Creamy Chicken Hotdish: Food Challenge Twelve: A&S50 Challenge

White Tharîdah of al-Rashid from the 9-10th c. Islamic collection of Ibn Sayyar al-Warraq: Food Challenge Twelve: A&S50 Challenge
Crockpot Creamy Chicken Hotdish*
Redaction by Sayyeda al-Kaslaania
Original translation by Charles Perry

*In Minnesota, a one-pot meal cooked in a casserole or crockpot is called “hotdish.” Others might call this dish “creamy chicken casserole.”

The impetus for this redaction was to have a hot meal for lunch at an indoor site where meals were not being offered, and we would not have access to the kitchen.

I have made a few choices that are not readily spelled out in the original recipe. First, I have chosen boneless, skinless meat. Our modern palate does not like to pick bones or gristle out of stew. The second is to brown the meat. In the thirteenth century cookbook by al-Baghdadi, cooks are reminded that meat should always be fried in oil before boiling (as translated in Medieval Arab Cookery). Third is the addition of rice. In his article “The Pleasures of Consumption,” H.D. Miller points out that frequently in al-Baghdadi rice is added “carelessly” to dishes that contain meat and vegetables. He considers rice common in the Medieval Islamic diet, but does not find evidence for it being served as a dish on its own. The addition of rice makes this a better one-pot meal, and rice is also a common ingredient in hotdish.

Many Middle Eastern recipes of this period include eggs cooked on top of a dish, almost as “lid” or crust. This recipe is interesting in that is says add eggs “and mix with wine vinegar”. With that in mind, as well as the fact that crockpots only cook with bottom heat, I chose to stir in the eggs, as done in egg-drop soup, rather than allowing them to set up on top.

I chose ingredients that I had in the house for my first attempt. In the future I would try this recipe with sheep's milk instead of cow's milk (knowing that wool production was second to flax production in the Middle East, I expect sheep milk more readily available). I also used medium grain white rice. During this period, rice was "typically husked white rice (aruzz abyad maqshur)," according to Mark Nesbitt, et. al. in "History of Rice in Western and Central Asia" (Opens a .pdf.) Finally, I used turnips at the root vegetable. The two groceries I stopped at only had orange carrots and I thought color would be more important with the "white tharîdah".

Crockpot cooking is different than stewpot cooking, and there are tomes of knowledge published on the topic. Of course, being a good Minnesotan Protestant, I had learned many of the tricks at my mother’s knee. First, the meat was added without the skin or extra fat. The spices are reserved for the last hour of cooking, along with the milk. The rice is cooked before adding to the dish, and it’s also added in the last hour. Finally, every time you take the lid off of a crockpot to stir you need to add 20 minutes of cooking time. Knowing how helpful people are at activities where a good smelling pot is left alone, I decided to cook the meat through before adding to the crockpot.


Original recipe, translated to English:
Take a chicken and joint it, or meat of a kid or lamb, and clean it and throw it in a pot, and throw on it soaked chickpeas, clean oil, galingale, cinnamon sticks, and a little salt. And when it boils, skim it. Take fresh milk and strain it over the pot and throw in onion slices and boiled carrots. And when it boils well, take peeled almonds and pound them fine. Break over them five eggs and mix with wine vinegar. Then throw in the pot and add coriander, a little pepper and a bit of cumin and arrange it and leave on the fire, and serve, God willing.

Redaction:
3 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breast
Sesame oil, pale and untoasted
2 cups chicken broth
2 cans chickpeas, rinsed and drained
2 onion, sliced
1 lb white or yellow carrots, peeled and sliced into coins (or other root vegetable)
Extra virgin olive oil
1 ½ teaspoon powdered galangal
1 stick Ceylon cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
Scant ¼ cup white wine vinegar
½ c almond butter
1 c whole milk
2 c cooked rice
5 eggs
Cilantro
Ground white pepper
Cumin

Toss the onions and carrots in olive oil, and roast them on a cookie sheet for 15 minutes. Cube chicken breast and cook it in sesame oil. Put all of this in a crock pot with two cans of chickpeas (rinsed and drained), and two cups of chicken broth. Cook on high for three hours.

In a small bowl mix almond butter, vinegar, and ground spices. Add milk to this mixture, ¼ c at a time, mixing well with each addition. Add the almond mixture, rice, and cinnamon stick to the crockpot and stir. Scramble the eggs and add to the crockpot while stirring (much like egg-drop soup). Cook an additional 30-60 minutes.  Garnish the pot with sprigs of cilantro, pepper and a ring of sprinkled cumin before serving. Fills a 5 quart crock pot.

Small Fatimid Cup, a Modern interpretation: Material Culture 21: A&S 50 Challenge

Small Fatimid Cup, a Modern Interpretation
Painted beaker in the Fatimid style
A&S 50 Challenge, Material Culture 21
Sayyeda Samia al-Kaslaania
 Written January 29, 2012. Revised and Presented at Boar's Head 2012.
Edited September 2018


Obtaining a period-appropriate drinking cup is something that newcomers are encouraged to have fun seeking out. It’s not too difficult to find something “not modern” in which to conceal your favorite acid-green soda, but it’s nerdy fun to find something that matches what you see in period images or extant pieces!

Participants with Middle Eastern personas have several great sources to explore for re-creating drinkware. A beaker,visually similar to those carried by illustrations of Fatimid women, can be obtained from SCA artists like Ash and Griffin Pottery www.facebook.com/pages/Ash-and-Griffin-Pottery/ .

Fatimid or Ayyubid glass beaker at the British Museum. Source: [http://www.discoverislamicart.org/database_item.php?id=object;ISL;uk;Mus01;9;en&cp]

The extant cup (bottom left), held by the National Museum of Damascus, item ع 16021, is dated to the 9th century as an Abbasid piece (the Fatimid period is 10th to 12th centuries). I was tickled by the two inscriptions reading “drink and be filled with delight” and “made in Damascus”.


The undecorated glass I selected  for making a period influenced re-creation was found at a local retailer. The shape is similar to other truncated cone-shaped glassware from the period, seen upper left. While researching techniques to decorate pottery, I learned about Pebeo Vitrea 160 Glass Paint and was able to purchase it from the art supply store Wet Paint as felt-tip pens and jars of paint. I found the pens to be difficult to work with, so changed to the jars of paint, applying it with brushes. Keeping cotton balls and cotton swabs handy with a bottle of rubbing alcohol for removing mistakes, applying the designs was not difficult. Once completed, the pieces are baked in a home oven to set the paint.

Being a member of the order of the Pyxis in the SCA Kingdom of Northshield, I used the Pyxis order motif. I copied the text on the extant cup, including “made in Damascus”. There are extant examples of textiles which bear inscriptions of “made in X,” however chemical and technical analysis indicates this is patently false (R.B. Serjeant, Islamic Textiles. Lebanon: Libraire du Liban, 1972, p. 46, fn.56.).

That inscription, like modern branding, is believed to have made the textile more valuable in period. I changed the orientation of the text to follow the rim, inspired by the bowl pictured below on the right. The colors were based on extant examples. Of painted glass, I have only found pieces that have browns and gold as colors. I don't yet know if this is a factor of age, firing, or choice. Update- In visiting with the proprietor of Historical Glassworks, I am excited to have learned that this coloring is silver after being fired.







"Bowl [Probably Egypt] (1974.74)". In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000 ndash;. http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/ho/07/nfe/ho_1974.74.htm (October 2006)


Emily Shovelton "Beaker" in Discover Islamic Art. Place: Museum With No Frontiers, 2010.  http://www.discoverislamicart.org/database_item.php?id=object;ISL;uk;Mus01;9;en

Middle Eastern Man's Garb: A&S50 Challenge: Material Culture 19 and 20

Black and Green Middle Eastern Man’s Ensemble
A&S 50 Challenge: Material Culture 19 and 20
Sayyeda Samia al-Kaslaania
Coronation of Vladimir and Petranella


An ensemble for a middle-class man in the Middle East, specifically Cairo, during the Fatimid Caliphate (969-1172). Item 19 is the green tunic with a placket. Item 20 is the black wool tunic and matching pants.

Garments from the Mediterranean during the Middle Ages were generally loosely fitted tunics for both men and women, augmented by unseamed rectangular lengths of fabric. Yedida Stillman refers to this as a Pan-Islamic style of dress because the basic elements were the same across communities, excepting Persia.

figure 1 Extant Mamluk tunic with placket and
embroidered "necklace". Ashmolean 1984.353, detail.

Overtunic: Wool twill in a tropical weight, black; stitched with yellow and white silk-wool yarn. The adornments echo extant tunics, with the embroidered “necklace” as the focal point (see fig. 1). The slit-front neck is finished with black bias-cut linen and black cotton thread. The cut of the garment is, according to excavations in Egypt at Nalqun, the most common type of tunic worn by children and adults. Wide, unfitted sleeves are the norm during this period. The yellow and green tiraz (embroidered armbands) showcase a pseudo-script which bears foliated Kufic risers--almost animal-like in their appearance. Approximately 10-16 hours of sewing (purchased tiraz).

Figure 2 outlined extant tiraz. 10th c Iran. Royal
Ontario Museum. item 2008-9753-24, detail.

Tunic: Linen shot tabby fabric in a medium weight, green; stitched with yellow and white silk-wool yarn. The striking contrast of the stitching against the fabric is similar to extant tunics (see fig. 4). On the right sleeve is a single tiraz, outlined for emphasis, and worked directly onto the fabric (see fig. 2). The cut of the garment was selected to match the overtunic. This garment could also be worn alone over a qumîs (undertunic).  Approximately 10-16 hours of sewing.

Figure 3 Extant Mamluk pants, as they
appear in L.A. Mayer Mamluk Costume.

These two garments are nearly the same size so that they move as one garment when layered. In several illuminations a raised arm reveals a lining or a tunic of a complimentary color (see fig. 5). The illuminated garments also appear to be between knee- and ankle-length. Frequently the trouser ends are exposed at the ankles.

Pants: Wool twill to match the overtunic; silk-wool yarn to match as well. Pants are more difficult to research because they’re considered an intimate garment. I know of one extant pair of pants in colored stripes (see fig. 3), and a few illuminations of colored pants; however, most are illuminated as white (see fig. 5). The pattern is derived from the work of Master Rashid, who based his pattern on extant examples. Approximately 8 hours of sewing.

Figure 4 11th c Coptic tunic, wool with complimentary
colored stitching. Neckline finished with linen band.
Christie's Sale 9723 lot 273, detail.

 
Would-be Accessories: Completing the ensemble would require a few additional pieces. Over a skullcap, men would wear a turban colored to compliment the rest of the clothing, often with tiraz -embellished ends. A belt or sash would not be out of place around the waist, but is not required. Shoes could be plain thong sandals, “ballet” type slippers (see fig. 5), or soft leather short boots. A rectangular wrap would be expected in any sort of formal setting. Finally, all well-dressed men carried a mandil, or handkerchief. The mandil might be tucked into the belt or the sleeve, or simply carried in the hand.


Notes—color choice: Black is a rare color in the Fatimid period, likely because it was the royal color of a rival Caliphate. It is, though, still recorded as a color used for clothing in Fatimid trousseaux, according to Stillman.

Figure 5 1200's illumination. Note
red lining. Bibliotheque Nationale, Paris.
MS Arabe 5847 fol 4v, detail.

Fiber choice: Wool commodities in the Fatimid period were a distant second to linen, but well ahead of silk and cotton, according to S.D. Goitein in his six-volume tome on Mediterranean culture. Examples of fine woolen fabrics have been excavated from the Naqlun cemetery sites in the last decade.


Adornment: Tiraz (inscribed and adorned textiles) in this period were quite varied. While tiraz originally featured formulaic text, over time the inscriptions became less important and pseudo-script became acceptable. It came to follow that increasingly elaborate decoration became the focus, according to Paula Sanders. Tiraz could be woven, embroidered, or painted on to fabrics. Extant tiraz are housed in museums all over the world; a good selection of images can be found at the website Museums with No Frontiers.

Additional embroidered decoration on these garments were inspired by an extant tunic featured in Marianne Ellis’s affordable photo book Embroideries and Samplers from Islamic Egypt (see fig. 1).

Figure 6 Fatimid man. Museo Nazionale de San Matteo, no. 130.

Matching fabrics: Extant records show that matched ensembles were quite popular in the Fatimid period. Called hulla, these could include two to eight garments, some of which would be headwear.  Unfortunately, figural imagery from the Fatimid period doesn’t include illuminations. The readily available illuminated manuscripts, from a later time period, are mostly based on the same secular tale; thus featuring recurring images—all with white trousers. Garments for the lower body are seldom discussed in period writings, and few actual articles have been preserved.


Works Cited

Czaja-Szewczak, B., "Burial Tunics from Naqlun", PAM XIV, Reports 2002 (2003), 177-184.

Ellis, Marianne. Embroideries and Samplers from Islamic Egypt. Ashmolean  Museum/University of Oxford, 2001.

Goitein SD. A Mediterranean Society: The Jewish Communities of the Arab World as Portrayed in the Documents of the Cairo Geniza. Vol. 1. Berlkey and Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1967.

Mellor, Charles. "Salwar." http://home.earthlink.net/~lilinah/Rashid/salwar.gif (accessed 10/08/2009).

Sanders, Paula. "Robes of Honor in Fatimid Egypt." in Robes and Honor: The Medieval World of Investiture. Edited by Steward Gordon. New York: Palgrave, 2001. 225-239.

Stillman, Yedida K. "Female Attire of Medieval Egypt: According to the Trousseau Lists and Cognate Material from the Cairo Geniza." Ph.D., University of Chicago, 1972. Chicago: unpublished.

chickpea crepes, Andalusian recipeFood Challenge Eleven: A&S50 Challenge

Counterfeit (Vegetarian) Isfîriyâ of Garbanzos: Food Challenge Eleven: A&S50 Challenge
Savory crepes of chickpeas
Makes 8-10 crepes

13th century Andalusian recipe

Translation: 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.

1 c chickpea flour
4 t cinnamon
1/4 c sourdough (omitted for gluten-free option, no substitution was necessary)
4 eggs
½ t salt
1 t pepper
1 c water
olive oil or pale sesame oil (for frying, approx 4 T)

Combine the flour, sourdough, eggs, spices, water and beat with a fork to a uniform, thin batter. Use the ¼ c measure to add batter to the frying pan. Add water to the batter if the first one is not crepe-thin. Fry at medium high temperature until brown on both sides, turning once. Add more oil as necessary. Drain on a paper towel. Serve with sauce.

Many thanks to Baroness Ellen de Wynter and her family for testing this recipe for me. It is toddler approved.

Based on: How to Milk an Almond Stuff an Egg And Armor a Turnip: A Thousand Years of Recipes By David Friedman and Elizabeth Cook ISBN: 978-1-460-92498-3
http://www.daviddfriedman.com/Medieval/To_Milk_an_Almond.pdf Used with permission.

Banana chicken dessert

A recipe for Judhaba of bananas by Ibn al Mahdi
Al-Warraq, 10th century Baghdadi recipe

Translation: Peel the bananas and set them aside. Spread a ruqaqa (thin round of bread) in the pan and spread a layer of bananas over it. Sprinkle the banana layer with pure sugar, and spread another ruqaqa all over it. Repeat the layering of banana, sugar, and ruqaqa until the pan is full. Pour enough rose water to drench the layered ingredients, [put the pan in a hot tannur,] suspend a fine chicken over it [and let it roast] God willing.

10 oz Iranian lavash ( typically four sheets)
1-4 T rose water
3 ¼ lb ripe plantains or bananas
[strawberries, optional]
4-5 lb fryer chicken
½ c sugar
2 lemons

Oil the bottom of a pot. Line the pot with lavash. Cover that with sliced (or mashed) bananas and sliced strawberries, if used. Use one half lemon to sprinkle lemon juice over each layer. Sprinkle over them 2 T of sugar. Cover with another layer of lavash. Repeat, and top with the last layer of lavash. Sprinkle the rose water sparingly over that.

Slice 1 ½ lemons and slide the lemons under the chicken skin. Arrange your chicken so it is suspended above the layers. Bake the chicken until done—roughly 20 minutes a pound at 350°, to an internal temperature of about 190°—letting the drippings fall on and soak into the layered bread and bananas. Serve the chicken for dinner and then the dessert will be just the right temperature to serve. Ingus recommends a cold glass of milk with dessert.

• Cariadoc did it by running a hardwood skewer lengthwise through the chicken and laying it across the top edge of a pot.
• Samia did it by using a large convection oven and placing the chickens directly on an oven rack. The lavash and fruit were layered on a jelly roll pan which was placed on a lower oven rack beneath the chicken.
• Ingus made the banana-lavash layers in an 8 inch cake pan. Place cake pan inside a Dutch oven, cover with the cooling rack, and place chicken on cooling rack, suspending it about 2 inches above the lavash. Put Dutch Oven and lemon-impregnated chicken into pre-heated 350 degree oven for one hour, then turn chicken over for another hour.

NOTICE: Normally, 20 minutes per pound at 350 is sufficient to cook chicken, but the lack of heat from below because of the cake cooking there inhibits the roasting, and the meats within, around the thigh bones and along the spine, do not cook as quickly. Since the point of this was to have chicken that could service double duty, it is important to give it the extra cooking time to get the flesh fully brought up to temp.


Many thanks to Master Ingus Moen (of bardic fame) for the detailed cooking suggestions. Thanks also to Baroness Euriaut Deri for testing the recipe for a party so I could decide it wasn't awful!

Modified from: How to Milk an Almond Stuff an Egg And Armor a Turnip: A Thousand Years of Recipes By David Friedman and Elizabeth Cook ISBN: 978-1-460-92498-3 http://www.daviddfriedman.com/Medieval/To_Milk_an_Almond.pdf Used with permission.

Andalusian Cheesy Bread

Cheese and Flour Cake
al-Andalus 13th century recipe

Knead the necessary quantity of flour, one time with water, another with oil, and to it add yeast and milk until it has the same consistency as the dough of fritters, and leave it until it has next risen. Next grease with oil a large earthen pot, stretch in it a piece of dough, and over it a bit of cheese, and over the cheese a bit of dough, and so a little of one, and a bit of the other until the last of the dough and cheese. Next cover it with dough as you did in the previous recipe and cook it in the same way in the oven. Afterwards, drizzle it with honey, sprinkle it with sugar and pepper and eat it.

1 1/3 cup white flour
⅔ cup whole wheat flour
3 Tbl olive oil
½-¾ cup water
1 packet yeast
3 Tbl milk
12 oz cheese (Munster or provolone, shredded)

Topping (use larger amounts with pie pans):
6-10 Tbl honey
1-2 Tbl sugar
¼-½ tsp pepper

Proof yeast in ½ cup of water. Mix flours in a large bowl. Combine yeast, milk, olive oil. Mix liquids into the flour. Knead flours and liquid to a very dry dough, let sit five minutes. Knead the dough for about 5-10 minutes, until fairly uniform. Cover with a damp dish towel and leave 45 minutes to rise in a warm place. Divide dough in about 5-6 equal portions, flour and roll out to size of your pan (glass pie pans work well). Layer with sliced cheese. Bake 45 minutes at 350°.

Sprinkle with sugar and pepper, then drizzle the honey over it while hot. "Put the honey on the bread hot out of the oven so it got all melty and sprinkle with sugar in the raw and fresh ground pepper. It was awesome! Sweet, crunchy, and a little spicy. Plan on one loaf per table of 8 as a first course."

Cariadoc: This should probably be done with sourdough instead of yeast, but we have not tried it that way yet.

Translation and original redaction from: How to Milk an Almond Stuff an Egg And Armor a Turnip: A Thousand Years of Recipes By David Friedman and Elizabeth Cook ISBN: 978-1-460-92498-3 http://www.daviddfriedman.com/Medieval/To_Milk_an_Almond.pdf Used with permission.

Many thanks to The Honorable Lady Brigid ingen Maol-Mhichil of Northshield fame for testing this recipe. Her thoughts on the awesomness of this dish were echoed throughout the feast hall. I am grateful for her support on my first feast.~~Sayyeda al-Kaslaania

Borrowing cast iron

I recently made a feast with an egg and veggie dish. In order to keep it
hot for serving, we cooked and served it in cast iron pans.

We borrowed many pieces of cast iron for this. The trick was that each
person used a different color of nail polish to put a dot on the handle
(closer to the pan end so it took less abuse). Then after the feast we
could comfortably get all the cast iron back to the original owners.
Being an enamel, nail polish survives several visits to the oven.

Since cast iron is not period, what are other tools for getting hot
dishes to your tables when you have limited oven space?