Ice Castles 2011

A feast of Al-Andalus

Naila Al-Zarq'

Hail and Welcome one and all to this year’s feast at the Castle of Ice. When last we all gathered here, I was but a lowly kitchen servant, in service to the Nightingale. Now I, like she, have risen through the ranks. She, and her former captor, now sit in state over all these lands. My own position now is rather less lofty, for these kitchens alone are my dominion, but it suits me. Though far from my homelands of the Black Sea, I have chosen to serve you this night a feast of Al-Andalus, the land of the Nightingale. As this is my first feast as head of the kitchen, I have taken to heart the advice of Hippocrates. He has written down for all to read which dishes are necessary in any feast, and the order in which they must be served. I have done my best to honor his writ. Now eat, friends, and be merry. I hope to be granted leave to prepare another feast for you when we shall all gather here a year hence, God willing. According to Hippocrates... How the Service of Dishes is Ordered, and Which is Fitting to be First, and Which Last The first dish to be presented is a feminine one, such as baqliyya mukarrara and the various kinds of tafâyâs; after this the dish jimli; then muthallath (meat cooked with vegetables, vinegar and saffron); then the dish of murri; then mukhallal (a vinegared dish); then mu'assal (a honeyed dish); then fartun; then another mu'assal. This is the succession of the seven dishes and the order in which they are eaten. Many of the great figures and their companions order [p. 25, recto] that the separate dishes be placed on each table before the diners, one after another; and by my life, this is more beautiful than putting an uneaten mound all on the table, and it is more elegant, better-bred, and modern; this has been the practice of the people of al-Andalus and the West, of their rulers, great figures, and men of merit from the days of 'Umar b. 'Abd al-'Aziz and the Banu Umayya to the present. I did not actually read Hippocrates, however this article can be found in the Andalusian cookbook.

First Course: (appetizer)

‐ Flatbread

‐ Himmasiyya (hummus)

‐ Zabarbada (cheese)

‐ Olives

‐ Tafaya (lamb) **First of seven dishes noted by Hippocrates

Second Course:

‐ Jimli (lamb) **Second of seven dishes

‐ Jazr (carrots) ** Muthallath, the third of seven dishes

‐ Thumiyya (chicken) ** the dish of Murri, the fourth of seven dishes

‐ Couscous

Third Course:

‐ Sweetened Mukhallal (beef) ** Fifth of seven dishes

‐ White Karanbiyya (cabbage)

Fourth Course: (dessert)

‐ A sweet of dates and honey ** Sixth of seven dishes

‐ Pomegranate faludhaj

‐ Honeyed rice with cast sugar figures First course:

‐ Flatbread ‐ Himmasiyya ‐ Zabarbada ‐ Olives ‐ Tafaya

The flatbread, Himmasiyya, and olives are fairly standard appetizers for a middle eastern feast such as this, as the modern versions of these dishes are widely liked. The Zabarbada is not as widely known, but I felt a cheese dish would provide a nice addition for those who do not favor hummus or olives. The Tafaya is the first of seven dishes which should be served at any feast, according to Hippocrates. As it is made with lamb, which is expensive, only a small amount will be served to each table so that everyone may sample it.

Recipes:

And Among Them Is Himmasiyya (a garbanzo dish) Cut the meat in proportionate pieces and put in the pot, with water to cover and enough oil; do not throw in salt at first, for that would spoil it; put in all the spices. And let the amount of water in this dish be small as you will substitute vinegar; then put the pot on the fire, then grind the garbanzos, sieve them, clean them and throw them on the meat, and when it is all done, grind up a head of garlic and beat with good vinegar and put in the pot; then put in the salt and stir so that all parts are mixed together, and when the pot is done, take it off the fire and leave it to cool and clarify; then sprinkle with fine spices and serve. It is best, when preparing the garbanzos for this dish, to begin by soaking them in fresh water overnight; then peel and throw in the pot, and when they have cooked, take them out of the pot and grind them in the mortar, then return them to the pot and finish cooking, God willing. I am making this recipe without meat, since there will be plenty of meat later. However, during the test feast I did, I found that mixing the Tafaya with the Himmasiyya is quite tasty. Although historically the garbanzos would be cooked and peeled, I have chosen to buy precooked garbanzos in cans and not peel them. I have done this in order to save time. Zabarbada [Zîrbâja] of Fresh Cheese

Take fresh cheese, clean it, cut it up and crumble it; take cilantro and onion, chop and throw over the cheese, stir and add spices and pepper, stir the pot with two spoons of oil and an equal quantity of water and salt, then throw this mixture in the pot and put on the fire and cook; when it is cooked, take the pot from the fire and cover with egg and some flour and serve. For this recipe, I plan on using some variety of fresh cheese, either farmer’s cheese, ricotta, or something similar depending on price and availability. I am not covering with egg or flour, as they were used as a garnish, according to my research, and I am choosing to garnish them in another way. Simple White Tafâyâ, Called Isfîdhbâja

This is a dish of moderate nutrition, suitable for weak stomachs, much praised for increasing the blood, good for the healthy and the scrawny; it is material and substance for all kinds of dishes.

Its Recipe:

Take the meat of a young, plump lamb. Cut it in little pieces and put it in a clean pot with salt, pepper, coriander, a little juice of pounded onion, a spoonful of fresh oil and a sufficient amount of water. Put it over a gentle fire and be careful to stir it; put in meatballs and some peeled, split almonds. When the meat is done and has finished cooking, set the pot on the ashes until it is cooled. He who wants this tafaya green can give it this color with cilantro juice alone or with a little mint juice. Although this recipe calls for meatballs, I have not included them. The meatballs call for rams meat, which is not readily available. I could have used a substitute, but I felt that any substitute would be too similar to this dish or one of the other dishes served later. Although I will add mint juice and cilantro, no green color was evident when I made this dish as a test.

Second Course: ‐ Thumiyya ‐ Jimli ‐ Couscous ‐ Jazr

Included in this course are the next two dishes called for by Hippocrates. They are the dish jimli, and the Thumiyya, which takes the place of the dish of murri. The jazr is presented in this course as a muthallath, a vinegared dish. During the test feast, I made the couscous plain; several of the diners remarked that they enjoyed the contrast of the simple dish to the more aromatic dishes also served in this course. Recipes:

Recipe for Thûmiyya, a Garlicky Dish Take a plump hen and take out what is inside it, clean that and leave aside. Then take four ûqiyas of peeled garlic and pound them until they are like brains, and mix with what comes out of the interior of the chicken. Fry it in enough oil to cover, until the smell of garlic comes out. Mix this with the chicken in a clean pot with salt, pepper, cinnamon, lavender, ginger, cloves, saffron, peeled whole almonds, both pounded and whole, and a little murri naqî'. Seal the pot with dough, place it in the oven and leave it until it is done. Then take it out and open the pot, pour its contents in a clean dish and an aromatic scent will come forth from it and perfume the area. This chicken was made for the Sayyid Abu al- Hasan and much appreciated. I am using soy sauce in place of murri naqi, as murri is difficult to create and soy sauce is an acceptable subsititute. Although this dish only calls for a little murri naqi, I plan on using more than “a little”, since I am making this as a dish of murri. I also plan on sealing the pot with aluminum foil in place of dough. It is my belief that the dough was used solely as a means of sealing the heat inside, since it is later removed and the contents poured into a clean dish, and the aluminum foil is a more practical substitute.

The Dish Jimli

Take the meat of a plump calf, or a sheep, and cut it in small bits; put it in a pot and add to it pepper, coriander and a little cumin, saffron and whatever oil is necessary, strong vinegar and murri naqî'-less of the murri than of the vinegar- and meatballs already made, citron leaves and peeled and split almonds; put this on a moderate fire, and when the meat is cooked, cover it with two eggs, a little beaten with cinnamon and saffron, and leave it on the hearthstone until it binds and the fat rises and the broth evaporates. As in the Thumiyya, I am using soy sauce in place of murri naqi. I am also not including the meatballs, for the same reason I did not include them in the tafaya. I will also not be using the garnish suggested, the eggs, as I will be garnishing them in another way. Jazr Cut the carrots into pieces without peeling them. Select the middle bits and cut each piece in half and cook in salted water. Dry the pieces off and fry in a pan with fresh oil. Then pour over it boiling vinegar with crushed garlic and caraway. One can then either leave the carrot pieces without frying (or else place them after frying) as decoration on a platter.

I choose this particularly for the color, since the other dishes in this course are fairly colorless. The recipe provides the choice whether to fry them or not; I have chosen not to.

Third Course:

‐ Sweetened Mukhallal ‐ White Karanbiyya

Mukhallal is one of the dishes specified by Hippocrates as a dish which should be served in any feast. I have chosen to serve the sweetened version instead of the regular version as I believe the regular mukhallal is too similar to Jimli, which I am serving in the previous course.

Recipes:

Sweetened Mukhallal Take two ratls or more of good meat without bones, and cut it up small; put it in a clean pot with salt, onion, pepper and a little cumin, cinnamon and saffron. Choose as much strong vinegar as is necessary and enough good oil to cover it. Put it on a moderate fire and then add to it a spoonful of peeled, split almonds and a little peeled, split garlic and two or three citron leaves. Cook it and stir it, and when the meat is dry, then add to it strong vinegar, instead of water, and two ûqiyas or more of rose petal jam. When the meat is done, take ten eggs, broken into a dish, and add to them pepper, cinnamon, lavender, cloves, and plenty of saffron, until it has the desired color; beat them with a spoon and cover the contents of the pot with this and add to it whole egg yolks and leave it over the hearthstone until it thickens and the sauce dries, and use, God willing. Due to an inability to acquire citron leaves, I am not using them. I will also not be using whole egg yolks, as they were primarily used as a form of garnish.

Recipe for White Karanbiyya, a Cabbage Dish Take young, fat meat; cut it into a pot with salt, onion, pepper, coriander seed, caraway and oil. Put it on a moderate fire and when it is nearly done, take a coarse cabbage, throw away the outside and take the heart and surrounding parts, and clean it of its leaves. Stick a knife between the "eyes" and throw away the rest of the leaves until it remains white like the turnip. Peel it and cut it in regular pieces and throw them into the pot, after boiling them, as has been indicated. When it is done, put it on the hearthstone and squeeze over it some coriander juice. He who wants this dish as a muthallath, let him add vinegar and saffron. I am not including meat in this dish, as is called for, since there is already meat in this course. I have chosen to make this using purple cabbage for the bright color it provides.

Fourth Course:

‐ A sweet of dates and honey ‐ Pomegranate faludhaj ‐ Honeyed rice with cast sugar figures

It was requested to have a baronial themed desert, so I chose to do honeyed rice dyed yellow formed into shields with black diamond shaped cast sugar figures. I have also chosen several other desserts which I believe will provide a wide variety of flavor and textures. Mu’assal, the last of the dishes stated by Hippocrates, is basically any dish with honey, which means that any of these dishes fit the bill. I have chosen not to make fartun since it requires specialized equipment which I do not have and which was not worth it to acquire at this time.

Recipes:

Excellent Fâlûdhaj Pound sweet almonds like brains and add fresh water. Pass this through a fine sieve until it becomes like milk. Then take a quantity of pomegranate juice, sour or sweet, like the water taken from...[words missing]...of the juice of sour and sweet pomegranate or juice of tart apples, or pear juice, or quince juice or juice of roasted gourd-whichever of this you may have-and take as much as all this of sugar and white honey. Put it all in an earthenware pot. Light under it a gentle fire and throw in, after boiling, some starch. When it begins to bind together, add drops of almond oil (fat). Light under it a weak fire until it coarsens, and it becomes like thickened khabîs. Take it from the fire and use it, if God wishes. I plan on making this using Pomegranate juice for the flavor and the color. I also plan on using semolina as the starch. The almond milk will be made using whole almonds, soaked in water, and put through a food processor. This method is not exactly period, but it saves a lot of time and effort.

A Sweet of Dates and Honey Take Shaddâkh dates. Clean them of their pits and pound a ratl of them in a mortar. Then dilute with water in a tinjir on a gentle fire. Add the same amount of skimmed honey. Stir it until it binds together and throw in a good amount of peeled almonds and walnuts. Put in some oil so it doesn't burn and to bind firmly. Pour it over a greased salâya (stone work surface). With it you make qursas (round cakes). Cut it with a knife in big or little pieces. It has been suggested that I add Orange Blossom water to enhance the flavor. I plan on trying this. I will not be including walnuts due to budgetary constraints.

Recipe for Honeyed Rice Take rice and soak it in fresh water, enough to cover it, for a day or overnight. Then wash it and put it on the fire in a pot or kettle (tinjir). Cook it with water or fresh milk, then add four or five ratls of clean honey from which you have skimmed the foam. Cook it carefully on a gentle fire. Moisten it, while cooking, with fresh milk until it sticks together, coagulates and becomes a paste. Pour it onto a platter and macerate it with a spoon. Make a hole in the center which you fill with fresh, melted butter and dust it with ground sugar and cinnamon and use it. Due to time constraints, I am using parboiled rice. I have chosen to cook it in watered-down milk for the texture it provides. The milk is watered-down so as to reduce the possibility of scorching since this is my first time cooking for such a large number of people. Additionally, I have chosen to sweeten the rice with sugar and only add enough honey to give it the proper flavor.

Cast Figures of Sugar Throw on the sugar a like amount of water or rosewater and cook until its consistency is good. Empty it into the mould and make of it whatever shape is in the mold, the places of the "eyebrow" and the "eye" and what resembles the dish you want, because it comes out of the mould in the best way. Then decorate it with gilding and whatever you want of it. If you want to make a tree or a figure of a castle, cut it piece by piece. Then decorate it section by section and stick it together with mastic until you complete the figure you want, if God wills. Although it would have been preferable to actually make this recipe, I unfortunately do not have the time this recipe would require to ensure that it came out correctly. Therefore, I have decided that using fondant, which is a sugar paste most often used for cake decorating, is an acceptable substitute. I will be purchasing fondant and dying it black.