Nawal Nasrallah - Annals of the Caliphs' Kitchens_ Ibn Sayyar al-Warraq's Tenth-century Baghdadi Cookbook-BRILL (2007)

introduction 21
prominent gastronomic figure, whose cookbook(s) and verses, many
of which were on food and hunting, enjoyed wide circulation. 55
IV.5 Another source for locating medieval cooks and cookbooks is
the augmented Istanbul manuscript of al-Warr§q’s cookbook, copied
غانم)‏ in 1297. It introduces ó9§nim bin bAbdul RaÈm§n al-Quraê9Ê
‘sausage.’ 56 mentioned for his laq§niq recipe ‏,(بن عبد الرحمن القرشي
A recipe for zÊrb§ja stew is attributed to Biê9r al-ö9§dim, the personal
cook of the gastronomic poet Kuê9§jim, who wrote poems on
his excellent cooking. 57
About five places in the Istanbul manuscript a cookbook entitled
Kit§b al-AãbiÕ9a ‘the book of dishes’ is cited. Most of its recipes are
uncredited (e.g. fols. 128r, 165r). However, there are instances where
names are given such as Abå Dulaf دلف)‏ ‏,(أبو the prominent Abbasid
figure, poet, and military leader. A stew cooked with fruits is said to
be his invention abdabahu أبدعه (fols. 146v) and a dipping sauce ßib§ÿ9
is made by him (fol. 218r). A recipe for ãafê9Êla, a porridge-like dish
إبن)‏ with beans and vegetables (fol. 219r), is ascribed to Ibn B§na
the famous singer, musician, poet, and boon companion. Like ‏,(بانة
al-Warr§q’s cookbook, Kit§b al-AãbiÕ9a seems to have been a compilation
of recipes. At some places where it is mentioned, we come
across recipes identical with al-Warr§q’s. For instance, the section
entitled ‘•afê9il§t from Kit§b al-AãbiÕ9a’ (fols. 219r–221r) contains four
recipes. One of them is identical with al-Warr§q’s (Chapter 66). A
section on cold chicken dishes in the Istanbul manuscript said to be
from Kit§b al-AãbiÕ9a (fols. 128r–30r) contains five recipes identical
with al-Warr§q’s, in addition to some new ones. The question of who
scooped from whom or whether both al-Warr§q and author/compil-
55
Al-ó9az§lÊ (d. 1111), in his section on bakers, cooks, and butchers in Sirr
كتب الطبائخ)‏ al-b$lamayn (8), recommends that cooks consult Kuê9§jim’s cookbooks
(http:// Ibn à9§kir al-KutubÊ (d. 1362) mentions him in Faw§t al-Wafay§t ‏.(لكشاجم
www.alwaraq.net) 456.
56
As the nickname suggests, he was a descendent of the Arab tribe of Qurayê9,
and might have been related (son?) to Abå ó9§nim al-Quraê9Ê, relative of the
Umayyad Caliph Sulaym§n bin bAbd al-Malik (mentioned in al-Warr§q’s book,
(503)).
57
Sulaym§ MaÈjåb and Durriyya al-ö9aãÊb, eds., Al-Wußla il§ ’l-0abÊb fÊ Waßf al-
•ayyib§t wa ’l-•Êb by Kam§l al-DÊn Ibn al-bAdÊm, 2 vols (Aleppo: Mabhad al-Tur§ï9
al-bIlmÊ al-bArabÊ, 1986) 1: 243.