. Peel, core, and quarter apples. Put apples in
pot and cover with water. Boil until not quite soft. Drain and mash with a potato masher. Blanch almonds and remove peels. Grind almonds finely in food processor. Add apples to almonds and pulse in food processor, adding chicken broth slowly. Drain fresh ginger from rosewater. Put minced ginger, whole cloves, and broken up whole cinnamon sticks into a cup. Cover with hot chicken broth, let steep. Sieve and remove cloves and cinnamon. Add minced ginger and broth to food processor. Blend all together until smooth. Add sugar (if desired). Add powdered ginger (to taste). Finish with powdered cinnamon.
Serve warm or cold.

Recreation Notes:
This recipe isn’t written in the order of cooking. It must be analyzed thoroughly before cooking, or one could easily miss the overnight pre-preparation of the ginger. In the test cook, I cut the fresh  ginger pieces into larger slivers and it didn’t go over well with the tasters. The minced ginger has a nicer texture and spreads the rosewater through the applesauce more. I did not add more rosewater as this was enough for my taste (I don’t care for rosewater and a little of it goes a long way).
In period, huge mortars and pestles were also used to grind or mash food. The apples were soft enough that I used a potato masher on them and then I used the food processor to grind the almonds. It may be that in period the almonds were reduced to a paste-like consistency.
Although I used dark brown sugar, white sugar was available in period (if expensive). Colors of sugar
depended on where it came from and what the processing/refining was like in that area. Egyptian sugar was white due to refining and Fleming states, “From the 13th to the 15th centuries, Egyptian sugar was the preferred kind with Venice serving as the middleman. Common in Italy and Spain, sugar remained a luxury in the more northern European countries for many years.” (20)
I also decided to remove the whole cloves and whole cinnamon to give the applesauce a clean look. This recipe is very similar to other period applesauce for feast day recipes with addition of a meat broth.
Recipe #168. Mirrauste Of Pears[…] is much the same recipe using pears but no ginger is included. An interesting variation would be to include pears in this recipe.

Recipe of Marwaziyya with cherries

www.florilegium.org/files/FOOD-MEATS/lamb-mutton-msg.rtf

*Recipe of Marwaziyya 

[/marwazi/, of the **Central** **Asian** **City**of Merv]*

**A pound and a half of meat, four ounces of prunes, half a pound of
onions, a /nsif/ and a /rub/ (three quarter, sc. of a /dirham/) of
saffron, two and a half ounces of raisins, four ounces of good wine
vinegar, an ounce of jujubes, half a bunch of green mint and /atraf
al-tib/. The fry the meat with the spices, and when the meat smells
good, put in the measure of a bowl of water, the measure of a pound and
a half. When the water boils, wash the onions after cutting them up.
Wash them in salted water and (then, in plain) water. Then put them on
that meat and leave them until the onions boil and are halfway fragrant.
Let the prunes be soaked in water. Put them in the pot, and the raisins
and jujubes after them. Then let it rest until the prunes and raisins
are fragrant. If you wish, put three ounces of sugar on it after that.
And when it boils, put vinegar on it. And when it boils much, throw in
the mint and /atraf al-tib /and let it settle.

--/Kitab Wasf al-At’ima al-Mu’tada /(The Description of Familiar Foods)
trans. Charles Perry

Redaction:
1 1/2 lbs. lamb
3 cups water
4 oz. prunes
1/2 lb. onion (2 medium)
2 1/4 grams saffron
2 1/2 oz. raisins
4 oz. red wine vinegar
1 oz. jujubes
2 tsp. mint
3 tsp. mixture of pepper, mace, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg and cardamom
3 oz. sugar
1. Soak jujubes and prunes in water to soften.
2. Fry the meat with 1 1/2 tsp. spice mixture
3. When browned, add water to cover and bring to a boil.
4. Chop onion into a large dice.
5. Add onions to meat/water mixture.
6. When onions are halfway tender, add prunes (cut in half), raisins
and jujubes (cut in half and seeded) and bring to a slow boil.
7. Dissolve saffron in a little of the meat broth; add this and
vinegar to stew.
8. If desired, add 3 oz. sugar.
9. Bring to a full boil and add mint and remaining spice mixture
10. Simmer until tender.
11. Can be served over couscous.

This stew went over great at the May Kingdom A&S event. I used dried cherries instead of prunes
because my book Medieval Cuisine of the Islamic World has the recipe of Marwaziyya with Cherries
and it says that Cherries were known as “fruit of the king” which was perfect for a Kingdom event. I
used goat chunks I got at Kabul Market because it cost less than the lamb chunks. The stew was so
popular that by the time I was told that they were serving lunch it was gone but I did manage to scrape up one little spoonful so I could taste it. I neglected to get a photo of the dish.
We also used it at the January 2013 Muslim Feast and used beef.

Shula Kalambar

http://www.godecookery.com/friends/frec109.htm

Shula Kalambar

A dish of lentils & spinach - contributed by L. J. Spencer, Jr.
• 1 cup Brown lentils
• 8 oz. Frozen spinach (1 lb. fresh)
• 1/2 tsp. Coriander, ground
• 1/2 tsp. Cumin, ground
• 1 clove Garlic, crushed
• Salt to taste
• Black pepper, to taste
• 2 T Butter, melted

Boil lentils until tender, about 3/4 to 1 1/2 hrs. Defrost spinach and drain well. Chop
spinach leaves finely and stew gently in their own juices until tender. Drain lentils and add
them to the spinach. Season to taste. Stir well. Add butter, and let it melt into vegetables.
Serves 6.
Notes on the recipe:
Prepared in medieval Persia to heal the sick. For the cure to be effective, the ingredients
had to be bought with money begged in the streets. From The Book of Middle Eastern Food,
pg. 266, Claudia Roden.

When I made this I did it in double batches. I boiled 2 cups of lentils in 5 cups of water with about 2/3 tsp salt. I chopped frozen spinach and added it and the rest of the ingredients after the lentils were
cooked and had absorbed most to all of the water. I tried a batch with butter and one with olive oil and both worked well. I left out the pepper and used 2 to 4 times as much fresh garlic as the recipe called for and used 2 tsp of salt for each double batch. The salt I used was kosher salt.

Making Rummaniyya, the Sauce

Making Rummaniyya, the Sauce

Transcribed from Medieval Cuisine of the Islamic World. This recipe was originally from
“Kanz al-Fawa’id fi tanwi al-mawa’id (“The Treasure of Useful Advice for the Composition of a
Varied Table”) by Unknown

This book was written in the thirteenth century. The culinary art of the thirteenth century reflects the
diversity of the Muslim peoples. The Crusades in Syria and Palestine, the invasion of the Maghreb by
the Arab tribe of Banu Hilal, and the Mongol invasion of Iraq brought new waves of immigration and
new eating habits.
Unlike the ninth or tenth century, the new Islamic food traditions now expressed an identity based on
cities, regions, ethnic groups, and sometimes religious affiliation.
Kanz was compiled in Egypt under the reign of the Mamluks in the middle of the 13th century. In it,
there are not only Egyptian and regional recipes but also of foreign dishes: Kishk from Khorasan,
recipes for a condensed yogurt product (qanbaris) from Mosul, Baghdad, and Damascus; a cheese of
Turkoman type; turnips in the Greek style; Frankish condiments (salsa) served with fish; and so on.”
(1)
Here is the original recipe:

16. Rummaniyya: Meatballs in Pomegranate Juice
The name rummaniyya means “dish with pomegranate.” It is found in a Liber de Coquinaria dating
from the late thirteenth or early fourteenth century, where it appears under the name romania.
It may be wondered whether the absence of oil from the recipe is a deliberate omission or merely an
oversight. Nor is salt mentioned. The difficulty in re-creating this recipe lies in finding a balance
between opposed flavors, sour and sweet; and in determining the right proportions of atraf tib
(pepper, cloves, ginger, and other spices) and mint leaves, which when dried have a rather intrusive
flavor. Anyone who wishes to try reproducing this autumnal dish can find rose water syrup (julab) at
Syrian-Lebanese markets.
Cut the meat into pieces, put in a pot, and cover with water. Bring to a boil while removing the fetid
scum. Next add small meatballs the size of a hazelnut. The quantity of broth must be reduced so that
when the cooking is done only a residue of light and velvety juice remains. In the meantime, take
some sour pomegranate juice, sweeten it with rose water syrup, and some mint leaves and pistachios
crushed in the mortar to thicken it, color it with a little saffron, and season with all of the {ingredients
of) atraf tib. Sprinkle with rose water and [diluted] saffron, and serve.

To assemble the Rummaniyya I took a half batch of meatballs and covered them in a home made beef
broth or maybe homemade goat broth (it's still May and I haven't decided yet) and boiled them until
there was little liquid left in the pot. Meanwhile I made the sauce. I modified a modern recipe I got for
Lamb Meatballs with Pomegranate Sauce from www.food.com/recipe/lamb-meatballs-withpomegranate-
sauce-368333#ixzz1p7eKSrih

Here is my recipe:

Serves 4 for the half batch of meatballs
8 oz (or 2 cups) pomegranate juice
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp rose water (I got the rose water from India Foods on Fairview. The brand was Dabur, red rose
water. Because different brands of rose water can have different strengths you may need to
adjust if you use a different brand.)

Mix these ingredients together until the sugar dissolves. To save time you can store them together in a
sealed plastic container and refrigerate until ready to use.
Put the juice mixture in a large pot and slow boil on medium heat for 5 minutes or so then added some Atraf al-tib (I only added a couple of pinches on the first try and will try a 1 tsp on the 2nd try for June.)
Then I added chopped mint (the notes in the translation of the original recipe say dried mint, probably
because pomegranates are ripe in the Autumn and Lamb matures for the slaughter in Autumn and I'm
guessing it was assumed that fresh mint would not be available, but the mint I grow makes it available from the end of April until the tops are killed of by frost. I used fresh, probably 1 ½ to 2 T chopped. If I had used dried mint half the amount should be used.)
Then I thickened the sauce with unsalted ground pistachios. (I ground them in a mortar and pestle and
probably used ½ to 2/3 cup for the half batch.) I stirred the sauce to remove the lumps and I probably
only cooked the sauce for one or two minutes then turned off the heat. I removed the meatballs from
the pot and put them in a serving platter with taller sides to hold the sauce then poured the sauce over
them. I sprinkled thin ribbons of fresh mint on top and sprinkled rose water on top. The medieval recipe calls for the use of saffron in the sauce but I don't have any.
I had a lot of rice with yogurt in the freezer left over from the April meeting so I just defrosted it and
warmed it, then mixed some fresh yogurt in it and served it with the Rummaniyya and Tahiniyya. I
figured since I make my own yogurt it would fit in with the home made sauces category and it was
made to go with the Rummaniyya that I didn't get finished for the April meeting. They do go well
together.

1. http://www.socialappetizers.com/islamic-food-history.html

For the Muslim Feast that we put on for the January 2013 Masked Ball event we altered the recipe to make it nut-free because we had a lot of nut-allergic people coming. The nut free version was liked as well if not more than the version that is thickened with pistachios. Here is that recipe:

1 1/2 TBSP rice flour
1 cup pure pomegranate juice
1 1/2 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp rose water
1 TBSP chopped fresh mint or 1 1/2 tsp crumbled dried mint
1/4 tsp salt
2 pinches Atraf at-tib

Follow the directions the same as for the nut version except add the salt and rice flour at the beginning of cooking the sauce and cook longer, stirring constantly until it is a thickened but perdurable consistency.

Dish For The Angels (Manjar De Angeles)

http://www.florilegium.org/?http%3A//www.florilegium.org/files/FOOD-MANUSCRIPTS/Guisados1-
art.html

DISH FOR THE ANGELS

MANJAR DE ANGELES

For twelve dishes, take one azumbre of milk at the time of [making] curds, (20) and take the curds and cast them into the milk; and take nine ounces of sugar and cast it in. And take a quarter pound of aged cheese which is four Castilian ounces (21), and grate it, and grate just as much hard bread. And take twelve egg yolks and beat them with the grated cheese and with the bread; and cast in a little milk with it to thin it, and cast it in the saucepan, turning it with the milk and the curds. And after turning it, beat it very well. And take a little mint and grind it very well. And cast in two maravedis of saffron with it. And dissolve it with a little milk. And cast it in the saucepan with the other [stuff]. And when it is of a good color put it on top of the coals, very distant from the fire so that the smoke doesn't touch it and stir it constantly in one direction. And when you see that it is thick enough, sample the taste. And if you see that it is good, take it away and cover it and set it to rest while the dinner is prepared. And grind a quarter pound of sugar and grind the quantity of cinnamon that seems [right] to you, and mix it, ground, with the sugar in a mortar to cast it on the dishes.

Several of us attempted this dish but no one was satisfied with the results. If you work this recipe out with good results please share with us how you did it.

Stuffed and Roast Mutton; Called "The Complete" [or "The Inclusive"]

http://www.daviddfriedman.com/Medieval/Cookbooks/Andalusian/andalusian1.htm#Heading25

Stuffed and Roast Mutton; Called "The Complete" [or "The Inclusive"]

Take a plump skinned ram; make a narrow opening in the belly between the thighs and take out what is inside it and clean. Then take as many plump chickens, pigeons, doves and small birds as you can; take out their entrails and clean them; split the breasts and cook them, each part by itself; then fry them with plenty of oil and set them aside. Then take what remains of their broth and add grated wheat breadcrumbs and break over them sufficient of eggs, pepper, ginger, split and pounded almonds and plenty of oil; beat all this and stuff inside the fried birds and put them inside the ram, one after another, and pour upon it the rest of the stuffing of cooked meatballs, fried mirkâs and whole egg yolks. When it is stuffed, sew up the cut place and sprinkle the ram inside and out with a sauce made of murri naqî', oil and thyme, and put it, as it is, in a heated tannur [clay oven] and leave it a while; then take it out and sprinkle again with the sauce, return to the oven and leave it until it is completely done and browned. Then take it out and present it.

Redaction:
How to Cook Medieval Andalusian Lamb
http://www.ehow.com/print/how_2080041_cook-medieval-andalusian-lamb.html
By Jennifer Walker, eHow Contributor
One of my favorite parts of recreating the Middle Ages is exploring the different foods a Medieval
cook would have had available and the ways they put them together. This recipe for "Stuffed and Roast Mutton; Called 'The Complete'" is from a 13th Century cookbook known as the "Anonymous
Andalusian." I first made it as part of a four-course feast for more than 100 people at a Medieval event.
This dish was incredibly well-received: probably the favorite course of the evening!
In the original recipe it calls for an entire ram to be stuffed with meatballs, flat bread and egg yolks as
well as various types of poultry that had been fried and stuffed with bread and almonds and then
roasted whole! While this may wow your dinner guests, it exceeds the scope of most everyday cooks -- myself included. Instead, I've adapted it to serve 10 to 15 guests as a stuffed leg of lamb.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions:

Things You'll Need

• 6to 8 lb. Leg of lamb
• 1/2 lb. Chicken breast
• 1 cup Bread-crumbs
• 2 Eggs
• 1 tbsp Pepper
• 2 tsp Ginger
• 1 cup Almonds, ground
• 1/2 cup Chicken broth
• 1/2 cup plus 2 tbsp Olive oil, divided
• 1/2 cup Soy sauce
• 2 tbsp Thyme
• Kitchen twine

• 1 Leg of lamb, ready to be deboned.
Debone your leg of lamb.
The best way is to start at the knobby hip-joint on the meaty end of the leg and make
several short cuts through the thinnest portion of the meat to the 'knee'. There will be a
slight change of direction here down to the thin end of the leg. Once boned, set aside.
• 2 Roast and shredded chicken breast.
Roast your chicken breasts until completely cooked. You could even go so far as to boil
them with vegetables to make your own stock for the next step, or you could truly cut
your time and microwave the chicken breasts. Once cooked and cooled, shred the
chicken breasts and place them into a large mixing bowl.
• 3 Stuffing ingredients
Combine the bread-crumbs, eggs, pepper, ginger and ground almonds with the shredded
chicken and then add as much chicken broth and oil (up to 2 tbsp.) as needed to get a
good mixture that sticks together but is not soupy or thin.
• 4 Ready to roll!
Lay out your boned leg of lamb and arrange it into as rectangular a piece as you can with
the smoother side of the meat face down. Spread the chicken mixture evenly on top of
the lamb and then, starting with the long edge, roll the lamb into a cylinder.
• 5 Once it is sprinkled with the sauce it is ready for the oven.
Place kitchen twine around the lamb-roll about 3 inches from one end and tie a knot,
leaving a very long tail. String the twine to half-way down the roll, hold this in place and
loop the tail under the roll and under the section you're holding and pull tight like you're
wrapping a package. Repeat this about 3 inches from the other end of the roll, tie a knot
and trim away the extra twine.
• 6
Combine the soy sauce, olive oil and thyme.
• 7
Put the stuffed, trussed lamb into a roasting pan, sprinkle it with the sauce and place into
a 350 degree F oven for 1 1/2 hours or until the temperature in the center of the roll
reaches 165 degrees. Baste the roll periodically with the soy sauce mixture while it is
cooking.
• 8 Good enough to eat!
Once the roast comes out of the oven, let it rest for 10 minutes, remove the twine and
slice into 1-inch thick portions for serving.
• Tips & Warnings
• Take your time carefully cutting the meat away from the bone doing your best to keep the leg in
a single piece to make it easier to roll up later.
• Chicken is done when it reaches a temperature of 175 degrees F
• Medieval bread crumbs were made from hearty bread leftover from the previous day that were
then grated into smallish pieces. This sort of bread crumb tends to soak up a lot of moisture but
it also helps stretch more expensive ingredients.
• The original recipe calls for "split and pounded almonds", so leave yours somewhat coarse.
• Using a flexible cutting mat or placing the lamb on a sheet of aluminum foil or plastic wrap can
help with the rolling process.
• Soy sauce is being used as a substitute for the Andalusian condiment murri naqi, which is a
salty, fermented sauce of grain and seasonings.
• Once trussed, the lamb can be wrapped in plastic wrap and then aluminum foil and frozen for up
to two months with no loss of flavor. Defrost the lamb slowly in the refrigerator before roasting.
• To round out the meal, I suggest couscous and turnips seasoned with soy sauce, walnuts and
caraway seeds.
• The 'knee' may seem a little tricky to bone around, but use a thin, sharp blade and take your
time: the result will be worth the effort.
• Excess fat on the outside of the lamb can cause flare-ups and smoke once in the oven. Trim
away most of the excess fat from the leg as a safety measure--the taste will not suffer!
• Do not over-stuff your lamb! If there appears to be too much filling for your leg of lamb,
discard the extra before you truss it. An overstuffed lamb will fall apart when sliced and make
serving very difficult.
• If the lamb begins to brown too much before it is done, place a foil tent over the roll to
prevent further browning while it finishes.

I made a few changes to this redaction and to the original recipe in making this dish. First I decided that a lamb or even a leg of lamb was too expensive for me or for the Barony since I was looking for a roast dish to do for our upcoming January feast so I got a good sized Beef roast. I added 2 tsp ground fennel seed to the basting liquid because I feel that fennel seed brings out the lamb flavor and can make things that aren't lamb take on a little more of that flavor. I had tried to find a Beef recipe but the only one I found for Andalusian Beef was a Spanish recipe for a roasted beef that is cut up and made into a casserole with onions, bacon and wine (to name a few things). Both the Jews and Muslims don't eat pork and Muslims aren't supposed to drink wine (although there are exceptions). Also, for the feast we will most likely be serving stews and I thought a casserole would be too close to a stew. I also liked the idea of roasting a big stuffed chunk of meat, even if we didn't use it for the feast it would look good at the October 2012 meeting.

The other things I did were follow the original recipe and add meatballs or rather browned meatball
mix which contained ground beef, fennel seeds, panko bread crumbs, rolled oats, egg, kosher salt dried basil, and Italian seasoning. I'm sure if we do this for a feast we will use ingredients that would be more likely to be found in Andalusia than Italian seasoning but that is what I had mixed up in my refrigerator already. I browned the meatball mixture in Extra Virgin Olive Oil until quite brown and crispy (I find that also increases the flavor. I also altered the ground ginger-pepper ratio to less than 1/3 of the pepper which I ground fresh. Since I was doubling the amount of stuffing I used 1 TBSP of ground ginger. I also left the almonds out of the stuffing and made my own chicken broth by boiling chicken breasts, chicken leg quarters, carrots and onion slices with a little kosher salt. I didn't skim off the chicken fat from the broth since it seems it wasn't skimmed off in most medieval recipes. I used breadcrumbs I had made from some bread that didn't rise because I had to substitute red wine for the grape juice in the Roman Sourdough Bread recipe I had used (yeasts don't like alcohol). The bread had turned out quite dense but nice and moist because I used plenty of Olive Oil in it, it made great bread-crumbs.

I cut the roast open so that I could spiral stuffing into it. I stuffed it and tied it with kitchen twine and
put it in a roasting pan covered with foil and kept it there for a couple of days until it was the morning
of the meeting. Since I had doubled the batch of stuffing I mixed roughly ground slivered almonds into the rest and put it into a separate baking dish so we could compare the stuffing with and without the almonds. They were both great but different.

On the morning of the meeting I got the roast out and let it sit at room temperature for up to an hour, it roasts better if you don't start it so cold. I basted it with the basting liquid called for mixed with the
ground fennel seed and started it at 325 degrees Fahrenheit. I lowered the temperature after about 20
minutes to 275 degrees so that I would have time to get ready before it was done. About 20 minutes
before it reached temperature I poured the other half of the basting liquid over the roast and returned it to the oven to finish cooking. I got it a little more done than I was wanting but it still tasted good. After I took it out of the oven and put it on a serving platter and covered it with foil I decided to pour the liquid into a container to serve it with the meat like a sauce. I got comments that it was good that way.