Scents and Flavors : A Syrian Cookbook / Charles Perry.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Perry, Charles, Editor.

Series:

Library of Arabic literature.

Library of Arabic Literature ; 47

Language:

Arabic

English

Subjects (All):

Cooking, Syrian.

Genre:

Cookbooks.

Electronic books.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (311 pages).

Place of Publication:

New York, NY : New York University Press, [2017]

Language Note:

Arabic and English.

Summary:

Collecting 635 meticulous recipes, Scents and Flavors invites us to savor an inventive cuisine that elevates simple ingredients by combining the sundry aromas of herbs, spices, fruits, and flower essences. This popular thirteenth-century Syrian cookbook is an ode to what its anonymous author calls the “greater part of the pleasure of this life,” namely the consumption of food and drink, as well as the fragrances that garnish the meals and the diners who enjoy them. Organized like a meal, it opens with appetizers and juices and proceeds through main courses, side dishes, and desserts, including such confections as candies based on the higher densities of sugar syrup—an innovation unique to the medieval Arab world. Apricot beverages, stuffed eggplant, pistachio chicken, coriander stew, melon crepes, and almond pudding are seasoned with nutmeg, rose, cloves, saffron, and the occasional rare ingredient like ambergris to delight and surprise the banqueter. Bookended by chapters on preparatory perfumes, incenses, medicinal oils, antiperspirant powders, and after-meal hand soaps, this comprehensive culinary journey is a feast for all the senses. With the exception of four extant Babylonian and Roman specimens, cookbooks did not appear on the world literary scene until Arabic speakers began compiling their recipe collections in the tenth century, peaking in popularity in the thirteenth century. Scents and Flavors quickly became a bestseller during this golden age of cookbooks, and remains today a delectable read for epicures and cultural historians alike.

Contents:

Frontmatter

Letter from the General Editor

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments

Introduction

Note on the Text

Notes to the Introduction

Chapter 1: Perfume

Chapter 2: Beverages

Chapter 3: How to Make Various Kinds of Fruit Juices and Treat Them, How to Distill Vinegar

Chapter 4: How to Melt the Several Varieties of Tail Fat

Chapter 5: Chicken Dishes—Sweet, Sour, and Other Varieties

Chapter 6: Sautés and Related Dishes

Chapter 7: The Many Kinds of Sweets, Baked Goods, and the Like

Chapter 8: How to Make the Various Types of Sour and Salty Pickles

Chapter 9: On Hand-washing Powders and Perfumed Soaps

Chapter 10: On Distilling Waters and Perfuming the Breath

Notes

Glossary

Weights and Measures

Bibliography

Index

About the NYU Abu Dhabi Institute

About the Typefaces

Titles Published by the Library of Arabic Literature

About the Editor–Translator

Notes:

Includes original Arabic and English translation of the 13th-century Arab cookbook Kitab al-wusla ila al-habib.

Includes bibliographical references.

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 08. Jun 2020)

Contains:

Kitab al-wusla ila al-habib.

Kitab al-wusla ila al-habib. English.

ISBN:

1-4798-1772-4

OCLC:

1076684799