http://www.pbm.com/~lindahl/cariadoc/islamic_w_veggies.html#21
A Muzawwara made by Lady Esther
(Vegetarian Dish) Beneficial for Tertian Fevers and Acute Fevers
Andalusian p. A-52
This recipe is also listed at
http://www.daviddfriedman.com/Medieval/miscellany_pdf/Misc9recipes.pdf
And under the Sources for Recipes it states:
An Anonymous Andalusian Cookbook of the Thirteenth Century,** a translation by Charles Perry
of the Arabic edition of Ambrosio Huici Miranda with the assistance of an English translation by
Elise Fleming, Stephen Bloch, Habib ibn al-Andalusi and Janet Hinson of the Spanish translation
by Ambrosio Huici Miranda, published in full in the 5th edition of volume II of the cookbook
collection. Referred to below as “Andalusian.”
Take boiled peeled lentils and wash in hot water several times; put in the pot and add water without
covering them; cook and then throw in pieces of gourd, or the stems [ribs] of Swiss chard, or of lettuce and its tender sprigs, or the flesh of cucumber or melon, and vinegar, coriander seed, a little cumin, Chinese cinnamon, saffron and two ûqiyas of fresh oil; balance with a little salt and cook. Taste, and if its flavor is pleasingly balanced between sweet and sour, [good;] and if not, reinforce until it is equalized, according to taste, and leave it to lose its heat until it is cold and then serve.
2 c lentils
5 c water
1/4 c cider vinegar
3/4 t ground coriander
3/4 t cumin
1 1/2 t cinnamon
6 threads saffron
1/4 c oil
1 t salt
one of the following:
1 1/2 lb butternut squash
1 lb chard or beet leaves
1 lb lettuce
2 8" cucumbers
melon (?)
Boil lentils about 40 minutes until they start to get mushy. Add spices and vinegar and oil. Add one of
the vegetables; leafy vegetables should be torn up, squash or cucumbers are cut into bite-sized pieces
and cooked about 10-15 minutes before being added to lentils. Cook lettuce or chard version for about 10 minutes, until leaves are soft. Cook squash or cucumber version about 20 minutes. Be careful not to burn during the final cooking.
I used squash because none of the other options sounded like they would taste good. Butternut squash
in from the new world and I didn't have any or the money to buy one since I spent most of this months food money on meat and a good sized pumpkin. On this sight Duke (Sir Master Master) Cariadoc explains:
“ Pumpkin, Squash, Gourd
It seems to be well established that at least three of the four cultivated species of Cucurbita (C.pepo, C.
moschata and C. maxima) existed in the New World long before Columbus; the fourth
(C. ficifolia) is “ordinarily not thought of as a cultivated plant” (Whittaker), but apparently has
been cultivated in the past. Whitaker argues, on the evidence of the absence of these species in
the fifteenth century European herbals and their presence in the sixteenth century ones, that they
were introduced into Europe from the New World. A variety of C. pepo similar to the squash
now known as “Small Sugar” is illustrated in an herbal of 1542. What appears to be a field
pumpkin is illustrated in 1560, with other varieties appearing in later herbals during the century.
Whitaker concludes that “none of the cultivated species of Cucurbita were known to the botanists
of the Western world before 1492.” If so, all varieties of pumpkins, squash, and vegetable
marrows are inappropriate before 1492; some were known in the sixteenth century, but may or
may not have been sufficiently common to be used in feasts.
There is, however, a plant translated as “gourd” in both Italian and Islamic cookbooks before
1492. The Four Seasons of the House of Cerruti, which is 14th century, shows a “Cucurbite” that
looks exactly like a green butternut squash–a fact of which Whitaker seems unaware when
asserting the absence of all varieties of Cucurbita from pre-sixteenth century sources. It seems
likely, however, that his conclusion was correct, and that what is shown in the picture and used
in the recipes is not C. pepo but Lagenaria sicereia.
“The white-flowered gourd, Lagenaria sicereia,” seems to “have been common to both Old and
New Worlds” (Whitaker). I am told that the Italian Edible Gourd is a species of Lagenaria and
available from, among others, J.L. Hudson, Seedman (P.O.Box 1058, Redwood City, CA
94064). Simoons describes a Lagenaria still used in modern Chinese cooking. We have obtained
what we think is the right gourd from a Chinese grocery store and used it in period recipes with
satisfactory results. The taste and texture are somewhat similar to zucchini but less bitter. The
Chinese, or perhaps Vietnamese, name for one variety, which the grower assured us had white
flowers, is "opo." ” http://www.daviddfriedman.com/Medieval/miscellany_pdf/Misc9recipes.pdf
Since the purchase of the period type of gourd was even more out of the question I used some of the
large pumpkin I had bought since I like eating pumpkin and it gave me the push to make sure I didn't
let it spoil like last year.
I did not use saffron because I didn't have any. The oil I used was extra virgin olive oil. In the middle
east and the Mediterranean the two main oils they had were olive oil (referred to as oil of good quality) and sesame-oil (which was from un-toasted sesame seeds). I chose to use the olive oil because it is easier for me to purchase and costs less and I thought the taste would be better.
I chose to do this recipe because I couldn't afford to buy any more meat this month, most period recipes for the ill are meatless because it is harder to digest meat and because the recipe contains coriander which is one of the three spices that I am featuring which were used to try to fight the Plague. It is good to see how coriander may have been used and this recipe is for the ill. I have done my own redactions several times but any time I do use one of Duke Cariadoc's redactions I find that he quotes the original recipe and does not deviate from the instructions if at all possible and the results are always delicious.
It was suggested by a friend that I photograph the steps to make a dish for competition but since middle eastern dishes were made on burners or in tanur's (clay ovens) and I had to use my modern day equivalents I felt that would not be a necessary step since I was not doing anything out of the modern-day ordinary way of cooking.
10/16/12 We tried this dish at the meeting and it was very bland, perhaps when it was redacted that was the intent since sick people can't eat anything too spicy. If I were ill I would have trouble getting it down being so bland, I will work on increasing the amounts of spice and vinegar and oil to make it
taste better but still where a sick person could eat it. I'm also trying it with something more like lettuce since my Plantina dish with lettuce and carrots went over well and I have gotten over my aversion to cooking lettuce.
