CEBOLLA WITH A 13TH C SPICY BREADED MEAT AND ONION DISH

Onions
Photo by: Lord-Williams

L. Allium cepa, OCat seba, sebes, sabes, Cat ceba, Ar. bişal, Fr. oignon, ME cyuee, Eng. onion. The onion was one of the earliest cultured plants. It is known that it was first cultivated in Samaria and brought west by the Arabs. When Abu el Heiloukh ate onions in The Perfumed Gardens, his member remained erect for 30 days straight. The Arabs claim to have introduced the onion to Al-Andalus. It became very important in Andalusian cooking being ever present in the Anón Al-Andalus and Fadalat, even though frequently only the juice was used. Although it is more valuable eaten raw than cooked, it was strictly prohibited to consume it in that state. It was used sparingly. In León, onions were abundant by the 10^th C. and sold in the market of Villavicenecio. They were considered food for the poor. There was a law stating that the lord must give them to villians with cheese and wheat and rye bread on the days that they labored in his fields. Medically, the onion has held a high place as it has been used as treatment for asthma, diabetes, hypertension, rheumatism, typhoid fever and many more illnesses. At one point, women used it purposely to make it appear that they were crying. It has been a basic household supply over the ages. See chalote and poriola. [Anón/Grewe. 1982:XXXX:65:XII:79: Apè III:236; Curye. 1985:178; Anón/Huici.1966:1:15-16:328:182:372:204-205 etc; Font. Plantas. 1999:638:890-892; Ibn Razīn/Granja. 1960:6:20:88:24:108:25 etc; Ibn Razīn/Marín. 2007:38; Sánchez-Albornoz. 2000:34:42; Stuart. 1987:148; Villena/Calero. 2002:23a; and Villena/Navarro. 1879:44]

2002:23a; and Villena/Navarro. 1879:44]

A SPICY BREADED MEAT AND ONION DISH[1] ADAPTED FROM HUICI’S TRANSLATION OF ANÓN AL-ANDALUS 373. TORTA CON GUSTO DE VINAGRE Y CEBOLLAS ENTERAS, p 205
For 4 persons

Onions Added at Ending of Cooking Time
Photo by: Lord-Williams

Ingredients

1 lb beef

½ c virgin olive oil

1 tsp salt

1 tsp pepper

½ tsp coriander seed

½ tsp cumin

1 garlic clove peeled and mashed

1 tbsp balsamic vinegar

4 whole onions

1/3 c leaven white breadcrumbs

¼ tsp saffron

½ c raw almonds 

1 c raw couscous

Preparation

Cut beef into cubes. Head a large pan. Add ¼ c olive oil. When hot seal beef on all sides. Add salt, pepper, coriander seed, cumin and vinegar and mix well. Add 4 cups water and  simmer 30 minutes.

Spicey Breaded Meat and Onion Dish
Photo by; Lord-Williams

Boil whole onions separately in water.

Blanch almonds in boiling water. Fry them in ¼ c olive oil. When gold brown remove them and slice them.

When the meat is almost cooked, add mashed saffron diluted in a little broth and mix well. Add onions.

Prepare couscous.

Remove the onion dish from heat when it has finished cooking. Add just enough breadcrumbs from white leavened bread to absorb the juices. Arrange all in a serving dish. Pour the couscous on it and sprinkle almonds on top.

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[1] Perry titles this recipe as Tharîd Mudhakkar, stating the Tharîd means a meal prepared with meat and bread and Mudhakkar means “masculine,” which he thinks has something to do with the order of serving dishes as Mu’annanth, means feminine dishes, which were served first.  On the other hand, in recipe 53, which Perry titles  “The Making of a Dish of Pigeons, Doves, or White Starlings,” he states that mudhakkar is a dish with vinegar, murri, cumin, garlic, and saffron. What Perry calls mudhakkar in this recipe, Huici translates as "picante" (spicy) stating that if one wants a spicy dish, vinegar, murri, cumin, garlic and saffron are added. [Anón/Huici. 1866:53:42; and ES: Anon/Perry. Sep 5, 02]

CEBO WITH 14TH C MOCK CHEESE FOR LENT RECIPE WITH WHITE SAUCE

prepping bait for lobster traps
Photo from: Vilseskogen

1. the traditional Iberian pig of mountains living on a diet of acorns, complemented with pasture soil, thorns, stubble and fallow. 2. healthy or plump human baby 3. fodder, grain for animals and livestock. 4. a trap or bait laid to catch animals such as shellfish, fish, birds and wolves. [Dialecto. 1947:174; and Ramos. 1990:49]

MOCK CHEESE[1] FOR LENT AND ADAPTED FROM SENT SOVÍ APÈ I #67 FORMATGADES, p 230

For 6 persons

Ingredients

Baits for catching sea food:

Herring for lobster pot bait bag

Bream for prawns

Bread for sea bream

For the dish:

1 lobster[2]

12 prawns

½ lemon

1 garlic clove mashed

1 ½ lb sea bream[3]

salt to taste

1 c almonds

1 c pine nuts

½ tsp saffron

1 tsp scraping ginger

Ganish:

1 bay leaf or basil

Ready to Steam Fish Filetes

Preparation

Catch the seafood using bait. Wash and clean the lobster and prawns. Break the lobster’s neck and place in the bottom of a steamer. Add pawns and ½ lemon with juice and zest. Add the garlic and cover all with water.

Gut the sea bream, remove the fins, scales, head and tail. Butterfly it down the middle to open it up sprinkle with salt on it inside and out. Add olive oil and put it on the steamer rack and place that in the pot over the lobster and prawns.

Bring the water. Boil the lobster and prawns 5-10 minutes until the meat is white and remove. The bream may take 15-20 minutes to turn white depending on the size. Reserve a little of the broth for use later.

Shell the lobster and pawns. Remove skin and debone sea bass. Grind up all the meat together. Add the nuts and ginger scraping and continue grinding. Add ¼ c broth and mix that in with the sea food.

Mash the saffron in a mortar. Add a spoonful of the broth to dissolve it. Mix the saffron with the other ingredients and shape the mass in the form of one large cheese or small balls as desired. Add more broth, 1 tbsp at a time as needed. Garnish with a bay leaf or basil.

WHITE SAUCE ADAPTED FROM NOLA’S xv-3 SALSA BLANCA

Mock Cheese in White Sauce
Photo by: Lord-Williams

Ingredients

1 tbsp white ginger

¼ c rosewater

1 c almonds

1 ½ c fish broth

2 tbsp flour[4]

1 cinnamon stick about 2” long

1 tsp whole cloves

sugar[5]

Preparation

Peel ginger and scrap the white. Soak that in rosewater overnight. Blanch almonds and peel them. Let them sit overnight in fish broth.

Put almonds and broth in a food processor and grind. Pour this through a cheesecloth into a saucepan. Squeeze the cheesecloth well to obtain as much almond milk as possible. Heat this. Add a sachet with the cinnamon stick and cloves. When about to boil remove, from heat and add as little flour as possible to thicken the sauce. Return to heat and add ginger with rosewater. Taste for ginger flavor. Add more ginger if necessary.

Serve warm in broth as hors d'oeuvres or an appetizer for it is perfect bait to win hearts through the stomach!

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[1] During Fast Days and Lent not only was meat prohibited in the Middle Ages but also all animal products including eggs, butter and cheese.

[2] 4 oz crab meat was used as lobster was not in season at the time of making this recipe.

[3] Hake or grouper if not available.

[4] The recipe does not call for flour but more thickener was needed.

[5]Sugar was omitted as the sauce is not being used for a sweet dish in this case.

CEBANDO WITH 15TH C MARZIPAN FRITTER RECIPE

Cebando - Drop by drop
Photo by: Lord-Williams

slowing adding, drop by drop. [Nola. 1989:xlvii-3; Nola/Pérez.1994:191]

MARZIPAN FRITTERS ADAPTED FROM NOLA xlvii-3 FRUTA DE MAZAPAN

Ingredients

Marzipan filling:

1 c almonds

1½  c powdered sugar

1 tbsp rosewater

Dough:

1 2/3 c flour

2 eggs

Frying Marzipan Fritters in Lard
Photo by: Lord-Williams 

1 c lard

¼ c white wine

1 pinch of salt

Presentation:
1 drizzle of honey

2 tsp powdered sugar

2 tsp cinnamon

Preparation

Boil water in a pan. Turn off heat and add almonds. Let them sit for 2-3 minutes. Remove skins. Put the almonds in a found grinder and grind. Add sugar and continue grinding. Slowly add rosewater drop by drop until a creamy consistency is obtained.

Exquisitely Scrumptious!
Photo by: Lord-Williams

Separate egg yolks from egg whites. Make dough with well-sifted flour, and knead it with egg yolks and 6 tbsp lard, and white wine. Roll it out and make various small geometric shapes. Put a small spoonful of the marzipan in the middle of each shape. Pull the dough over it and seal shut with fingers or a spoon handle. Dip each fritter in egg whites.

Heat a frying pan. Add remaining lard. When hot reduce heat to simmer and slowly fry the fritters. 

When fritters are golden brown place them on a paper towel to remove excess grease. Then put them on a serving plate. Drizzle honey over them and sprinkle with a mixture of ground sugar and cinnamon. 

CEBADOS WITH 13TH C RECIPE FOR CHICKEN THARÎD

Hens Fattened with Barley
Photo by: Lord-Williams

fattened with barley, in reference to livestock. This was common in the Middle Ages. Ducks, geese and chicken were raised and fattened with barley especially for big banquets. In Astorga, even today, dried meat must be from cows from the area, which are fattened in the barnyard for three months. At the end this period, the quality of the animal’s meat is improved by acquiring better texture, which is detected by experts feeling the skin of the animal. Leonese jerky is processed from sheep and goats fattened in corrals before the slaughter. Pork coming from pigs fattened with barley has a different flavor than that of pigs raised on acorns, which is highly regarded as well. [Anón/Huici.1966:389:213; Ares. Comida. 1994:88.101:111; and Díaz. 2011:99

THARÎD[1] MADE WITH FATTENED HENS OR CAPONS ADAPTED FROM HUICI’S TRANSLATION OF ANÓN AL-ANDALUS #389 TORTA QUE SE HACE CON GALLINAS CEBADAS O CON CAPONES CEBADA Y GORDOS, p 213

For 8 persons

Chicken Tharîd Gently Boiling
Photo by: Lord-Williams

8 prunes

1½ c strong vinegar

1 chicken about 2-2 ½ lbs

salt to taste

1 onion

½ tsp pepper

½ tsp coriander seed

1 tsp cumin

2 tbsp oil

¼ tsp saffron

8 turnips

2 c breadcrumbs from leaven bread

¼ c butter[2]

The night before preparing this recipe, remove the pits from the prunes and soak them in vinegar.

Golden Chicken Tharîd Steaming Hot
Photo by: Lord-Williams

The following day, remove the legs and wings of a chicken. Quarter it and put all in a pot with salt, onion, pepper, coriander seed, cumin, oil and 2 tbsp strong vinegar. Cover with water and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer uncovered for 20 minutes.

Clean the turnips and cut off the greens. Peel them, cut them into big pieces and boil them in water in a separate pot for 10-15 minutes until tender.

Add the saffron mashed and dissolved in a little broth to the chicken.  Add prunes and turnips and simmer 10 minutes or until the meat is tender. Remove it from the heat and add breadcrumbs with butter. Leave it until it absorbs the sauce and serve. 

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[1] While Huici calls this a “torta” (cake), Charles Perry explains in this ftn 4 of his translation of the text that tharîd is “a dish of bread moistened with meat juices, of great importance since the Prophet valued it above all other dishes; he once said of this adored wife Aisha that she “surpasses other women as tharîd surpasses other dishes.” As seen in the photo the dish does look more like a tharîd or sopes than a cake. [ES: Anón/Perry. Sep 5, 00]

[2] Optional. The tharîd in the photo does not have butter. As chickens today have so much fat the addition of butter is not necessary.

CEBADA WITH 14TH C RECIPE FOR HORDIATE, A BARKEY DRINK

Barley
Photo from: Frog n fries

OCast ceuada, cevada, ordio, Arag hordio, OCat hordi, Cat ordi, L. hordeum, Ar. sha‘īr, Eng. barley. This is a bread grain producing dark flour. It was used to make bread in areas where wheat was scarce and to make couscous grains and porridge. It does not produce porous bread because it contains little gluten. It was used to make unleavened or flatbread. It was considered a poor man’s bread but Avenzoar claimed it to be the best after wheat as he thought it cold but not as nutritious. He recommended baking it under ashes instead of in a tannur oven. It could be boiled in water and served as porridge. Mixed with water and honey it served as a refreshing drink. Since 5000 B.C., barley has been cultivated in Egypt and it is known to have been in Europe by 3000 B.C. There are two species: vulgare or irregulare (common barley) and distichum (pearl barley). Flowers growing on spikes become barley kernels, which are covered by bran and a husk. It is an adaptable plant that grows well in hot arid lands as well as cool wetlands. See hordiate and horchata. [Anón/Grewe. 1982:LXXXXVII:129:ftn 2:LXXXXVIII:129: Apè III:239; Bercero/Janer. 1983:307; Ency Brit. 1998:1:A:900:3b-901:1a; Nola.1989:xxxiii-2:xxxv-3:xl-5; Nola/Iranzo. 1982:170; and Nola/Pérez. 1994:199]

ANOTHER HORDIATE, ALMOND MILK ADAPTED FROM SENT SOVÍ #LXXXXVIII QUI PARLA CON SE FFA DÁLTRA MANERA DÓRDIAT A LET DE AMELLES, pp 129-130
For 2 qts

Gently Boiling Barley Water
Photo by: Lord-Williams

Ingredients

1 c shelled almonds
8 c broth
1 c pearl barley
1 pinch salt
2 tbsp sugar

Garnish:

lemon and lemon zest[1]

Preparation           

Boil water in a saucepan. Add almonds when boiling and remove from heat. Let stand for 2-3 minutes and peel them. Grind almonds. Add 2 cbroth and continue grinding. Strain the mixture through a cheesecloth into a large saucepan. Add 6 c broth and barley. Bring to a boil then reduce heat to simmer and boil gently 15-20 minutes until grains burst. Add salt to taste. 




Barley Water with a Lemon Twist 

 Photo by: Lord-Williams
Pour the mixture into a food processor and grind 1-2 minutes. Pour this through a sieve into a bowl. Add sugar and lemon juice if desired[2]. When cool bottle and store in the refrigerator.
_______________________
[1] Sent Soví does not call for lemon. The juice and zest give the drink a nice twist.
[2] Save the barley in the sieve and make porridge by heating with milk and adding brown sugar or honey.

CAZUELA DE BARRO ROJO VIDRIADO WITH 13TH C RECIPE FOR HARE

Carved casserole/soup tureen
Photo from: kathyshiplet

Estr alvedriao, Eng glazed earthenware casserole. These were made in Nava de Olleros, León and sold in the capital by women from there. [Ibn Razīn/Granja. 1960:216:27; Sánchez-Albornoz. 2000:46-47: and Serradilla. 1993:33]

RECIPE FOR NARYISIYYA (OF HARE) ADAPTED FRON FADALAT #216  RECETA DE LA NARYISIYYA p 27

Ingredients

2 garlic cloves

Hare Boiling Gently
Photo by: Lord-Williams

2 tbsp virgin olive oil

1 hare

1 tbsp salt to taste

2 tbsp vinegar

¼ tsp saffron

1 tsp pepper

1 tsp coriander seed

1 tsp cumin

1 tbsp Byzantine murri[1]

1 tbsp parsley

2 c red grape juice[2]

¼ flour

Garnish:

olives and fresh parsley leaves

Hare in Grape Juice Sauce
Photo by: Lord-Williams

Preparation

Wash the hare and clean it. Put it in a glazed earthenware casserole. Add 4 c water and vinegar. Mash the saffron and dissolve it in a little water. Add it and the rest of the seasoning to the pot. Bring to a boil and reduce heat to simmer. Boil gently 45 minutes until the meat is tender removing scum as it cooks.

PREHEAT OVEN TO 450ºF/230ºC

When done remove the hare. Add grape juice. Boil until reduced to 1/3 the volume. Thicken by adding flour little by little.  

Place the hare in a roasting pan and brown 15-20 minutes. Remove and debone by hand. Serve with sauce and garnish with olives and fresh parsley. 

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[1] See blog titled almorí published August 25, 2011 for recipe.

[2] Red wine can be used but it was prohibited for Hispano-Muslims to drink at the time the recipe was written but they did grow grapes.

CAZUELA DE AVE WITH 15TH C RECIPE FOR CHICKEN POT ROAST

Ladling out Chicken Pot Roast
Photo by: Lord-Williams

a pot or casserole of poultry. This was a marinade prepared in the same pot in which the fowl was cooked. Ingredients included diced lard, chopped fried onion, tips of boiled asparagus or lettuce hearts and/or truffles. [Villena/Calero. 2002:118]

CHICKEN POT ROAST ADAPTED FROM ENRIQUE DE VILLENA’S CAZUELA DE AVE, p 118

Ingredients

1 chicken

1 qt natural grape juice

1 celery stalk chopped

2 onions

1 tbsp chopped parsley

1 garlic clove mashed

salt and pepper to taste

6 egg yolks

Garish:

1 bunch asparagus tips

4 slices of bacon

2 tbsp virgin olive oil

2 slices of toast without crust

Uniquely Delicious Boiled in Grape Juice!
Photo by: Lord-Williams

Preparation

Boil the chicken in grape juice with one onion chopped, parsley, a garlic clove and salt and pepper to taste until the meat is falling off the bones, 20-30 minutes.

Heat a frying pan with 2 tbsp olive oil. Add the bacon and fry until golden brown. Then set a aside to cool. Once cool grumble it. Chop the remaining onion and fry it in the olive oil and bacon grease.

Strain the broth. Shred the meat, discarding the bones. Put 3” of broth in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Add the asparagus and continue boiling for 8 minutes until the tips have a crunch but are not raw.

Toast the bread and cut into triangles without crust.

Put the broth and meat from the chicken back in the pot with all the onion and celery. Add salt to taste. Bring to a boil and remove from heat. Beat egg yolks and add them to the pot. Stir until the broth thickens. Leave the pot on the burners for eaters to help themselves.  

Take the pot in which the chicken was boiled with the chicken. Add chopped bacon, chopped and fried onion, boiled asparagus tips or lettuce hearts and truffles. Bring it to a boil. Add salt and pepper to taste. Thicken it with beaten egg yolks.

Serve in soup bowls add a few asparagus tips to each bowl. Sprinkle with bacon and add toast if desired.

It was customary to make a large amount and leave the pot on the ambers. In this way family members could help themselves any time of day or night.  

CAZUELA WITH 15TH C POT ROAST RECIPE

Cazuela
Photo by: Lord-Williams

Ar. qasūla, OE chawfour, chawfer, Eng 1. pan. 2. a casserole, stewing pan or a stew. These pans were made of glazed earthenware in 10th C León. 3. see almodrote. [Curye. 1985:177; Gázquez. Cocina. 2002:170; Ibn Razīn/Granja.1960:171:26-27:216:27; Nola.1989:xxv-1:xli-1:lvii-3; Sánchez-Albornoz. 2000:46; and Villena/Calero. 2002:42:ftn 114:27ª:62ª]

MEAT POT ROAST ADAPTED FROM VILLENA’S CAZUELA DE CARNE p 62ª

Ingredients

1 lb meat

¼ c lard

8 oranges to make 2 ½ c juice or 2 ½ c natural green grape juice

Two cazuelas to make a double broiler
Photo by: Lord-Williams¼ tsp saffron

½ tsp cinnamon

¼ tsp cloves

½ tsp white pepper

4 eggs

2 tbsp vinegar

¼ c honey

salt to taste

Garnish:

Zest from ½ orange peel

1 tsp ground cloves

1 tsp ground cinnamon

Preparation

Cut meat into pieces the size of a walnut. Heat lard in a frying pan and seal the meat. Put this with 1 ½ c juice, the zest from the peel of one orange, spices and pepper. Bring to a boil and simmer until the meat begins to fall apart, about ½ hour and only a little broth is left.

A clay cazuela - an individual serving bowl
Photo by: Lord-Williams

Heat water in the bottom part of a double broiler. Bring it to a boil. Beaten eggs with 1 c orange juice or grape juice and add them to the pot with the meat. Add vinegar to give it flavor. Put that on top of the boiling water and stir from time to time with a large spoon and let it thicken. Slowly add honey until the desired sweet and sour balance is obtained. Add salt to taste. Then remove from heat and serve in soup bowls. Garnish with zest of orange, cinnamon and ground cloves. 

CAZÓN WITH 15TH C RECIPE FOR BOILED TUNA

Cazón Fresco - Fresh Tope Shark
Photo by MR Samper

1. large pan. 2. tope shark, see caçon. 3. brown sugar.  See azúcar de caña. [Nola. 1989:xxix-3; Nola/Pérez. 1994:191]

BOILED TUNA OR TUNNY ADAPTED FROM NOLA lxii-6 ATUN O TOÑINA COCIDA

For 8 people

Ingredients

¼ c virgin olive oil

1 onion chopped

3 garlic cloves mashed

2 lbs tuna lion and liver if possible

Juan Carlos, the Fishmonger's Tuna
at the Mercado Central
Photo by: Lord-Williams

1 tbsp salt

2 c white vinegar

½ c almonds

1 slice bread crust removed

1 tsp freshly ground pepper

1 scraping ginger

¼ tsp mashed saffron

2 tsp rosemary chopped

2 tsp sage chopped

1 tbsp parsley chopped

Preparation

Heat a frying pan and add olive oil. Sautée onion and 2 mashed garlic cloves until translucent. Put them in a large pan.

Add enough water to cover the loin of tuna in the large pan. Add salt and bring it to a boil. Add tuna and 1 c vinegar. Cook 10 minutes for each inch or 2.5 cm of tuna. In this case 7 minutes was more than enough.

Tuna to Die For!
Its that good!
Photo by: Lord-Williams 

In the meantime prepare ingredients for a sauce. Grind unpeeled almonds and bread. Put them in a pot. Grind the tuna liver or a piece of tunny about that size if the liver is not available. Blend it with 1 c white vinegar. Strain this through a cloth into the pot with the almonds and bread. 

Blend the rest of the ingredients and 1 garlic clove mashed in ¼ c vinegar and add to the pot. When the fish is ready heat the sauce and pour over the fish on a platter. Slice and serve.

  

CAZO WITH 15th C ROCKET SAUCE RECIPE FOR MEAT ROASTS OR SALTED FISH

Comida en cazo(Food in a Pot)
Photo from: M@beLita

Ar. qus’a, OCast caço, -a, Eng. ladle, pan, saucepan. Today, the feminine form is not admitted by the Royal Spanish Academy. [Nola. 1989:xlix-5:lxviii-3; and Nola/Pérez. 1994:120:191]

ROCKET SAUCE[1] ADAPTED FROM NOLA xlix-5 BUENA ORGUA[2]


Ingredients

7 oz/200 gr package rocket

2 c honey

½ tsp cinnamon

¼ tsp saffron

1 tsp ginger

¼ c white vinegar

Preparation 

Rocket Sauce from the Saucepan
Photo by: Lord-Williams

Wash the rocket. Then grind it in a mortar or food processor.[3]

Grind the cinnamon and saffron and grate fresh ginger. Heat the honey in a saucepan and clarify it. Then add the rocket and the spices. Stir it 4 or 5 times. If the sauce is thick thin it with a little vinegar adding 1 tbsp at a time to taste. 

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[1] Also called arugula.

[2] Sent Sovi instructs in Recipe #CLXIII Qui parla con se ffa horugua pp 177-178 that this sauce is good on chicken, pork, beef, veal roasts or salted fish.
[3] Nola instructs that the chopped rocket should be placed on a cloth and tied. Water in a saucepan is brought to a  boil. Then the rocket is added and left to cook for 2 minutes. Then it should be removed and pressed between two cutting boards to squeeze out the water. This step is not necessary as the rocket cooks when added to the honey.