It is a dish that regulates the humors; its nutritive power is praised, it is good for the stomach and liver; it combines the advantages of the meat and vinegar stew sikbâ ja[11] and of that of sour milk salîqa. Among its virtues is what was told of it to the sheikhs of Baghdad by him who followed Hanin ibn Ishaq; he said "I was accompanying Hanin one day until his meeting a man of the people, to whom he said, 'Oh! You came to me and you described the case of a sick woman in your house; then I didn't see you. What has been the cause of your delay, since I have not ceased to worry about you?' He replied, 'I came to you, my lord, and I described to you my mother's sickness. You advised me that she should eat zî rbâja; I got it and she was cured of her illness, and I didn't want to return and worry you. May God reward you.' Hanin said, 'This is a neutral dish [viz. one that does not stimulate any of the four humors in particular] and it is the sikanjabî n [name of a sweet-sour drink] of dishes.' Others say, 'It is the apple of the kitchen, there is no harm in it at all.'"
Take a young, cleaned hen and put it in a pot with a little salt, pepper, coriander, cinnamon, saffron and sufficient of vinegar and fresh oil, and when the meat is cooked, take peeled, crushed almonds and good white sugar, four ûqiyas of each; dissolve them in rosewater, pour in the pot and let it boil; then leave it on the embers until the fat rises. It is the most nutritious of dishes and good for all temperaments; this dish is made with hens or pigeons or doves, or with the meat of a young lamb.
Get a young hen or young pigeons or doves. Clean as many of these as you have, split their breasts and put them in the pot with salt, a little onion, pepper, coriander and fresh oil; cook until it is seasoned and then thicken it like dough with almonds, peeled and ground, dissolved in rosewater; then leave it over the hearthstone and squeeze into it the juice of two or three lemons (lî ma), depending on the degree of acidity desired, and dissolve with some camphor dissolved in rosewater. And do not squeeze the lemons at cooking-time, for this will make it bitter, but rather after putting it on the hearthstone. And leave it a while.
Make it with a chicken or meat of a goose or young pigeons. Take what you have of this, cleaned, and place it whole in a pot, as it is, the breast split, with salt, oil, a little onion, pepper and coriander; cook it halfway, take it out and put it in another pot and pour into it the clear part of the sauce, murri naqî', saffron, lavender, some citron leaves and thyme; put into the fowl two or three striped lemons and sprinkle them with peeled, split almonds; cover the mouth of the pot with dough and place it in the oven, and leave until it is ready, and serve it: it is very nutritious and proper for moist stomachs.
Take a cleaned, cut-up hen; put it in a pot with salt, a little onion, pepper and coriander and cook it halfway. Then take it out and remove the meat of the breast and the thighs and pound it gently, like meatballs; add to it lavender, Chinese cinnamon and pepper; beat with some egg and "starch" [yunashshâ] the breast and legs with this, and seal with it all the parts of the chicken; then fry it in a frying pan with fresh oil until it is browned; then return it to the pot and add vinegar, oil, and a very little bit of murri, saffron, pepper and lavender, and sprinkle it with split almonds and cover the pot with plenty of beaten egg, as much as is proper. Put on it whole egg yolks and take it down to the hearthstone, leave it there a while, and use it. It is also made in a frying pan, and it comes out supremely excellent.
It is one of the dishes of Africa and the country of Egypt. Take a cleaned hen, cut it up with what is mentioned for zî rabâja, and when it is done, add "cow's eyes" [prunes] infused in vinegar and oil, and also jujubes and split almonds, and you might make it thickened it with peeled, pounded almonds.
Take a fat, cleaned hen. Cut it up and put it in a pot with salt, an onion, dry coriander, pepper, saffron, vinegar and some murri naqî' and split peeled almonds. Cook it until it is done. Then cover it with beaten egg, much saffron, lavender and Chinese cinnamon. Then remove the fire from under it and put on the pot lid and build a fire (there) until its upper part browns, and keep the bottom from the heat.[14] It is called ja'fariyya because of the quantity of saffron it has. It looks like ja'fari gold [the purest grade of gold]. It is also said that a certain Ja'far invented it and called it by his name.
Take a cleaned chicken and remove the neck, leaving it whole and not cutting it up. Cook white tafaya and when it is done, take it out of the pot and leave it aside until it is dry. Then take three ratls of white sugar and dissolve it in rosewater and cook syrup of julep (sharâb al-jullâb) from it in a kettle, and perfume it with lavender, Chinese cinnamon, cloves, and ginger. When it is thick, cut it with some musk and camphor dissolved in good rosewater. Then put in the chicken already spoken of and cover it so the julep fills it and thickens on it. Then remove the kettle and leave it until the syrup of julep [sharâb mujallab; literally, "juleped syrup"] thickens on the sides of the chicken and becomes thoroughly cooked, as if it were a citron. When it is completed according to this recipe [or description], put it on a damascene dish [? bâ qiya] and present it with a complete range of garnishes.
Take a very plump hen and put it in a pot with pepper, coriander, cinnamon, lavender, vinegar, a little murri naqî', plenty of oil, and five spoonfuls of rose syrup. Put it on a moderate charcoal fire and cook it until the chicken is done and its broth comes out; then remove it and set it aside. Then take tender, pounded meat, pounded peeled almonds, ten eggs, cilantro juice, juice of a pounded onion, lavender, ginger, cinnamon, saffron, oil, rosepetal jam and split almonds, beat this all together and cover the pot with this after adding meatballs made for it. Dot this with ten or more whole eggyolks and then put the pot in the oven and leave it until it is bound. Take it out and let it cool a little and use it. And if you wish you may make it in a tajine.
Take as many plump small birds as you will, clean them, sprinkle them with ground salt, and fry them in a frying pan with fresh oil until they are browned. Then put them in a pot with pepper, cumin, vinegar, and some murri naqî' and cilantro juice until they are done. Then cover them with egg beaten with saffron and cinnamon.
Take what you have of these and fry them in a frying pan with plenty of oil until they are browned. Then pound tender meat and peeled almonds very well and put them in a dish. Add coriander, pepper, cinnamon, lavender and sufficient oil and egg; beat all this until the meat and almonds come apart, and moisten it with a spoonful of cilantro juice and a little mint juice. Put all this in the pot and place the fried pigeons into it, put the lid on the pot and place it in the oven. When it is thickened and has reached readiness, take it out and present it. He who wants this dish mudhakkar may add vinegar and murri, as may be, and cumin, garlic, and saffron, and another dish will result.
Take plump, active pigeons, clean them and put them in a pot and add a little salt, pepper, coriander, and oil. Fry a little and then pour over it water to cover, throw in a quarter ratl of sugar and finish cooking it until it is done, and then cover the contents of the pot with four eggs beaten with saffron and cinnamon. Dot it with egg yolk and leave it on the hearthstone a while, then empty it into a plate and sprinkle it with sugar, lavender and cinnamon and use it.
Cut up the hare into small pieces and wash them with boiling water. Put them in a pot and add salt, pepper, cilantro, plenty of cumin, three spoonfuls of oil and the same amount of strong vinegar, and one spoonful of murri naqî'. Then take three or four onions and pound them well in a wooden mortar, extract their juice and place it in the pot with the rest. Put it on the fire and when the meat is cooked and falling apart, take it out to the hearthstone and cover it with four or five eggs. When it is done, take it out and leave it a little to cool and serve it.
Take plump pigeons fattened indoors, clean and grease with murri naqî', thyme and plenty of oil. Place it in the oven in a hantam (earthenware pot),[17] then cut up the entrails, pound them and put them in a pot. Add walnuts and almonds, both pounded and whole, and a quarter û qiya of pepper, thyme, cumin, cloves, lavender, saffron, and coriander. Pour two spoonfuls of oil, as much strong vinegar, and one spoonful of murri naqî' over this all, and put it over a moderate fire. When this stuffing is cooked, dot it with ten eggyolks, then pour the sauce over the pigeons in their tajine, when it comes from the oven and is done cooking. Then leave it a little until it is cool, and serve it.
Cut up the partridges, after skinning and cleaning, into a pot with salt, onion juice, pepper, cilantro, vinegar, oil, a little murri naqî', cumin, and meatballs made from the breast of the partridges; put over a moderate fire, and when it is cooked, cover it with egg, and empty it out. Know that the breast of the partridge is only good for meatballs, for the meat is dry and not delicious, and if you pound the breast meat and beat it with egg and a bit of powdered white flour and suitable spices and make meatballs or ahrash, it will come to be mild and agreeable.
Take a plump hen, dismember it and put it in a pot, and add coriander of one dirham's weight, half a dirham of pepper and the same of cinnamon, and of ginger, galingale, lavender and cloves a quarter dirham each, three ûqiyas of vinegar, two ûqiyas of pressed onion juice, an ûqiya of cilantro juice, an ûqiya of murri naqî', and four ûqiyas of fresh oil. Mix all this in a pot with some rosewater, cover it with a flatbread and put a carefully made lid over the mouth of the pot. Place this in the oven over a moderate fire and leave it until it is cooked. Then take it out and leave it a little. Let it cool and invert it onto a clean dish and present it; it is remarkable.
Take a clean hen and stuff it, as explained, between the skin, the meat and the interior. Then roast it on a spit until it is browned on all sides. Then take a pot in which are placed three spoonfuls of vinegar, one of murri naqî', two of oil, and pepper, coriander, saffron, cinnamon, thyme, rue, ginger, four cloves of garlic, almonds and walnuts. Put the pot on the fire and when the broth boils, then add the chicken so the fat of the broth enters it, and when it is done cooking, dot it with five eggs and take it out to the hearthstone until it cools, then empty it out and serve it. This can also be made in a tajine with this sauce in the oven, and either way it is notable.
Make this dish with a goose, hen or capon. Take what you have of it, clean it and put it in a pot. Then take two ratls of raisins and pound them fine and steep them in water until their sweetness comes out, and strain and put the strained part in the pot and add three spoonfuls of strong vinegar and two of oil, as well as pepper, coriander and half a chopped onion. Balance it with salt and cook it until it is done and the sauce thickens. Then take peeled, pounded almonds, the same of walnuts, and grated breadcrumbs, pepper and six eggs and cover the contents of the pot with them after cooking. And dot it with eggyolks and leave it on the hearthstone until its fat rises.
Take a plump hen and take out what is inside it, clean that and leave aside. Then take four ûqiyas of peeled garlic[19] and pound them until they are like brains, and mix with what comes out of the interior of the chicken. Fry it in enough oil to cover, until the smell of garlic comes out. Mix this with the chicken in a clean pot with salt, pepper, cinnamon, lavender, ginger, cloves, saffron, peeled whole almonds, both pounded and whole, and a little murri naqî'. Seal the pot with dough, place it in the oven and leave it until it is done. Then take it out and open the pot, pour its contents in a clean dish and an aromatic scent will come forth from it and perfume the area. This chicken was made for the Sayyid Abu al-Hasan[20] and much appreciated.
Take a cleaned hen and make two pieces from each limb, and place it in a pot with salt, onion, pepper, cilantro, saffron and split almonds. Pour over it two spoonfuls of oil and two more of vinegar and five of sugared rose syrup, put it over a moderate fire and leave it until it is cooked. Then take four eggs and beat them with some fine flour in rosewater, saffron, lavender and cloves, cut them with some camphor and cover the contents of the pot with it. Leave it on the hearthstone a while and use it.
It is made with a roast hen, or with young pigeons or doves, or small birds, or with the meat of a young lamb. Take what you have of this, clean it, cut it up and put it in a pot with salt, a piece of onion, pepper, coriander, cinnamon, saffron, some murri naqî' and plenty of oil. Put this on the fire and when it is done and the broth has formed, take out the meat from the pot and leave it aside. Take as much as necessary of grated white breadcrumbs and stir them in a tajine with the remaining chicken fat and sauce. Tint it with plenty of saffron and add lavender, pepper and cinnamon. When the breadcrumbs have come apart, break over it enough eggs to cover ["flood"] it all and sprinkle it with peeled, split almonds. Beat all this until it is mixed, then bury the pieces of chicken in this so that the chicken is hidden in the stuffing and whole eggyolks, and cover this with plenty of oil. Then place in the oven and leave it until it is dry, thickened and browned and the top of the tajine is bound. Then take it out and leave it until its heat passes and it cools, and use it.
Take the meat of a very plump lamb and cut it in small pieces and put them in a pot with a little salt, a piece of onion, coriander, lavender, saffron and oil, and cook it halfway. Then take fresh cheese, not too soft in order that it will not fall apart, cut it with a knife into sheets approximately the size of the palm, place them in a dish, color them with saffron, sprinkle them with lavender and turn them until they are colored on all sides. Place them with the cooked meat in the pot or in a tajine and add eggs beaten with saffron, lavender and cinnamon, as necessary, and bury in it whole eggyolks and cover with plenty of oil and with the fat of the cooked meat. Place it in the oven and leave it until the sauce is dry and the meat is completely cooked and the upper part turns red ["browns"--CP, but turns red in my experience. DF]. Take it out, leave it a while until its heat passes and it is cool, and then use it.
Rub cheese in a dish, with the hand or in the palm, until it is like crumbs, and beat it with eggs, saffron and the aforementioned spices, sauce and grease from cooked meat, then put it in a pot or a tajine and add the cooked meat and drown it with oil and milk and put it in the oven, and leave it until it is dry and browned on top, and take it out and leave it a while.
Take soft cheese, not fresh that day but that has passed three or four days, and rub it in the hand. To two ratls of this add two ûqiyas of white flour, put it in fresh milk and break in ten eggs and sprinkle with pepper, saffron, cinnamon, lavender, and coriander. Beat all this together in the tajine and when it is thick, moisten it with fresh milk and cover it all with plenty of oil. Bury in it fried small birds or cut-up pigeons, eggyolks, and split almonds. Put in a moderately hot oven and leave until it is dry and thickened and browned on top, take it out so it can cool, and use it. This dish may be made green [mukhdarr; text has mukhtasar, meaning "abbreviated"] with water of coriander seed and of cilantro and mint water in place of saffron, and another dish will result. And he who wishes to make this tajine with cheese alone, without fowl or meat, shall do so in the same way, and in each of these ways it is good.
It is made with a hen, pigeons, doves, small birds or lamb. Take what you have of them, after cleaning, and cut up and put in a pot with salt, an onion, pepper, coriander and lavender or cinnamon, some murri naqî', and oil. Put it on a gentle fire until it is nearly done and the sauce is dried. Take it out and fry it in fresh oil without overdoing it, and leave it aside. Then take fine flour and semolina, make a well-made dough with leaven, and if it has some oil it will be more flavorful. Then roll out from it a flatbread and put inside it the fried and cooked meat of these birds, cover it with another flatbread and stick the ends together. Put it in the oven, and when the bread is done, take it out. It is very good on journeys. You might make it with fish and that can be used for journeying too.
Take the meat of young, plump sheep, without bones or tendons -- rather, pieces of its meat and its fat, waist, intestines, liver, heart and belly. Cut all this in very small pieces and put them in a pot with salt, a piece of onion, coriander, oil and a little murri naqî'. Put it on a moderate fire and cook it until it is done. Remove it from the fire, strain off the sauce, and fry [the meat] in a tajine with plenty of oil until it is browned. Then put it in another pan and pour over it as much as necessary of the fat and broth in which it cooked. Break over it enough eggs and add pepper, coriander, and lavender, and sprinkle it with peeled, split almonds, color it with saffron to taste, and beat it until it is mixed. Pour on plenty of oil and bury inside it as many eggyolks as possible, put it in the oven and leave it there until the broth is dried and the top is browned, and take it out. This recipe for bilâja is the one that used to be made in the West, such as Cordoba and Marrakesh and the lands between them.
Take fat young lamb, cut it up and put it in a pot with salt, pepper, coriander, a little cumin, saffron, and sufficient vinegar and oil. Put it on the fire and when it is almost done, throw in "cow's eyes" [prunes] candied and steeped in vinegar. Cook it in the pot, then cover the contents of the pot with all this and leave it until its surface is cold and clarified. Then take it down [from the fire] into a dish, break eggyolks and garnish the dish with them and with meatballs, sprinkle with fine spices and present it. If you wish to put in place of mint juice the juice of rue, celery or clove basil,[24] from each of these will come another dish.
Clean a pullet and put it in a pot, take out the breast, as in the preceding,[25] and throw in [reading yuqlâ as yulqâ] two spoonfuls of strong vinegar, and two of fresh oil and a quarter spoonful of good murri, half a dirham of saffron, cleaned almonds and whole onion, salt as may be needed, and water to cover the meat, with leaves of citron and fennel stalks. Then put it on a moderate charcoal fire until it is nearly cooked, and then put in meatballs made from the breast meat, finish their cooking and take it down to the euphorbia embers. And you put in its covering layer (takhmîr) what was put in in what was before, letter for letter.[26]
Clean a chicken or a partridge and put in all that spoken of above, except the saffron is omitted. Put garbanzos and a head of garlic into the pot, boil the meatballs and the meat and cover the contents of the pot in that manner.
Leave overnight whichever of the two [birds] you have, its throat slit, in its feathers. Clean it and put it into a new pot and throw in two spoonfuls of rosewater and half a spoonful of good murri, two spoonfuls of oil, salt, a fennel stalk, a whole onion, and a quarter dirham of saffron, and water to cover the meat. Then take quince or apple, skin the outside and clean the inside and cut it up in appropriate-sized pieces, and throw them into the pot. Put it on a moderate fire and when it is done, take it away with a lid over it. Cover it with breadcrumbs, a little sifted flour and five eggs, after removing some of the yolks. Cook it in the pot, and when the coating has cooked, sprinkle it with rosewater and leave it until the surface is clear and stands out apart. Ladle it out, sprinkle it with fine spices and present it.
Split medium-sized eggplants and stuff the cuts with salt to remove any bitterness they have, then boil them until they are cooked, then take them out and place them in cold water. Then take a head of garlic, clean it and pound it in a mortar with a little salt and cold breadcrumbs, a little sifted flour, a little murri and a little cilantro juice. Then squeeze the water out of the eggplants and hollow them out [preceding 4 words missing in published Arabic text], removing its flesh ["fattiness"] and its little seeds. To the contents of the mortar add whole peppercorns, cinnamon and powdered lavender. Fry for all six eggs, or as many as the dish will take, and beat all very well. Take egg yolks [apparently from boiled eggs] and stuff the eggplants with this, and save some of the stuffing. Then cover them with flour and fry it in fresh oil until browned. Boil eggyolks and also fry them a little, then arrange the eggplants in a dish spread with citron leaves, and pour the stuffing over all parts of the dish, cut up the eggyolks and garnish the dish with them and "eyes" of citron, mint and rue [leaves], then sprinkle with extraordinary spices and present it.
Peel the eggplants and split them, salt them, and leave them a little so their moisture comes out. Then boil them in water and when they are cooked, place them in cold water. Put into a pot two spoonfuls of vinegar, half a spoonful of murri, ground coriander, pepper, caraway, cumin, a whole onion, fennel stalks, a little cleaned garlic, half a dirham of saffron, salt, a spoonful of oil and a little water. Then put the pot on the fire until everything in it is cooked, then remove to the euphorbia embers. Take six eggs and cold breadcrumbs and a little sifted flour, beat it all with a little cilantro juice, remove some of the yolks, cover the contents of the pot with that. And cook the yolks in it, and leave it until its surface appears. Then take the boiled eggplants, cut their belly-sacks [reading bajâjîn as irregular plural of bajnâna] and complete the splitting of them so that four pieces come from each. Dust them with flour, fry them with oil until they are browned, and place them in a dish spread with citron leaves. Throw over this all the spices from the pot, separate eggyolks and garnish the dish with them as well as with "eyes" of rue, mint, and citron [leaves]. Sprinkle over this what you wish of fine spices and present it. It is made the same way with gourd,[27] down to the letter, except that the saffron is omitted and sticks of thyme are added, God willing.
Leave a plump hen overnight in its feathers, then clean it well, put it in a pot and pour in a good deal of both water and salt, two spoonfuls of oil, half a spoonful of vinegar, a whole onion, fennel stalks, citron leaves, cleaned almonds, pepper, cinnamon, a little cumin, caraway, and coriander, well ground. Then put it on a moderate fire and when the hen is cooked, take it out and fry it with fresh oil until it is browned, and take it out of the frying pan. Take the sauce in which the hen boiled and beat it well in a dish with six or eight eggs. Separate four whole eggyolks[28] and pour all this into a frying pan until it is rippled and well browned. Then put the chicken in a dish covered with citron leaves and put this filling around it and over it, garnish it with the eggyolks after they too are fried and sprinkled with spices.
Take a big, plump hen, the biggest and plumpest there is, clean it well, and break it in the middle of its back until a hump protrudes. Then peel three heads of garlic and pound them well with salt [last 2 words not in published Arabic text], and throw on pepper, cinnamon, lavender, Chinese cinnamon, and some murri. Break over that four eggs and beat well with it. Skin [the chicken] and divide it into two halves; clean a head of garlic, peel it and put part of the egg and part of the garlic in the chicken's back between the skin and the meat, and do this carefully so as not to break the skin, then finish the egg and garlic and enlarge the chicken's hump. Then sew up any place where the filling tries to escape, then put the chicken in a pot of its own size and put on it a little water, two spoonfuls of oil, one of murri, and a little hand-grated thyme. Break two eggs over the pot and send it to the oven. When it is cooked and browned, spread a dish with citron leaves and put the chicken on top of the leaves after removing the stitching, and its back appears on top so that the hunchback is evident. Garnish it with cut-up eggyolks, cut rue over it, sprinkle it with fine spices, and use it.
Place the stuffed breast in a big pot and cover it with water with one spoonful of vinegar, half a spoonful of murri, one of oil, a whole onion, fennel stalks, citron leaves, pepper, cinnamon, caraway, a little cumin and coriander, all this being ground. Cook all this until it is completely cooked, and take it down to the euphorbia embers. Cover it with cold breadcrumbs and five eggs, and dot the pot with some of the yolks, and when this is done, take it to a dish and arrange eggyolks on it, sprinkle with spices and present it, God the Most High willing.
Take pieces of a large fish, clean and put in a pot. Separate a piece from it to make meatballs, and throw in a spoonful of strong vinegar, a spoonful of bread murri,[30] a spoonful of oil, a whole onion, a head of garlic separated [into cloves], fennel stalks, citron leaves, pepper, cinnamon, coriander, a little cumin, caraway, a little water, and sufficient salt. Put it in the oven until it is done. During this time, make meatballs by the recipe with they have been made before, and throw them into the pot. Then take for ("in") covering cold crumbs, some flour and eight eggs, and separate some of their yolks to dot it with. Beat the dough [viz. the crumbs and eggs] with pepper and cover the contents of the pot with this, and when the surface of the dish is clear, ladle it into a dish, garnish it with its meatballs and eggyolks, sprinkle it with fine spices, and use it, God willing.
Pound well meat from the two legs, the shoulder and the like. Throw in some sifted flour, a head of garlic peeled and pounded with salt, pepper, cumin, coriander and caraway, and let the pepper predominate, and some good murri, and beat all this well with five eggs or as many as it will bear. Then take coarse fat, as much of this as of the pounded meat or more, and cut up fine and mix with the pounded meat. And if rue is cut into it, good. Then make it into meatballs and fry it; and the same recipe can be made with the meat of mirqâs, except that the egg is left out from it, God willing.
Clean good mustard and wash it with water several times, then dry it and pound it until it is as fine as kohl.[32] Sift it with a sieve of hair, and then pound shelled almonds and put them with the mustard and stir them together. Then press out their oil and knead them with breadcrumbs little by little, not putting in the breadcrumbs all at once but only little by little. Then pour strong vinegar, white of color, over this dough for the dish, having dissolved sufficient salt in the vinegar. Then dissolve it well to the desired point, and strain it thoroughly with a clean cloth; and there are those who after it is strained add a little honey to lessen its heat. Either way it is good.
Wash the chicken, clean it and salt it with salt and pepper and put it in a pot. Pound a handful of almonds and throw it on. Break over it six eggs, whole pine-nuts, pepper, cinnamon, Chinese cinnamon, ginger, lavender, and a spoonful of murri; stir all this with three spoonfuls of fresh oil and a little water. Put the pot on a moderately hot hearthstone and stir it carefully. When it has cooked, put it in a dish and sprinkle it with pepper and cinnamon, cut rue over it, garnish it with eggyolks, and present it.
Clean a partridge and put it in a pot with salt, coriander, pepper, garbanzos, Chinese cinnamon, and all the spices, two spoonfuls of oil, a little water, citron leaves and fennel stalks. Make small meatballs from its breast and cook them in the pot. When it has boiled some three times, take it out to the hearthstone. Take stalks of Swiss chard or orach [aka French spinach] and cut them in quarters, make a bundle of them, tie them with a string, and place them in the pot with ten olives. Skin cheese, cut it in small pieces and boil it in oil until it is browned, and throw it in the pot. Take out two or three meatballs and pound them in a mortar, and break three eggs over them, cook their yolks in the pot, and beat the eggs with a little white flour. Cover the contents of the pot with it and stir it at the sides until the dough is cooked and the surface of the pot stands out. Then put it in a dish, garnish it with its meatballs, eggyolks, pieces of cheese and olives, sprinkle it with fine spices, and present it, God willing.
Clean the chicken and put it in the pot, throw in two spoonfuls of oil and onion juice, one spoonful of cilantro juice, ten peeled and pounded almonds, a clove of garlic and sufficient salt and water. When it boils gently, throw in strong vinegar, murri and basil [or aromatic] nabidh [a low-alcohol wine considered licit for Muslims], a spoonful of each. Put in citron leaf, clove basil (habaq qaranfuli), bee balm and green rue, a bundle. Place it in the pot and when it is done, take a dirham each of Chinese cinnamon, pepper, and cinnamon, and another dirham of cloves and lavender, pulverize these and beat with eggs and cover the contents of the pot with them and dot with eggyolks.[33] Ladle it out and serve it, God willing.
Slit the throat of a hen, as large and plump as possible, and inflate it well while still warm after tying up the neck. Then pluck it gently so as not to burst it, and as soon as you are done plucking it, divide it along the back from neck to tail, and skin it little by little with all possible care until it is all skinned except the tips of the wings, for these are left with their skin. Then take all the meat with the breast and pound it strongly in a mortar, and pound it with peeled almond, nuts, and cold breadcrumbs steeped in cilantro juice. Then take what is inside it [liver and giblets] and boil it with water and salt until it is cooked, cut it in small pieces on a wooden board, and add this to the pounded meat. Put all this to fry and add cilantro juice and murri in the necessary amounts, with whole peppercorns, cinnamon, Chinese cinnamon, lavender, and galingale, cook eggs, shell them, and keep the yolk aside, cut the white finely and add it to the stuffing. Break over this eight or ten eggs, put it on a moderate fire and stir with a spoon until ... and place the stuffing. Then return the stuffing and pound it in such manner that it will not fall apart, then stuff the skin that was peeled off with this stuffing, after sewing it up on all sides, but leave a hole where the stuffing can go in. Place cooked eggyolks under the wings, thighs, and legs until it takes the form that the hen had before it was gently stuffed. Then sew up the hole where the stuffing was put in, and let there be as much water as necessary to cover it. Then moisten [reading uthqubhâ , "puncture," as isqîhâ] with vinegar on all sides lest it dry out, [taking care] that [the skin] is not separated or punctured, but only after putting in the water. And when the stuffing is on the point of being done, take it out of the water and put it in a pot or a tajine and sprinkle it with murri and oil, clean the mortar in which the meat of the chicken was pounded, put a little thyme with it, and rub it with the thyme, and send [the chicken] to the bread oven until the sides are browned, and watch that it not burn. Then spread a dish with citron leaves. Take the chicken out and split the chicken in half from above to below and leave it ...[about four words missing]... some clove, pepper, Chinese cinnamon and cinnamon, sprinkle them over it and over both pieces, garnish it with toasted almonds, and present it.
Clean a young, plump hen and roast it over coals, and watch that it not burn. Baste it with oil and murri continuously until it is browned. Then take its innards, cut fine and put them in an earthenware pot, and throw in two spoonfuls of oil, two of vinegar, one of murri, and thyme, rue, four cloves of garlic, pine-nuts, almond, coriander, a little cumin, pepper, cinnamon and Chinese cinnamon, lavender, onion ground with salt and some cilantro; boil all this over a moderate fire. Make meatballs of mutton and throw them in the sauce until they are cooked, and take them out and roast them until they are browned. Dot the dish with four egg yolks and throw in it the roast chicken and meatballs. Cut isfî riyâ and lu'âniq (sausages) made for this purpose, cut into rounds in the form of earrings, and throw them in the pot and let it boil until the hen absorbs the sauce. Put it in a dish and garnish it with its meatballs and its eggyolks, and scatter fine spices over it and present it, God willing.
Cut meat small and put it in a pot with three whole onions, a spoonful of murri, a dirham and a half of pepper, and some juice from fennel-stalks, and almonds, peeled pine-nuts, sprigs of thyme and sufficient salt. Put it on a moderate fire and when you see that the pot has become dry, throw in a spoonful of vinegar and dot it with four eggyolks, and when it is done cooking, ladle it out and cut tender rue over it very finely, and sprinkle it with half a dirham of cloves ground with pepper, and present it.
Take pieces of meat without bones and cut them as for shishkebab. Put in a pot and mix with them a spoonful of good vinegar, another of murri, a handful of pine-nuts and all the spices and flavorings. When it has cooked, take out the meat and fry it in a frying pan until it is browned. Then return it to the pot and cut some rue very finely and cover the contents of the pot with this and with four eggs, make small sambusak[35] and very small meatballs for this dish, and fry them also and dot it with eggyolks. Ladle out the dish and garnish it with the sambusak, the meatballs, and the eggyolks, and cook an egg until it is hard, cut it up small and scatter fine spices over the dish and present it, God willing.
Divide meat into medium-sized morsels, like mouthfuls, and put them in a new pot with salt, crushed onion, coriander, two dirham of pepper and as much of cinnamon, a dirham of Chinese cinnamon, two spoonfuls of fresh oil, one of good murri and two of fragrant rose water, a spoonful and a half of strong vinegar, a handful of blanched pine-nuts and almonds and enough water. Put the pot on a moderate fire, and make meatballs and sambusak and stuffed eggs. When the meat is cooked, take out the stuffed egg and put aside and fry the meat and the meatballs. Then return it to the pot with the meatballs and empty into it the rest of the oil, put it on the euphorbia embers and cover the contents with four eggs and a little white flour and grated breadcrumbs. Dot it with eggyolks and keep stirring carefully until all the water disappears and nothing remains but the oil alone, and the coating wrinkles. Then grind half a dirham of galingale [literally, "wood"] and a little musk. Ladle out the dish and garnish it with sanbûsak, and split the stuffed eggs and put them over the dish, sprinkle the galingale and musk on it and present it, God willing.
Clean a plump, tender hen, divide it and put it in a pot with two spoonfuls of oil, the same of vinegar and as much of murri, a handful of almonds and pine-nuts and all the spices and flavorings, three spoonfuls of cilantro juice, pepper and vinegar in the amount of two spoonfuls, if it is of bad quality,[36] and two spoonfuls of fresh oil, a handful of cleaned almonds and sufficient water and salt. When it is done, cover it with breadcrumbs, a little flour and three or four eggs. Reduce it in the broth, and ladle it out, sprinkle it with pepper, cinnamon, and lavender, and present it, God willing.
Cut fat meat and put it in a pot with whole, small onions, some eight or ten. Pound the meat and make good meatballs from it with pepper and cinnamon. Throw in four spoonfuls of oil and two of murri, cilantro juice, and some eight beaten eggs. Stir it gently on all sides to even the stuffing in the pot, and perfume it. Send it to the oven until it is cooked and lightly browned, and present it, after decorating it with its meatballs. Sprinkle it with pepper and cinnamon and garnish it with "eyes" of mint and present it, God willing.
Joint the chicken, after cleaning it, and put it in a pot with salt pounded with cilantro and all the spices except cumin, and two spoonfuls of murri and another two of oil. When it is done, cut in rue and add "eyes" of thyme, and let its broth be made in advance. When this is done, cover the contents with a layer of crumbs of cold bread and four eggs and put the yolks on top. Then ladle it out and present it; garnish it with eggyolks and cut in some rue and a boiled egg and sprinkle it with fine spices and present it.
Make meatballs of lamb with all the spices and flavorings, beat them with eggwhite, and put into the pot a spoonful of oil, cilantro juice, a spoonful of onion juice and half a spoonful of murri, and pepper, cinnamon, Chinese cinnamon, a handful of pine-nuts, coriander, a little caraway and a spoonful of water. Cook [p. 15, verso] until the meatballs stiffen, and cook the sauce and boil two eggs in it, then cover [the contents of the pot with eggs and breadcrumbs] and take it out to the hearthstone until [the egg layer] wrinkles. Knead a dough with white flour, water and oil. Prepare a pie crust[37] of this, and put in the meatballs and the boiled eggs, after splitting, and put the filling inside this, and cover it with a sheet of dough made in the same manner. Fasten it closed and send it to the oven until it is done, and present it, God willing.
Clean and joint the chicken and put it in a pot with pepper, Chinese cinnamon, lavender, coriander, onion juice and cilantro juice, a spoonful, and a half a spoonful of murri, and sufficient water and salt. Cook it until it is done and throw in peeled almonds and pine-nuts. Then pound its innards and add white flour and crumbs of risen bread, and four onions if there are two chickens, or two if there is one. Beat all this and cover the contents of the pot with it, boil eggs and split them in halves and quarters, and make this pie like the first to the letter.
Wash the rabbit well. Take the meat of another rabbit, pound it with water, onion, a little cilantro juice, murri, spices and flavorings, and beat it with three eggs with a suitable amount of salt, and stuff the inside of the rabbit with this. Sew it up and roast it on a spit, for those who wish it roasted, or cook it in a pot without roasting, as will be explained: That is, put into a pot two spoonfuls of vinegar, the same of of oil, one spoon of bread murri, another of fish [!] murri, a whole onion, a clove of garlic, whole almonds, pine-nuts, citron leaves, stalks of fennel, and a spoonful of stuffing meat. Make meatballs with the rest of the meat. If you roast the rabbit, roast the meatballs; and if you do not roast the rabbit, but rather boil it in the sauce, fry it after it is done, and fry the meatballs, and return all this to the pot. Then pound almonds and walnuts and add sour leaven, three eggs, and cut rue, stir this with a little of the sauce from the pot, and cover the contents of the pot with this, and put it down on the euphorbia embers until it is done and its surface shows. Then take it out and put it in a dish and untie the sewing that you did, and dot with the eggs you prepared, and with the meatballs, and sprinkle it with spices.
Clean a plump, young, tender hen, salt it with salt and thyme, peel four or five cloves of garlic and place them between the thighs and in the interior. Pound pepper and coriander, sprinkle them over the hen, rub with murri and oil and a little water, and send it to the oven, God willing.
Take half a lamb with its breast, sprinkle it with three dirham of pepper and as much of caraway, three spoonfuls of water and a stalk of fennel, two spoonfuls of oil and as much of murri, some Chinese cinnamon, some rubbed thyme, four beaten eggs and sufficient salt. Put the lid on the pot and send it to the oven, and when it is done and browned, present it and it has an extremely good aroma.
Clean them and stew them with oil and water and two cloves of garlic crushed with a little cilantro, and when the giblets are cooked, crush them with a little of the heart of an onion, and season with fine spices and flavorings, a spoonful of murri, a little white flour, and cut-up rue. Break six eggs over it and beat this all with the rest of the sauce from the pot, and fry it in the frying pan with oil until it takes the consistency of a tajine, and present it. Cut rue over it, sprinkle with a little murri and garnish it with mint.
Cut the rabbit in small pieces and boil them in water and salt, then fry them in oil. Pound walnuts and garlic well. Dissolve them with vinegar and water, and pour them over the rabbit with water, cook until it is ready and serve it.
Separate it at the joints, then take the meat from its legs and back, called the lunbâl (loin), and add the meat of another rabbit and pound it well in a mortar. Add to this onion juice, murri, clove, spices, and all that is put in meatballs. Take the bones and other parts and put them in a pot, pour over them two spoonfuls of vinegar, the like of oil, one spoon of murri, peeled almonds, pine-nuts, citron leaves, fennel stalks, an onion, a clove of peeled garlic, sprigs of thyme, "eyes" of rue, and a dirham's weight of saffron. Cook it with sufficient water until it is done, and then take out everything from the pot. Take the bones of the thighs and the lunbâl, clothe them with the ground meat, and make meatballs of the rest. Throw all this carefully into the pot. Take two egg yolks, after boiling, and dress them with the meat as well, and throw them into the pot. When all is done and the greater part of the broth has evaporated, crumble crumbs of cold bread and a little flour [p. 16, verso] of fine wheat. Dissolve that with one spoonful of the rest of the stuffing together with eight or ten eggs, and sprinkle on it sufficient salt and spices, and fry the parts removed from the pot until they are browned. Then return them to the pot and fry the meatballs and the eggs covered with meat likewise. Then cover all the contents of the pot with eggs and throw in the rest of the oil that was in the frying pan. Rebuild a moderate fire, and stir [or agitate] from the sides of the pot carefully until the stuffing is done and wrinkled and the broth departs. Then take the parts and arrange them on a dish in which citron leaves have been arranged, and sprinkle the stuffing over it. Then put the rest of the parts in the dish with the rest of the stuffing. Then garnish the dish with the fried meatballs, and split the meat-clad yolks and put among the meatballs and sprinkle the rest of the stuffing between them, with almonds, pine-nuts, and minced cloves of garlic. Cut rue over it, sprinkle it with fine spices, and present it. If you omit the saffron and garlic, add a spoonful of cilantro juice and increase the murri a little, another dish will result.
Slit a chicken's throat, and skin it after inflating, as described before. Then take its breast and entrails and pound them with a quarter pound of almonds, spice it and put in almonds, pine-nuts, pistachios, not pounded, and two spoonfuls of rosewater, and twenty eggs, two spoonfuls of oil, one of murri and cilantro juice. Beat all this and fill the skin with it, insert among the filling boiled eggyolks, sew it up and put it in a pot with seven spoonfuls of oil, after boiling it in boiling water. Then throw it in the oven, after sealing it with dough, and when the top [MS has marginal notation "sic"; probably the skin, rather than the surface, is meant] is browned in it, take the rest of the meat and put it in a pot with half a spoonful of vinegar, as much of murri naqî ', a third of a spoonful of oil, pepper, cinnamon, lavender, Chinese cinnamon, cilantro juice, onion juice, an "eye" of citron [leaves], fennel stalks, and sufficient salt and water. Put it on the fire until it is cooked, and when it is done, cover the contents with an ûqiya of pounded almonds, breadcrumbs, flour and four eggs. Make a covering in it with two eggyolks and when this covering has wrinkled, ladle the dish onto a serving plate and garnish it with cut-up eggyolks, and sprinkle it with spices and rue. Put the stuffed skin on another dish and garnish it after cutting it in half ...[word partly missing: perhaps "with sausages"?]... fried and dust with the spices and sprinkle it with rosewater and present it. The stuffing can be made [p. 17, recto] in another manner; that is, pound the breast meat and the stuffing and season it as before, and throw on twenty eggs, without their whites; take a small pot and put cilantro juice in it, boil and remove the foam, and throw the stuffing on it and mix with it. Stuff the skin with this, sew it up, and arrange its cooking; in the second dish of meat is what is done in the first, to the letter.
Cut up an adult crane, and throw in spices, pepper, cinnamon, onion scraped with salt, citron leaves, stalks of fennel, vinegar according to its strength, and likewise murri according to the degree of its blackness, enough oil and water, and "eyes" of thyme and sprigs of rue. Cook until done, take out the meat and fry it in oil until it is browned, then return it to a pot and cook it until the water disappears. Then cover the contents of the pot with white flour, grated breadcrumbs and eggs. Dot it with eggyolks and when you ladle it out, cut rue over it, boil eggyolks, garnish it, and present it, God willing.
Clean the partridge and season it with salt, then crush its entrails with almonds and pine-nuts and add murri naqî', oil, a little cilantro juice, pepper, cinnamon, Chinese cinnamon, lavender, five eggs and sufficient salt. Boil two eggs, stuff the partridge with the stuffing and insert the boiled eggs and let the stuffing be between the skin and the meat, and some of it in the interior of the partridge. Then take a new pot and put in four spoonfuls of oil, half a spoonful of murri naqî' and two of salt. Put the partridge in it and put it on the fire, after attaching the cover with dough, and agitate it continuously so it will be thoroughly done, and when the sauce has dried, remove the lid and throw in half a spoonful of vinegar, throw in an "eye" of citron [leaves] and an "eye" of mint, and break two or three eggs into it. Then put a potsherd or copper pot full of burning coals on it until it is browned, and then turn (the contents) around so that the other side browns, and roast it all. Then put it in a dish and put the stuffing around it, and garnish it with the eggyolks with which you dotted the pot, or with roast pistachios, almonds and pine nuts, and sprinkle it with pepper and cinnamon after moistening with sugar, and present it, God willing.
Clean the chicken, take out its entrails, and put them in a pot with two spoonfuls of oil, two of water, and the juice of one onion ground with coriander [p. 17, verso], green [that is: cilantro], and spices and and flavorings, and a little murri. Pound the entrails with almonds, breadcrumbs and flour. Beat four eggs: stuff the chicken with two, insert one in its body interior and the other in its neck. Then put the pot on a moderate fire, after sewing the birds, and when it is dried and cooked, put it in a dish. Boil two eggs and cut them over it with "eyes" of rue, pour out the surface of the pot over it, sprinkle it with fine spices, and present it, God willing.
Clean the chicken and take out its entrails, cut off the
extremities of its thighs and wings and the neck, and salt the
chicken and leave it. Take these extremities and the neck and the
entrails, and put them in a pot with fine spices and all the
flavorings and cilantro juice, onion juice, whole pine-nuts, a little
vinegar and a little murri, good oil, citron leaves, and
stalks of fennel. Put this over a moderate fire and when it is done
and the greater part of the sauce has gone, cover the contents of the
pot with three eggs, grated breadcrumbs and fine flour, crush the
liver, add it to this crust and cook carefully until the liver and
the crust are cooked and wrinkled. Then take the chicken and roast it
carefully, and strike it with two eggs, oil and murri, and do
not stop greasing [basting] the chicken inside and out with
this until it is browned and roasted. Then take a second little pot
and put in two spoonfuls of oil and half a spoonful of murri,
half a spoonful of vinegar and two spoons of aromatic rosewater,
onion juice, spices and flavorings. Put this on the fire so that it
cooks gently, and when it has cooked, cut up ...[about two words
missing]... and leave it until it is absorbed. Then ladle it into
a dish [and pour the rest of the sauce on it, and cut up an egg
and sprinkle with spices, and ladle the preceding almonds into
another dish], and garnish it too with eggyolks; sprinkle it with
fine spices and present both dishes, God willing.
[Bracketed matter in Arabic but not in Huici Miranda's
translation.]
Slit the throat of a goose and inflate it, then pluck it carefully and skin it, as has been explained earlier for chicken. Take its entrails and intestines, after cleaning them well and pounding them well, add spices and all the fine flavorings, murri naqî ', cilantro juice, crushed almonds, onion juice, and 25 eggs, whole pine-nuts, enough salt, pounded mint, cut-up fennel,[38] pistachios, and two spoonfuls of oil. Beat all this and stuff the goose's skin with it. Take the meat of the breast, pound it and put in it leaven [or possibly: a covering] and the whites of five [p. 18, recto] eggs, pepper, cinnamon, and salt. Beat all this and cloak the breast bone with it, and throw in boiling water until it stiffens. Then return it to its place in the skin, in the middle of the stuffing, and sew up all parts in the skin after inserting boiled eggyolks in the middle of the stuffing, and put it in a large tajine or a pot, and throw on it half a ratl of oil, a little water and murri, and send it to the oven, and watch its cooking until it is browned. Then take the rest of the meat of the goose and put it in a pot and top it with spices and all the flavorings, two spoonfuls of vinegar and four of oil, two of cilantro juice, one of murri, branches of rue and onion juice. Cook it until it is done. When it is cooked, pound lamb meat, spice it and add eggwhites, make suitable meatballs of this and throw them in the pot, and when all is cooked, beat the meat that you have taken out with four eggs, grated breadcrumbs, and fine flour; cover the contents of the pot with this and take it down to the hearthstone until the dough wrinkles well. Ladle it into a dish and dot it with cut-up eggyolks, and sprinkle it with fine spices. Put the stuffed goose on a second dish and garnish it with toasted almonds and pine-nuts; cut it in half, sprinkle it with fine spices, sprinkle it with rosewater, and present it. Thus it is made with widgeon [? MS has barr al-barâka ] except in the dish which is made with body parts. For this, upon cooking it, take the amount of half a ratl of cilantro juice, boil it in a little pot, clean off its foam, and dissolve in it the yolks of five eggs, beat it with grated breadcrumbs and a little vinegar and cover the contents of the pot with this. Leave it until it wrinkles, and ladle it out, as before, over the chicken, God willing.
Clean it, joint it and put it in the pot with all the spices and flavorings and cilantro juice, onion juice, murri, half a spoonful of vinegar, three of oil, and sufficient water, "eyes" of mint, citron and whole pine-nuts. When it is cooked and the greater part of the sauce is gone, pound the giblets and the liver well and beat them with three eggs and leaven; cover the contents of the pot with this and stir it at the sides until it wrinkles. Dot it with eggyolks and then ladle it out and garnish it with eggyolks and "eyes" of mint, toasted pine-nuts and pistachios, sprinkle it with a little rosewater and present it, God willing.[39]
Clean it and place it [p. 18, verso] on a spit, pound its entrails and beat them with two eggs, pepper, cinnamon, Chinese cinnamon, lavender, two spoonfuls of oil and one of murri. Roast it over a moderate fire and at a distance from it. Grease the inside and outside with this filling continuously until it absorbs it and is lightly browned. Put it in a dish and cut rue over it and sprinkle it with pepper and cinnamon and present it, God willing.
Clean the chicken and put it in the pot; throw on top spices, pepper, cinnamon, and all the flavorings, two spoonfuls of oil, water and salt and cook it carefully. Wash two eggs and put them in the pot, and when all is done, take the giblets and the liver, shell the eggs and cut everything with a knife on a board into very small pieces; fry it in a frying pan, beat the two eggs and throw in murri naqî', and turn it over in the frying pan until it is browned. Then put the chicken in a dish, put the stuffing on it and around it and moisten it with the rest of the grease remaining in the pot. Cut up a boiled egg with rue and sprinkle it on the surface of the dish and sprinkle fine spices over all this and present it.
Clean a plump chicken and pound its giblets, its liver, and its heart well; add to these ten eggs and spice it and adjust the salt. Stuff the chicken with this and sew it up, put it in a pot and throw on top spices, pepper, salt, and three spoonfuls of oil. Take one spoonful from the stuffing with which you filled the chicken, beat it with three eggs and cover the pot with it, dot it with eggyolks and send it to the oven until it is browned and the stuffing is wrinkled. Take out the chicken onto a dish and put around it the stuffing, garnish it with eggyolks, cut rue over it, sprinkle it with fine spices and present it, God willing: praise be to Him, there is no Lord but He.
Clean the chicken [p. 20, recto] and pound its entrails with almonds, breadcrumbs, a little flour, salt, and cut-up fennel and cilantro. Beat it with six eggs and the amount of a quarter ratl of water. Then expose the chicken over the fire a little and place it in a clean pot with five spoonfuls of fresh oil, and do not stop turning it on the fire in the oil until it is well browned. Then cover the contents of the pot with stuffing prepared earlier and leave it until it is bound together and wrinkled. Ladle it out and put the stuffing around it, garnish with cut rue and fennel, eyes of mint, and toasted almonds, and present it, God willing.
Clean the chicken, joint it and put it in a pot; throw in spices, pepper, cinnamon, Chinese cinnamon, lavender, three spoonfuls of oil and half a spoonful of murri, one of vinegar, some juice of both cilantro and onion, three spoonfuls of water and pine-nuts and almonds. Put it on the fire until it is done, and fry it in the frying pan until it is lightly browned. Place it on a dish and pour on the sauce, and cut eggyolks and rue over it, sprinkle it with spices, and present it, God willing.
Slit the throat of a chicken and skin it, as before, gently. Pound its breast and entrails with cold breadcrumbs, almonds and walnuts, break fifteen eggs over it and throw on top a spoonful of murri, another of cilantro juice, all the spices and sufficient salt. Stuff the chicken skin with this, and place it in hot water until it becomes solid. Take the rest of the meat and put it in a pot with three spoonfuls of oil, five of water, half a spoon of murri, one of vinegar, two of rosewater, and one of cilantro water, cook this until it is ready, and cover the contents of the pot with four eggs, breadcrumbs and ground almonds, and when it has thickened, take it out. Heat the spit red-hot, and insert it into the chicken [MS reads "insert the chicken in it"] to roast on a moderate fire until browned; then put it on a dish, empty the almonds over it, garnish it with eggyolks and toasted pine-nuts, sprinkle it with spices and present it.
Slit the throat of a plump chicken, clean it and take out the entrails. Separate the guts and pound the liver and giblets not too hard. Put in a quarter ratl of almonds and pine-nuts, cilantro juice, a little murri, spices, flavorings and pistachio juice and beat with six eggs and boil four. Stuff the chicken with it and insert the boiled eggs in it and sew it up. Put water and a spoonful of oil into the pot, and place the chicken in and cook it, without overdoing [p. 20, verso] the cooking. Then put into another pot six spoonfuls of oil, half a spoon of vinegar, half a ratl of water, and a ratl and a half of honey; when it boils, place the chicken in it and when it is done cooking, cover it with five ûqiyas of starch, the weight of two dirhams of 'akar (lees)[40] and rosewater; agitate this carefully until it is thick. Then take it off the fire and take the intestines, turn them inside out and clean them. Pound a piece of breast meat and beat it with two eggs, make an isfîriyâ. And pound a piece of lamb and put in all that you would put into a mirqâs, as well as a clove of garlic, a little murri and cilantro, and an egg; beat this and stuff the gut with it and a stalk of fennel and make of it mirqâs ...[one word missing]... Then ladle out the almonds, garnish it with the isfîriyâ and the mirqâs, pine-nuts and pistachios, and present it, God willing.
Slit the throat of two chickens and take out the entrails, pound them and put spices with them and season them with all the flavorings and murri naqî'. Pound them with breadcrumbs, almonds, pine-nuts, and pistachios, beat all this with fifteen eggs, boil eggyolks and stuff a chicken with this filling and sew it up and put it in the pot with a ratl and a half of water and half a ratl of oil. Boil it over a moderate fire and when it is almost cooked, throw in two ratls of honey and four dirhams of saffron, and when the chicken is colored, take it out and put khabis on top of the honey, and cook it until it is thick. Then take the breast of the second chicken and make isfîriyya with it, with pepper, cinnamon, and two eggs or however many are needed. Pound the thigh meat and add to it all that is needed for mirqâs, as in the previous recipe. Clean the guts and fill them with this, and make mirqâ s. Then put the khabis on a dish and set the chicken in the middle, garnish it with the isfîriyya and mirqâs, sprinkle pepper, cinnamon, and sugar over it, place pine-nuts and pistachios on top and present it.
Pound some meat cut round, and be careful that there be no bones in it. Put it in a pot and throw in all the spices except cumin, four spoonfuls of oil, two spoonfuls of penetrating rosewater, a little onion juice, a little water and salt, and veil it with a thick cloth. Put it on a moderate fire and cook it with care. Pound meat as for meatballs, season it and make little meatballs and throw them [p. 21, recto] in the pot until they are done. When everything is done, beat five eggs with salt, pepper, and cinnamon; make a thin layer [a flat omelette or egg crepe; literally "a tajine"] of this in a frying pan, and beat five more eggs with what will make another thin layer. Then take a new pot and put in a spoonful of oil and boil it a little, put in the bottom one of the two layers, pour the meat onto it, and cover with the other layer. Then beat three eggs with a little white flour, pepper, cinnamon, and some rosewater with the rest of the pounded meat, and put this over the top of the pot. Then cover it with a potsherd of fire[43] until it is browned, and be careful that it not burn. Then break the pot and put the whole mass on a dish, and cover it with "eyes" of mint, pistachios and pine-nuts, and add spices. You might put on this dish all that has been indicated, and leave out the rosewater and replace it with a spoonful of juice of cilantro pounded with onion, and half a spoonful of murri naqî'; put in it all that was put in the first, God, the Most High, willing.
Cut up the meat and put it in a pot with spices and flavorings and some half a ratl of the juice of cilantro pounded with onion, three spoonfuls of oil, and salt. When it is done, cover the contents of the pot with six eggs, cilantro juice, an ûqiya of ground almonds, and breadcrumbs; further, cover this with four eggyolks and when the dough has wrinkled, ladle the contents out and garnish it with eggyolks, sprinkle it with spices and present it, God willing.
Pound well pieces of a big fish and add to them such as they will bear of egg white, pepper, cinnamon, enough of all the spices and a little leavening. Beat it until it is well mixed. Then take a pot and put in it a spoonful of vinegar, two of cilantro juice, one and a half of onion juice, one of murri naqî', spices, flavorings, pine-nuts, six spoonfuls of oil and enough salt and water, and put it over a moderate fire. When it has boiled several times, make the pounded [fish] meat into the form of a fish and insert into its interior one or two boiled eggs, and put it carefully into the sauce while it is boiling. Cut the remainder into good meatballs; take boiled eggyolks and cloak them with that meat also. Throw all this in the pot and when all is done, take the fish from the pot and the yolks cloaked with meat, and fry them in a frying pan until browned. Then cover the contents of the pot with six eggs, pounded almonds and breadcrumbs, and dot the pot (with yolks).