two medieval Islamic desserts

[ursula]

Here are two desserts from the An Tir/ West War cooks' dinner. Translations of the original recipes are found in Medieval Cuisine of the Islamic World by Lilia Zaouali, translated by M.B. DeBevoise.

Dates with Honey
From a thirteenth-century recipe collection probably compiled in Egypt.

Take some dates, remove their stems, and dry and decorticate them. Blanch some almonds and substitute one for each pit [that has been removed]. Cook some honey to make a syrup and immerse the dates in it. Leave over a low fire and, when the honey has thickened, add all the flavorings and remove from the fire.

Notes

I used about a pound of dates and a cup of honey. I pitted the dates and substituted almonds for the pits. Since my almonds were small and my dates were large, I ended up using two almonds for each date. I simmered the honey for a while, then added the dates, reduced the heat, and cooked for a while longer. The flavorings aren't specified here; Zouali includes another recipe from the same Egyptian collection for carrot jam which says, "Mix in seasonings chosen from among pepper, ginger, cardamom, cinnamon, cubeb, spikenard, mace, galangal, aloe wood, saffron, and musk." Using this as my guide for flavoring options, I added around a half-teaspoon each of cinnamon and ginger when the dates were done cooking. Another time, I might try pepper, galangal, mace, or more ginger.

Fried Bananas
From a thirteenth-century recipe collection probably compiled in Syria.

The bananas are fried and immersed in a thick syrup in which there are pistachios.

Notes

I made a syrup using about a cup each of sugar and water. Then I dumped in about half a package of Trader Joe's roasted, unsalted, shelled pistachios (this would be around 4 ounces), and allowed the syrup to cool. I peeled a bunch of organic bananas, cut each banana in half, then cut each half in half again lengthwise. I poured a sizeable dollop of un-toasted sesame oil into a pan, fried the bananas until lightly browned on both sides, and allowed them to cool slightly on a clean rag. Then I piled the bananas in a shallow bowl and poured most of the pistachio syrup on top. Another time, I might add a pinch of salt.

cross-posted from leftcoastfood