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There is a vast multitude of modern ethnic cookbooks of varying quality. Many make vague unsubstantiated claims that their recipes are "ancient". Don't trust these claims. Food, like clothing, has changed immensely in the past 200 years in the Near and Middle East with, among other things, the influx of ingredients from the Americas, so imagine how much it must have changed since the 16th century or even earlier. I'm not saying don't cook modern Near and Middle Eastern food. I think it's delicious and i cook it for myself and my friends. I'm just saying, don't imagine that it's anything like food of the varied regions of the Near and Middle East before 1601. There are over 4,000 recipes in extant historical cookbooks translated into English - not counting the Turko-Mongol or any South Asian cookbooks! So i wonder why people continue to cook modern Near and Middle Eastern food when so many delicious recipes from SCA-period exist.
Banish pita bread, tabbouleh, modern hummus bi-tahini from SCA-feasts! Below are the sources i am familiar with. There may be others i have not yet come across. Arabic-Language Cookbooks
Note that there are other pre-1601 South Asian cookbooks; i've included only those with heavy Persian influence.Secondary Sources with Arabic-Language Recipes and Information Also of use are modern books that have selections of recipes from various of the above cookbooks. These are good if you just want to check out SCA-period Near and Middle Eastern recipes without fully committing to buying a whole library of books. Recipes Worked Out by SCAdians And, finally, SCAdians have worked out various recipes into modern format. While these are easier to use than the original recipes, they are interpretations, and are not necessarily absolutely correct. So i recommend that, if you do cook some, you try to work out your own versions afterwards. Arabic-Language Cookbooks(1.) 9th & 10th C. 'Abbasidal-Kitab al-Tabikh (The Book of Dishes)by Abu Muhammad al-Muzaffar ibn Nasr Ibn Sayyâr al-Warrâq This is a late 10th century compendium of recipes from 'Abbasid cookbooks from the 9th and 10th centuries that are now lost to us.The compiler is sometimes referred to in food literature as "al-Warraq" and sometimes as "ibn Sayyar". It comprises 615 recipes, including 40 from cookbooks by the great gastronome Abu Ishaq Ibrahim ibn al-Mahdi (779-839 CE), half-brother of the Caliph Harun al-Rashid, as well as by Abu Samin, a chef to the Caliph al-Wathiq who died in 847 CE.
Annals of the Caliphs' Kitchens: Ibn Sayyâr al-Warrâq's Tenth-century Baghdadi Cookbook It includes excellent introductory matter, a selection of color plates, and an extensive glossary. Among everything else it has to recommend it, it has an entire chapter on baking bread. Also chapters on appropriate comportment when dining with one's superiors, and a chapter on the benefits of napping after a big meal. It is quite expensive, so i saved for it for a few months. For the serious historical Middle Eastern cook, this is a "must have". So i recommend saving your dinar.
In 2006, Charles Perry published an article discussing this early cuisine, and included modern versions of a few recipes from this source, in the Saudi-Aramco Magazine, titled "Cooking with the Caliphs" ...and it's on-line: -- Back to Top --
(2.) 13th C. 'Abbasid
al-Kitab al-Tabikh (The Book of Dishes) This well-known Medieval Arabic-language cookbook is titled al-Kitab al-Tabikh (which means Book of Dishes or Cookery Book). It is perhaps better known in English as "A Baghdad Cookery Book" and in the SCA as "al-Baghdadi". This book was copied and recopied for at least three centuries, even into other languages, and often with additional recipes added by the transcribers or translators. It was the very first medieval Arabic cookbook to be translated into English, by scholar A.J. Arberry in the 1930s. The book was first transcribed into Arabic from the original by Iraqi scholar Daoud Chelebi. There were a number of scribal errors in the original and Chelebi attempted to correct them. There were also a number of unfamiliar words and phrases and Chelebi tried to rectify them into more familiar terms, in some cases, badly misunderstanding them. In translating Chelebi's transcription into English, Arberry made additional mistakes (hey, he was young, it was the 1930s, and this was the first Medieval Arabic language cookbook translated into English, so it's easy to understand his mistakes). Charles Perry went back to actual original Arabic manuscripts of the book, not a transcription, to make a new translation. This corrects many errors in Chelebi's transcription and Arberrys translation.
A Baghdad Cookery Book by Muhammad Ibn al-Hasan al-Baghdadi The NEW! IMPROVED! Toss out the old Arberry translation and wallow in this one.
Medieval Arab Cookery Among its contents is Arberry's translation along with *new footnotes* and *corrections* by Charles Perry, a scholar, food historian, and writer of a food column for the L.A. Times, pp. 19-89. Arberry did not use the original manuscript, but a transcription made by Arabic scholar, Daoud Chelebi. As Chelebi made the transcription, he made decisions about what to include and what to leave out. Apparently he left out some necessary information, which Perry did not know until he looked at the original manuscript, which he did after annotating this edition. For example, Chelebi and Arberry found a phrase "atraf al-tib" and didn't know what it meant. Arberry ended up concluding it was "blattes de Byzance" and made of some fragrant operculum (snail shell trap door) or else some sort of insect. In fact, "atraf al-tib" is called for in some of the other cookbooks, and one even includes a recipe for it. It turns out to be a blend of spices - no insects or snail shells. Since many people have copies of the original Arberry, but not the update, they still debate whether it's the snail operculum or some insect... -- Back to Top --
(3.) ca. 1243 Andalusi/MaghribiFadalat al-Khiwan fi Tayyibat al-ta'am wa'l-alwan (Highlights of the table, on the delights of food and different dishes)By Abu l-Hasan 'Ali ibn Muhammad ibn Abi l-Qasim ibn Muhammad ibn Abi Bakr ibn al-Andalusi Razin al-Tujibi The over 440 recipes appear to have been written between 1238 and 1266, that is between the capture of Valencia and the capture of Murca, an Andalusian province on the Mediterranean Sea, by the Spanish Christian Reconquista. In 1247-48, when Christian-Muslim relations became more hostile, ibn Raz?n al- Tuj?b? moved with his uncle to Ceuta on the North African coast, at that time a prosperous city and center of cultural and intellectual activity. The text was discovered, in its manuscript form in Morocco (at Ttouan in the 19th century). Thus it may have been known in Morocco, at Fs, at the time of the Merinids (13th - 15th centuries), especially since travel between the two shores of the Mediterranean was frequent. Muslim Andalusia and Morocco, under the Almoravid, Almohad, then Merinid dynasties were often been part of a same empire. The book, probably for a Andalusian royal court, survives in three incomplete manuscripts. The author is sometimes referred to in scholarly literature as "al-Razin", occasionally as "al-Tujibi". It has been translated into Spanish by Manuela Marín, where he is called al-Tugibi. This cookbook has not yet been published in English, but I have translated most of it. -- Back to Top --
(4.) mid-13th C. Maghribi and AndalusiKitab al-tabikh fi'l-Maghrib wa'l-Andalus fi `asr al-Muwahhidin, li-mu'allif mayhul (which means in part the Book of Dishes from the Magreb and al-Andalus from the Almohad period...)This book by an anonymous compiler/author contains recipes drawn from a number of works no longer surviving. The translation by Charles Perry (with additional notes by various SCAdians based on an earlier, often flawed, Spanish translation by Huici Miranda) is commonly known in the SCA as the Anonymous Andalusian Cookbook and is available on-line: http://www.daviddfriedman.com/Medieval/Cookbooks/Andalusian/andalusian_contents.htm I like being able to search the recipes by computer, so i downloaded the whole book from the above website. But I like having a hard-copy that i can carry around and read anywhere. So i purchased it from Duke Cariadoc as part of his amazingly low priced compendium of historical cookbooks - info on his website, above.
Some worked out recipes, written in persona, are by the persona formerly known as Joshua ibn-Eleazar ha-Shalib: -- Back to Top --
(5.) 1330 Mamlukal-Kitab Wusla ila l-habib fi wasf il-tayyibat wa l-tib (the Book of the Bonds of Friendship, on the description of foods and flavors)Originating in Aleppo in Syria, more manuscripts survive of this book than any other medieval Arabic-language cookbook. It includes over 630 recipes for food and perfumes and other scented products. It has been translated into English Scents and Flavors, a Syrian Cookbook Charles Perry New York University Press in 2017 in an affordable hardcover (I S B N 9 7 8 - 1 4 7 9 8 5 6 2 8 2 ) edition in 2020 in paperback (ISBN 978-1479800810) It has facing pages in Arabic and English. -- Back to Top --
(6.) 14th C. EgyptKanz al-fawa'id fi tanwi' al-mawa'idwritten anonymously in Mamluk-period Egypt, it does not greatly reflect what the Mamluk rulers ate, rather it shows what the non-Mamluk elite ate. It demonstrates regional cuisine: many of the 820 recipes are quite "international", identified as being from other countries or ethnic groups. Treasure Trove of Benefits and Variety at the Table: A Fourteenth-Century Egyptian Cookbook Nawal Nasrallah, translation, introduction, and glossary Leiden, the Netherlands: Koninklijke Brill NV, 2018 The expansive 56 page introduction by the translator provides useful information and insights into the book and the cuisine of the time and place. The author of the cookbook, whose identity is uncertain, gives a good deal of information about ingredients, cooking techniques, cleanliness, and more, in his first chapter, "Indispensable Instructions for Cooks". There follow the 23 chapters of the cookbook. And finally an extensive glossary and discussion of weights and measures added by Nasrallah. -- Back to Top --
(7.) 1373 Mamluk Egyptal-Kitab Wasf al-At'ima al-Mu'tada (The Book of the Description of Familiar Foods).This book, of which the earliest known version was copied in 1373 in Cairo, contains another version of al-Baghdadi, one that includes most of the recipes from the original, plus many more. It also includes a confectioner's manual, and a chapter from another book titled "Dishes for Invalids, and What Monks and Christians Eat in Lent". If you like to play with sugar, making candy and sweets, this is an excellent source of information. Additionally the Lenten recipes are quite tasty - i have cooked some when an SCA cooking list had a sort of Lenten cook-along. This book was also translated and introduced by Charles Perry and published in Medieval Arab Cookery, pp. 273-465. -- Back to Top --
(8.) 15th c. Damascus, Syriaal-Kitab al-Tibakha (The Book of the Cook or possibly The Book of the Female Cook)Presumed by ibn al-Mabrad or al-Mubarrad, this collection of 44 recipes is the only Arabic recipe manuscript to have survived from the whole 400 year period from the fifteenth to the early nineteenth centuries. These recipes are simple and use far fewer spices than the other cookbooks, so it was likely used by someone not of the elite.
Charles Perry's translation of the work appears in the volume: Medieval Arab Cookery. Essays and Translations. Ed. Charles Perry. Totnes, England: Prospect Books, 2001. Pp. 467-475.
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Hallelujah! Rejoice!! Prospect Books has republished the essential Medieval Arab Cookery in 2020 https://prospectbooks.co.uk/products-page/current-titles/medieval-arab-cookery/ It's not cheap, but it's a lot more affordable than trying to get a second-hand copy of the original printing for multiple hundred of $$. Medieval Arab Cookery A. J. Arberry, Maxime Rodinson, and Charles Perry. Devon UK : Prospect Books, 2001, 2006, 2020 ISBN 0-907325-91-2 Contains three cookbooks in translation: -- al-Kitab al-Tabikh (The Book of Dishes) by Muhammad ibn al-Hasan ibn Muhammad ibn Karim al-Katib al-Baghdadi, 1226; -- al-Kitab Wasf al-At'ima al-Mu'tada (The Description of Familiar Foods), 1373; -- al-Kitab al-Tibakha ("The Book of Cookery" or perhaps "The Book of the Female Cook"), 15th century. Also includes four very highly informative essays by Maxime Rodinson and eleven by Charles Perry. -- Back to Top --
Other Language Cookbooks(9.) 14th C. Turko-Mongol
Yin-shan Cheng-Yao (Proper and Essential Things for the Emperor's Food and Drink) The original was written for the Mongol Khan Tu-Temur and printed with wooden blocks in Chinese. Even though it was written in Chinese, there's little to no Chinese food in it. The author Hu Szu-Hui, despite his name, was of Western Sino-Turkic ancestry (many groups of Turkic people lived in or warred with China) and served as imperial dietary physician. He presented the book to the Qan (Khan) in 1330. It is a complete Turko-Mongol medicinal dietary book with recipes and most of the food is very Central Asian core-Turkic - and there are even some recipes based on those in al-Baghdadi. Available in hardcover and paperback. Not cheap, but invaluable.
A Soup for the Qan: A Translation and Study of Chinese Dietary Medicine of the Mongol Era as Seen in Hu Szu-Hui's "Yin-shan Cheng-Yao" Note that a paperback may also turn up in a search which is the earlier edition of 2000 from Routledge-Kegan Paul and in my searches it hasn't been any less expensive than the newer edition, so try to get the newer edition. -- Back to Top --
(10.) 15th C., 2nd quarter, OttomanMehmed ibn Mahmoud al-ShirvaniAt the request of Sultan Murad II, Shirvani translated into Eski Osmanli al-Baghdadi's cookbook, and then appended 86 Ottoman recipes. Shirvani, from the city of Shirvan, now in Azerbaijan, was a scholar as well as physician to the Sultan. Shirvani sometimes enhanced or altered al-Baghdadi's recipes to suit preparation in the kitchens of the Sultan's palace in Edirne. Previously scholars didn't quite agree on how many Ottoman recipes there were - Yerasimos said 82, and in an earlier paper (1985) scholar Gunay Kut said 77 - inserted into a translation into Eski Osmanlici (Old Ottoman Turkish) of al-Baghdadi's cookbook, by the translator. I have translated them into English and there are 86.
In French:
In modern Turkish:
Yerasimos was looking from some *real* Ottoman recipes, from before the 18th century when tomatoes and bell peppers, and other New World foods were added to Ottoman cuisine. He was looking through a Turkish language copy of al-Baghdadi in a modern Turkish library (the book was copied and re-copied for centuries), translated into Turkish in the late 15th century by Mehmed ibn Mahmoud Shirvani, from the city of Shirvan, now in Azerbaijan, but at times part of the Persian Empire and part of the Ottoman Empire. Yerasimos discovered that Shirvani had added 82 more recipes. This publication has only 23 of those 15th century Ottoman recipes. It also has one late 18th C. recipe, one mid-19th C. recipe, and one reconstructed recipe based on 16th century descriptions and modern recipes. NOTE: The Turkish edition, while in modern Turkish, has the original recipes in the original 15th c. Osmanli Turkish transliterated into the Roman alphabet. I translated the entire French into English.
15. Yüzyıl Osmanlı Mutfaǧı (15th Century Ottoman Cuisine) -- Back to Top --
(11.) 1521, Safavid PersiaKār-nāmeh dar bāb-e tabbākhī va sanat-e ān ("Manual on cooking and its craft") by Ḥājī Moḥammad-`Alī Bāvarčī Baǧdādī. This is the earlier of only two Persian cookbooks known from before the 19th century.22 chapters (23-26 are missing), each dealing with a particular type of group of food preparation, for a total of 135 recipes. written by the cook for an unnamed aristocratic family (possibly the court cook of Shah Isma'il, the first Safavid ruler). Recipes include measurements for ingredients, and often detailed directions for preparation of dishes, including types of utensils and pots to use, instructions for decorating and serving the finished dishes, and useful hints on how to achieve the best results. A Persian Cookbook: The Manual by Bavarchi Translated by Saman Hassibi & Amir Sayadabdi Devon UK : Prospect Books, 2018 ISBN -13: 978-1-909248-59-9 -- Back to Top --
(12.) 1594, PersiaMāddat al-ḥayāt, resāla dar `elm-e ṭabbākī ("The substance of life, a treatise on the art of cooking") by Nūr-Allāh, chef to Shah `Abbas I. This is the later of only two Persian cookbooks known from before the 19th century.Six chapters: four on rice dishes, one on qalya (stewed meat dishes), and one on aash (thick soups). Measurements are rarely given and directions are not usually detailed. written by the chef to Shah Abbas I. Includes references to a few dishes that had been created or improved by the shahs themselves; other contemporary cooks and their specialties are also mentioned. Dining at the Safavid Court: 16th Century Royal Persian Recipes by M. R. Ghanoonparvar Mazda Pub. 2017 ISBN-13: 978-1568593067 A translation of Nurollah's book, plus worked out versions of nearly all recipes. However there are a number of editorial problems. For example, on one page all footnotes are numbered 1, although there is more than one footnote. Some recipes are not easy to find in the verbiage, and in my opinion would have been better served if their titles had been set in bold or italic type. In the section of worked out recipe, one has lime in the title, but the lime has been left out of the recipe. There are quite a few more such issues. However, it is well worth having for the recipe translations. -- Back to Top --
(13.) late 15th-early 16th C. Persian, Moghul, and IndianThe Ni'matnama Manuscript of the Sultans of ManduA late 15th and early 16th C. Moghul recipe and medicinal book, written in Urdu. There is only one known copy of this book in existence, in the Oriental and India Office Collections of the British Library (BL. Persian 149). It's illustrated with fifty miniatures, the first few painted in a distinctive Shiraz (Southern Iranian) style by imported Persian artists, but increasingly the later illustrations show the indigenous styles of book painting from Central and Western India. The book was compiled between 1495 and 1505. It contains recipes for food, betel, medicinals, aphrodisiacs, perfumes, and more, written for Ghiyath Shahi, Sultan of Mandu (now Madhya Pradesh), from 1469-1500, and continued by his successor, his son Nasir Shah. It reflects Moghul culture that was highly influenced by Persia.
It is available in English as: This scholarly publication includes a complete translation with notes and a complete reproduction of the original book in photographic plates. Because of the color plates, it costs over $100 US, so i recommend ILL'ing it, too. -- Back to Top --
(14.) Late 16th C. Persian, Moghul, and Indian
Ain-i Akbari, part of the Akbarnamah Ain-i Akbari, the third volume of the Akbarnamah, was written by Shaikh Abu al-Fazl 'Allami ibn Mubarak, who was Akbar's minister and friend. It was written in Persian. This volume in particular is an account of Mughal India, especially Akbar's court, in the late 16th Century. It contains information regarding Akbar's reign. Apparently it isn't always completely accurate, but it helps in understanding its time. It catalogues facts for which, in modern times, we would turn to administration reports, statistical compilations, or gazetteers. It is essentially the Administration Report and Statistical Return of his government in about 1590 CE. Volume 1 has several sections on foodstuffs, including market price lists as well as recipes. The translation into English by H. Blochmann 1873, and completed by Colonel H. S. Jarrett in 1907, has been made available on-line by The Packard Humanities Institute. Here's the index for Volume 1 (of 3) of the Ain-i Akbari, which has the section with recipes, as well as other sections that have food info... https://persian.packhum.org/main?url=pf%3Ffile%3D00702051%26ct%3D0 For food, look in Volume One, and scroll down for chapters: 23. The Imperial Kitchen24. Recipes For Dishes 25. Of Bread 26. The Days of Abstinence 27. Statistics of the Prices of Certain Articles The spring harvest The autumnal harvest Vegetables, Living animals and meats Butter, Sugar, &c. Spices Pickles 28. The Fruitery Turani fruits The sweet fruits of Hindustan Dried fruits Vegetables Sour fruits Sour fruits somewhat acid 29. On Flavours His Grace, Duke Cariadoc, has worked out four of the recipes: for Bread; for Sag, a spinach dish; Qutab or Sanbusa, like modern meat Samosa; and Khichri, sometimes called kedgeree, a dish of rice and mung dal. They can be found on http://www.daviddfriedman.com/Medieval/Recipes_Done.html -- Back to Top --
(15.) 17th C. Persian, Moghul, and Indian
The Mughal Feast: Recipes from the Kitchen of Emperor Shah Jahan: A Transcreation of Nuskha-e-Shahjahani The Mughal Feast includes all the recipes for food Unfortunately, the author gives only a scantily historical introduction, one that raises more questions than it answers, in which she never mentions the provenance or even date of the actual manuscript, although she does state that it is written in Persian.
I think i have tracked down which mnucript it is Indian cookbooks in the Persian language which come from the Mughal period. Nosh-ye Shah-Jahani, written during the reign of Mughal Emperor Shah-Jahan (Shah) (1628-1657) (Storey 11 / 3, p. 393, No. 661/22), documents the Indian royal kitchen of what is now called the North Indian Mughal cuisine, in which Iranian models and roots in the Safavid era were still clearly visible.
I just wish the Husain's books had two things: -- Back to Top --
Secondary Sources with Arabic-Language Recipes and InformationMedieval Cuisine of the Islamic WorldLilia Zaouali. Translated by M. B. DeBoise. With introduction and notes by Charles Perry. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2007. ISBN-13: 978-0-52026-174-7 A French work published in Italian in 2004 and in English in 2007. Interesting Foreword by Charles Perry. Part 2 contains 143 recipes from "The Medieval Tradition" drawn from four medieval Arabic texts: Kitâb al-Tabîkh by ibn Sayyar al-Warraq, 9-10 c. (Baghdad) Kitâb Wusla ila'l-habib fi wasf al-tayyabat wa'l-tib, early 13 c. (Syria) Kitâb Fadalat al- khiwan fi tayyibat al-ta'am w'al-alwan by ibn Razin al-Tujibi, 2nd quarter 13 c. (al-Andalus) Kanz al-fawa'id fi tanwi' al-mawa'id, 14 c. (Egypt) Note that these are recipes in their original form, not worked-out as modern recipes. Part 3 contains recipes from "Contemporary North African Cuisine" which Zaouali thinks reflect medieval traditions - they are tasty, but don't use these for SCA feasts. Recommended for Part 2. Scheherazade's Feasts : Foods of the Medieval Arab World Leila Salloum Elias, Muna Salloum, and Habeeb Salloum Philadelphia : University of Pennsylvania Press, 2013 ISBN-13: 978-0-8122-4477-9 Recipes translated by the authors from seven medieval Arabic-language cookbooks - six available in English: Kitâb al-Tabîkh by ibn Sayyar al-Warraq, 9-10 c. (Baghdad) Kitâb al-Tabîkh by al-Baghdadi - 1226 (Baghdad) an anonymous Andalusian cookbook, 13 c. (al-Andalus) Kitâb Wusla ila'l-habib fi wasf al-tayyabat wa'l-tib, early 13 c. (Syria) Kanz al-fawa'id fi tanwi' al-mawa'id, 14 c. (Egypt) Book of Cookery or Book of the Female Cook by ibn Mabrad or Mubarrad, 15 c. (Syria) And one not yet fully translated into English: Kitâb Fadalat al- khiwan fi tayyibat al-ta'am w'al-alwan by ibn Razin al-Tujibi, 2nd quarter 13 c. (al-Andalus) Each translation is followed by a modern worked-out recipe. Some of the modern recipes replace wheat starch, which i've found in Middle Eastern and South Asian markets, with cornstarch, well out of SCA-period. A few other items from the world of modern Arabic sweets are also used. Still the authors' knowledge of the preparation of modern sweets informs their interpretations in ways that can truly help people unfamiliar with traditional sweets in the Near and Middle East in making them. Recommended. The Sweets of Araby: Enchanting Recipes from the Tales of the 1,001 Arabian Nights Leila Salloum Elias and Muna Salloum. Woodstock, VT : Countryman Press, 2011. ISBN-13: 978-0-88150-929-8 Includes a limited number of tales from the Arabian Nights, each with an accompanying recipe. This book is less ambitious than Sweet Delights from a Thousand and One Nights with fewer recipes, but still useful because there are no redundancies between them. For more information see description of Scheherazade's Feasts. Sweet Delights from a Thousand and One Nights: the Story of Traditional Arab Sweets Leila Salloum Elias, Muna Salloum, and Habeeb Salloum London, UK : I.B. Tauris, 2013 ISBN-13: 978-1-78076-464-1 Sweets recipes translated from seven medieval Arabic-language cookbooks. See above for details. Recommended. -- Back to Top --
Worked Out Recipes in Modern FormFor "worked out" recipes, here are a few links to some reliable versions. Duke Cariadoc of the Bow
Cariadoc has worked out many recipes from al-Baghdadi and the Andalusian cookbook. They can be found at: and on Gregory Blunt's site:
Joshua ibn-Eleazar ha-Shalib, now known as John Elys
Some Recipes of al-Andalus Urtatim al-Qurtubiyya
I've worked out a few recipes, too, which are linked in: |