Food sanitation in ancient cookbook

[yakima]

This is aimed directly at fzxdoc and SheilaAnn, doyennes herein of food safety and cookbooks. (They could be mavens too, but I am branching out.)
Peter Frankopan, Oxford history professor, has written an incredibly documented book reviewing the impact of climate on the earth over millions of years. 658 pages. About 3 out of four sentences have a footnote. 213 additional pages of footnotes. The Earth Transformed, An Untold History.

At page 246, he references a Bagdadi cookbook, "Annals of the Caliphs' Kitchens: Ibn Sayyar Al-Warrraqs's Tenth-Century Baghdadi Cookbook. I quote Frankopan:

"Do not be fooled into thinking that the wealthy have different food to normal people, warned the author of one Baghdadi cookbook. The difference in flavour and experience was down to the meticulous cleanliness of the ingredients--as well of the pots in which they were cooked. It was important, therefore, to have good hygiene practices in the kitchen, including having separate knives and chopping boards for meat and for vegetables and to use good quality materials for hand washing....Some gourmands were dismissive about vegetarianism, claiming that dishes made only of vegetables were a fraud, often being presented to look like meat but tasting nothing like it. 'Trifling vegetable dishes are not for me,' wrote one poet in protest; 'where is my kebab? Where are the fried dishes? The succulent roasts and the spiced meat? Bring them on!' ."

Pretty modern sounding.
And this may be the oldest cook book referenced in the Pit.

[ItsAllGoneToTheDogs]

I would caution that cleanliness in some cultures when it comes to food is possibly a translation issue referring to Kosher, Hallal, etc type preparation requirements...

Now obviously this appears to reference the cookware as well which would lead me to believe it DOES mean actual cleanliness but it could also still reference religious/cultural requirements?

I might be off the mark, and regardless I'm interested in the conversation that follows.

[SheilaAnn]

The first thing that came to mind is the president of my culinary historians club and former food editor do the la times. Mr. Perry is also an expert of ancient middle eastern cuisine, having translated several times and travels there often.

I will be emailing him right away about this.

(Stepping up on the comical soapbox) see, vegans and vegetarians, even back then nobody wanted fake meat! 🤪🤪🤪

I agree with ItsAllGoneToTheDogs regarding religion and customs. But who knows…. Maybe things were cleaner than we think…. Stay tuned!

[ItsAllGoneToTheDogs]

in fairness, a lot of those customary/religious food prep practices do lead to actual cleanliness (not using the same tools/cookware to cook certain foods etc is really good food safety practice) and if you aren't religious you can just pretend the religious figure who has to bless or prep the food is just a food inspector or something I guess, but required or at least random inspections like that are key to consistent hygienic practices. Interested to hear what Mr Perry has to say.

[smokenoob]

I could live on Ahi tuna and portobello mushrooms…..jus sayin’ 😁

[Michael_in_TX]

'Trifling vegetable dishes are not for me,' wrote one poet in protest; 'where is my kebab? Where are the fried dishes? The succulent roasts and the spiced meat? Bring them on!'

I am soooooo uttering this at my next dinner party.

[STEbbq]

Where are the FRIED dishes? The SUCCULENT roasts and the SPIIIIIIICED meats? BRING THEM ON!

That would be extra well received IMO.

[SheilaAnn]

STEbbq reading your reply reminded me of Charlie Brown thanksgiving.

"What kind of Thanksgiving dinner is this? Where's the turkey, Chuck? Don't you know anything about Thanksgiving dinners? Where's the mashed potatoes? Where's the cranberry sauce? Where's the pumpkin pie?" — Peppermint Patty

[yakima]

Calm down. Sanitation in the 900's was a lot different than 1.300 years later. We have super clean water, soaps, etc. Somehow a bunch of us made it thru the interim.

[yakima]

For context, the Muslim Caliphate was very large at the time this cookbook covers. So presumably Halal rules re food and its preparation were dominant. As I understand it Halal identifies permissible foods, details animal harvest procedures, and prohibits cross contamination during preparation. E.G. an Halal food prepared in a dish which previously held a Haram (prohibited) item would become Haram. I don't know if the text reference to meat/vegetable cross contamination is Halal based, or was just considered good practice.

[yakima]

#SheilaAnn, is there a prize for post re oldest cookbook?

[SheilaAnn]

Hey y’all… here’s what Mr. Perry replied with:


To clarify, it was not a case of "some gourmands" dismissing vegetarian food as fraudulent. The term muzawwar meant "falsified" and referred to the sort of dishes that were made to resemble something else, such as faux bone marrow made of eggs etc., but it was also the term for vegetarian dishes. Specifically, muzawwarat were the meatless dishes that Christians ate during Lent. The ambiguity apparently did not bother people, context would have indicated which sense was meant.


The idea that meatless dishes are not quite the thing still current in the Middle East. In Turkish, dolma means a grape leaf (or the like) filled with meat, and yalanci dolma ("counterfeit dolma") is one with a vegetarian filling.


But I agree with the point that sanitary kitchen practices were insisted on in good households. Also, diners had to wash their hands after as well as before the meal.