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

introduction 25
culinary sources none of which has survived the ravages of time. 70 As
such, it indeed stands as a tangible testimony to the vibrant Arabic
culinary culture, which we see exemplified only in anecdotes and
gastronomic poetry in historical and literary sources. Al-MasbådÊ in
Muråj al-∙9ahab, for instance, tells of an unusually extravagant dish
of fish tongues—150 tongues to be exact—which Ibn al-MahdÊ, the
Abbasid gourmet prince, prepared for his half brother 0§rån al-
Raê9Êd (510). Thanks to al-Warr§q, we now know this exquisite dish
was in fact a variety of samak qarÊs ‘fish aspic’ (Chapter 33).
With the exception of al-Warr§q’s volume, the culinary books
and manuals mentioned above were essentially cook’s books. They
were cooking guides written to document a cuisine, be it personal or
regional, executed by individuals who were not necessarily professional
chefs themselves, but felt strongly about cooking, and had the
urge to pass on their experience to others. They come in different
lengths, ranging from few pages to full volumes. Some are neatly
divided into chapters based on food categories or ingredients such as
Kit§b al-Wußla il§ ’l-0abÊb, Kanz al-Faw§aid and Fi'§lat al-ö9iw§n, and
others show lack of organization, and follow the twists and turns of
their creators’ whims such as Anw§b al--aydala. Some recipes are coherent
and complete while others laconic and sketchy. All the same,
as cookbooks coming down to us from the Middle Ages, they are all
indisputably valuable gastronomic resources for recipes which, taken
together, will help give us a more comprehensive concept of the medieval
Arab cuisine in the eastern and western Islamic regions.
Al-Warr§q’s cookbook is also unique as the first and only document
that covers the haute cuisine of the Abbasid era from the last
quarter of the eighth century, through the ninth, and up to the early
years of the second half of the tenth century. It also strikes us as the
most complete and comprehensive, thoughtfully managed in form
and content. Within the course of generally well-written 615 recipes,
he incorporates more than one hundred people and mines more
than twenty cookbooks written by or for caliphs, princes, physicians,
prominent political and literary figures, professionals, and the like,
not to mention eighty-six gastronomic poems and scores of amusing
anecdotes.
70
See Section IV above, on sources. Based on a statement by MuÈammad bin
à9aqrån, editor of Fi'§lat al-ö9iw§n, an extant copy of the manuscript of Ibr§hÊm
bin al-MahdÊ’s cookbook does exist, and is privately owned (9, n. 2).