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Marmite Photo by: Lord-Williams |
marmite,
earthenware cooking container, stockpot. Today, these are being replaced by teflon pots and pans. [Anón/Grewe; 1982:XXXXVIIII; Anón/Hucci. 1966:330: 183:405:223:408:225]
PREPARATION OF TEL KADAYIF
[1]/FINE
PASTRY ADAPTED FROM HUICI’S TRANSLATION OF ANÓN AL-ANDALUS, #405 HECHURA DE LA “KINĀFA[2],
p 223
Ingredients[3]
4-5 crepes made with semolina flour[4]
¾ c olive oil
¾ c honey
½ c rosewater
camphor[5]
1 ½ c powdered sugar
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Shredding Orange Peel for Crepes Photo by: Lord-Williams |
15 small pieces of taffy
spikenard[6]
¾ tsp cloves
3 tsp peeled and chopped almonds
Preparation
Take paper-thin crepes and cut them up in pieces the size of
rose pedals. Some 40 pedals were cut. They were divided into 3 batches.
Pour enough oil in a marmite to cover pieces of crepe (¼ c
in this case) and bring to a boil. Place as many pedals as another marmite (9”
diameter) will hold (12-15 in this case). Pour boiling oil over the pedals. Let
the oil boil until absorbed (pour off excess oil if necessary).
Put 5 pieces of taffy in a different pan and melt it over low heat.
Add enough clarified honey to cover the pedals (¼ c), and sprinkle
it with rose water (¼ c) in which camphor has been dissolved. Stir it gently to
prevent if from sticking to the bottom of the marmite.
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Pouring boiling water over
crepes shaped like rose pedals
Photo by: Lord-Williams |
Sprinkle it with powdered sugar (¼ c), stir it gently and
when starts to thicken, pour melted taffy over the pedals. Remove from heat,
stir it and place it on a plate. Sprinkle it with spikenard, ½ tsp cloves, ¼ c powdered
sugar, 1 tsp chopped and peeled almonds. Smooth it with a spoon while it cools[7]
and the oil disappears, as you do with mu'assal[8].
The people of Bijaya and Ifriqiyya [Tunisia] make kunafa with fresh and
clarified butter instead of oil, but oil is better and lasts longer.[9]
Repeat
this recipe two more times or until the pedals have all been treated.
Place
the pedals on a plate, serve warm if possible and enjoy.
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Yummy tidbits!
Photo by: Lord-Williams |
[1]
Fine pastry strands. Today pastry cut up like noodles as per “Proceedings of the Oxford
Symposium on Food and Cooking,” 1998, pg 137 but in the 13th century, it was paper thin bread, basically crepes.
[2]
Huici states that this means encircle.
[3]
Measurements are flexible as per the utensils used.
[4]
Recipe:
Ingredients - ¾ c semolina flour, 2 eggs, ½ tsp salt, ⅔ c milk, 1 tsp
baking powder, 2 tbsp powdered sugar, ½ tsp orange peel, ⅓ c water.
Preparation – Sift flour, add salt, baking powder,
sugar and resift. Add orange peel. Beat eggs, add milk and water. Pour liquid
ingredients into sifted ingredients, combine with a few swift strokes – ignore
lumps.
Heat a 5” skillet, grease
it with a few drops of good oil. Add a
small quantity of batter, tip the skillet and let batter spread over the
bottom. Cook crepe over moderate heat. When brown underneath, flip it over and
brown the other side. Use a few drops of oil for each crepe.
[5]
Camphor was not used as it tastes like mothballs.
[6]
Not available.
[7]
Huici translates this as “fries” / fríe
but that is a little difficult if removed from the heat. Perhaps he meant enfríe, it cools.
[8]
Huici states this means
“honeyed”.
[9]
Charles Perry adds: “Fascinating recipe. Today kunafa is
the baked Arab pastry that looks like shredded wheat; in the Middle Ages it was
a thin crepe but in this recipe it is cut into small pieces and fried rather than baked.”
HUICI’S TRANSLATION OF ANÓN AL-ANDALUS, #405
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