MOSCADA WITH 13TH CENTURY VERSION BETTER THAN DUNKINDONUTS - WITH ALMOND FILLING!

Nutmeg Nuts and Ground Nutmeg
Photo by: Lord-Williams

nuez moscada, macis, OCast nuez, noscada, Gr. moshoikarido, L. Myristica fragens, Ar. joser boa, Fr. musca de (noix de), Eng. nutmeg, mace, an aromatic seed lacking perisperm that is used as a spice and is produced by the tree Myristica fragrans of the family Myristicaceae, the nutmeg family, native to the Moluccas, the Spice Islands where it is harvested three times a year. It is doubted that the Romans and Greeks used this spice in ancient times but by 1191, the year of the coronation of the Holy Roman Emperor Henry VI of Germany, it was included in fumigant strewing aromatics in the streets of Rome.

Avenzoar, who died in 1162, prescribed a pill including nutmeg to improve the breath and released disagreeable humors. Myristicin, a protoalkaloidal constituent in nutmeg, produces a feeling of unreality and visual illusions when eaten. Small doses decrease flatulence (see ventosidades), improve the appetite and digestion and decrease nausea, vomiting and diarrhea.

It was not used in food generally in Europe until the end of the 13^th C. The Arabs introduced nutmeg to Spain. It was first documented in Cantar de Mio Cid in 1140. The most select and popular came from India. Anon Al-Andalus calls for nutmeg in desserts, drinks and syrups. Nutmeg is used especially in milk and cheese dishes. It is used sparingly. Like mace it can be poisonous especially if injected intravenously.

[Anón/Grewe. 1982:CCXVIIII:216; Anón/Huici.1966:159:103-104:428:235:488:267-268 etc; Castro. Alimentación. 1996:292; ES: Ibarra. Sep 1, 03; Ibn Zuhr/García Sánchez. 1992:140; Nola. 1989:xxxvii-4; Nola/Iranzo. 1982:170; Nola/Pérez. 1994:202; Saas. 1975:14; and Villena/Calero. 2002:51:100:118:32b]

POWDERED SUGAR DOUGHNUTS ADAPTED FROM ANÓN AL-ANDALUS #483 ROSQUILLA DE AZÚCAR BLANCO, p 264

Ingredients

Recipe for the Doughnut:

Cutting Dough into Circles
Photo by: Lord-Williams

1 c milk

2 tbsp sugar

1 tsp salt

2 ½ tsp yeast

2 tbsp warm water

3 ½ c flour

2 large eggs

1 tsp nutmeg

1 tsp cloves

For the filling:

Gently Turning Floating Doughnuts
Photo by: Lord-Williams

¾ c peeled almonds

¾ c sugar

½ tsp cloves

½ tsp musk or nutmeg

2 tbsp honey

1 tbsp rosewater

for frying: 2 qts olive oil

Garnish

julep syrup ( ½ c rose wáter and ½ c sugar) or honey

powdered sugar

Preparation

PREHEAT OVEN TO 400ºF/200º C

For the doughnut:

Heat milk in saucepan. Add sugar and salt and stir until dissolved. Let this cool down to about 90ºF/32ºC.

Dissolve yeast in warm water.

Mix all the ingredients for doughnuts in a mixer until smooth. Remove from mixer and knead for about 10 minutes. Make a ball and cover it with a cloth. Let rise for 1 ½ hours.

Yummier than DunkinDonuts!!!
Photo by: Pedro Pablo Montero

Flour a flat surface, roll the dough out. Take a top to a jar or a cookie cutter 2” in diameter and cut the dough into circles. Gently roll the rolling pin over the circles until 2 ½”. Place 1 heaping teaspoon of filling on half the circles. Place plain circles over circles with filling. Press the edges together.

For the filling:

Peel almonds and put them in a food processor with sugar. Add spices, honey and rosewater and beat until smooth. 

Preheat frying pan. Add oil. When hot fry the doughnuts until toasty.

For the garnish:

Make julep syrup by heating rosewater and sugar in a saucepan until the sugar melts and the substance thickens like a syrup or heat honey. Pour whichever over the doughnuts and sprinkle with powered sugar. 

ANÓN AL-ANDALUS #483