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

introduction 37
to keep on cooking over a prolonged time. 103 K§nån ‏(إسفيذباجة خضراء)‏
bajl§n was another type of slow-burning brazier. It might have been
called bajl§n either because it was made of clay, which, compared with
metal, would allow for slow cooking. In this case, the name derives
from bajal ‘clay.’ There is also the possibility that the name derives from
bijla ‘bottle of oil’ (Steingass). In this case, we may assume that fuel
used for this stove was zayt al-waqåd الوقود)‏ ‏(زيت fuel oil, which ignites
much faster than coal, and hence the name k§nån bajl§n ‘a brazier that
ignites quickly.’ 104
On such stoves, most of the Abbasid dishes were cooked and the
fuel used was mostly firewood and coal. When firewood was used,
the non-smoking varieties were preferred. Otherwise smoke would be
blown back to the pot and spoil its flavor. Food was cooked in different
degrees of heat. High heat required waqÊd ê9adÊd; medium heat, waqÊd
mubtadil; and low heat, waqÊd layyin. A strong fire was described as having
tongues. 105 When the stew got to the last stage, the directions were to
stop fueling the fire to allow the food to simmer gently and the fat to
separate and rise to the surface. 106 Such directions as removing the
fire and letting the pot settle in the remaining heat indicated that the
fuel was put in moveable containers. 107 To keep the food clean while
cooking and prevent flies from falling into it after it has been cooked,
the pots were kept covered with their own lids and the serving bowls
were carried to the table covered, too.
Such a demanding and ambitious cuisine prompted the Abbasid
cooks to be inventive in devising their own implements and techniques.
A water-bath pot was called for to cook a delicate cake batter high
in egg content (Chapter 100). It was made by taking a big pot, and
arranging in its bottom some cane leaves. The cake pan was put inside
it, and water was poured in the big pot. A low-heat fire was started
underneath the big pot so that it boiled gently with its tight lid on.
When slow cooking was required, as in preparing m§a al-ê9abÊr ‘barley
broth,’ a double boiler was devised by putting the pot with crushed
barley and water in another pot that had water in it (Chapter 108).
To prepare simulated bone marrow muÕ9 muzawwar, spleen and
103
For details, see Glossary, Section 10.1, s.v. mustawqad, k§nån, n§fiÕ9 nafsihi.
104
See Glossary, Section 10.1 for more details on the stove.
105
Alsina (sing. lis§n), as in the Istanbul MS (fol. 158v).
106
Described as ‘the pot throws up its fat’ yaqù9ifu duhnahu.
107
As in Chapter 76, where the fire is removed and replaced with burning coals
to allow for slow simmering.