Thanksgiving, with mastic

[ursula]

glasseye, our friend L., and I had a quiet Thanksgiving, in which we ate baked goods (pumpkin rolls from L., ginger parsnip cake courtesy of a link from kaberett, and mushroom turnovers) and Brussels sprouts and a medieval Andalusian lamb dish, and then watched glasseye play the Untitled Goose Game.



A while ago, I wrote a story for vass that involved the apocryphal legend of Susannah. I got wrapped up in trying to write an evocative sentence about the mastic tree, because that's the sort of thing that happens when you're writing historical fiction. Since I had invested all that mental effort, I also bought some mastic. It's crystallized sap that smells like high-pitched, sour pine:



Today I finally cooked with some of it! I chose a recipe from Andalusia, translated by Charles Perry and indexed on Medieval Cookery:

Dish of Meat with Walnuts and Mastic. Cut up the meat, after boiling it, and put with it half a dirham of mastic, pepper, cinnamon, lavender, garlic, rue, a little vinegar, oil, salt, whole onions, head (and) greens (or: whole green onions) and a little water. When you have done this, pound walnuts smoothly and pulverize them until they are white and thickened and throw into the pot and stir until they give out their oil and serve on walnut leaves; cover the contents of the pot with an egg and pour it out, sprinkle with pepper and spices and serve it, God willing.

My variant uses lots of modern time-saving appliances. It omits the lavender and rue because I didn't have any, and omits the egg due to a personal dietary restriction. Here's the way I would do it, next time:


Cook two pounds of cubed stew lamb and 3-4 cups of water in the "meat stew" setting of a pressure cooker for 40 minutes. Release the steam and pour off the liquid (this is nice lamb stock that can be frozen for future use!) Rinse the meat in cold water. Put it in a pot or deep skillet on the stove, along with:

• A large pinch of salt
  
• Cracked or ground black pepper
  
• Approximately 3/8 tsp. powdered mastic (about three crystals, pulverized in a spice grinder--mastic grinds to dust almost immediately)
  
• 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
  
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
  
• 1/2 onion, minced (or use green onions, in season)
  
• 1/8 cup (2 tbsp.) champagne vinegar
  
• 1 tbsp. untoasted sesame oil
  
• 1 cup water
  

Bring to a boil and then simmer on medium-low heat for half an hour to 45 minutes to cook the onion and blend the flavors. Add a splash or two of water if the mixture starts to seem dry. Meanwhile, use a food processor to grind a cup and a half of walnuts. When the simmering is done, taste the lamb and add salt if it seems bland or a spoonful of honey if it seems too sour. Stir in the powdered walnuts. The mixture will quickly thicken, lighten, and become smooth.


This time I used 1/4 cup of champagne vinegar and then back-sweetened with a tablespoon of honey because the vinegar seemed too intense, even after simmering for quite a while. The result was very tasty, and it's a plausible medieval technique, but I prefer sticking closer to medieval recipe ingredients when I can.

This is good hot, but actually even better when it cools off a bit and the flavor of the walnuts comes through. I used to love a Persian spread for crackers made from walnuts and feta, and this has a very similar flavor profile. The sweet and sour combination means that it's also good with cranberry sauce!

Comments

[karalee]

This looks so good! Happy Thanksgiving :)

[ursula]

Thank you! Happy post-Thanksgiving!

[isis]

More recipes should end with "...and serve it, God willing."

[ursula]

It is an important caveat!

Nice icon!

[yhlee]

Happy belated Thanksgiving! :D

[ursula]

Happy black Friday to you, too!