The Culinary Crescent: A History of Middle Eastern Cuisine

240 Pages·2018·1.79 MB·English

by  Peter Heine

Falafel, hummus and doner kebabs; couscous, stuffed vine leaves and
marzipan – the delicacies of the Middle East have long since found their
way onto menus in the West, while spices such as cloves, cardamom,
saffron and cinnamon that were once beyond most people’s means are
today familiar ingredients in every well-appointed kitchen. But how
much do we really know about Middle Eastern cuisine?
In this book, the renowned Islamic scholar Peter Heine explains,
among other things, why Muslims never eat pork, but are not
infrequently partial to a glass of red wine. He goes on to describe the
kinds of dishes that were prepared in the Thousand and One Saucepans
of the Ummayads, Abbasids, Ottomans, Safavids and Mughals and how
almsgiving came to be considered part of good etiquette at table. The
author recounts tales of the great Middle Eastern chefs and cooks, both
male and female, of the distribution of different vegetables and fruit
across the region and the routes by which they were brought to Europe,
and of how the supply of halal produce worldwide has now become a
multi-million pound industry.
Since Heine is also an avid gourmet, this unique cultural history is
garnished with over a hundred recipes, including everyday dishes for the
modern kitchen, classic preparations from the annals of Mughal and
Abbasid cookery, and lavish confections that conjure up the culinary
delights of Paradise.
Peter Heine
THE CULINARY
CRESCENT
A History of
Middle Eastern Cuisine
Translated by Peter Lewis
First published in English in 2018 by Gingko Library
4 Molasses Row
London SW11 3UX
First published in German as Köstlicher Orient by Peter
Heine, © 2016 Verlag Klaus Wagenbach, Berlin English language translation copyright © Peter Lewis 2018
Cover illustration: Julie August from a photo of an Uzbek
mosaic © Konstantin Kalishko / depositphotos The rights of the author has been asserted in accordance
with the Copyright, Designs and Patent Act 1988.
All rights reserved. Except for brief quotation in a review,
no part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by
any electronic or mechanical means, including information
storage and retrieval systems, without written permission
from the publisher.
A CIP catalogue record for the book is available from the
British Library.
ISBN 978–1–909942–25–7
eISBN978–1–909942–26–4
Layout by Denise Sterr
Typeset by Mitchell Onuorah in Minion Pro and Gill Sans
Printed in Spain
www.gingko.org.uk
@gingkolibrary
Prologue
No Pork, no Alcohol
Why no pork?
Ritual slaughter
The proscription against alcohol
Blood
Yet more rules
Preferred dishes
The culinary promises of Paradise
Rules for fasting and meals for religious festivals
Secular festivals
Religious minorities in Islamic societies
A Thousand and One Saucepans – Cooking Among the High and
Mighty
Hospitality
The Umayyads
The Abbasids
The Ottomans
The Safavids
The Mughal emperors
Cookbooks and Kitchen Practices
Professional chefs
Modern professional chefs
Amateur cooks
Cookbooks
Arab cuisine
Ottoman cuisine
Persian cuisine
Mughal cuisine
Modern cookbooks
Itinerant Ingredients – The Flow of Commodities to and from the
East
From the Far East and the West to the Islamic world
Grains
Sugar cane
Citrus fruits
Bananas
Water melons
Spinach
Aubergines
From the Middle East to Europe
Alcohol
Apricots
Coffee
Marzipan
Saffron
Sorbets
Tomatoes and Peppers – Western Influences on
Middle Eastern Cooking
Shifts in international trade
American plants in the cuisines of the East
Potatoes
Tomatoes
Peppers/chillies
Maize (Sweetcorn)
Jerusalem artichokes
Cacao
Tea
Doner Kebabs and Falafels – Middle Eastern Cuisine in Europe
Doners and falafels
Poultry
Blancmange
Rosewater
Traces of Middle Eastern cuisine in British food
The growth in popularity of Middle Eastern food in Britain
Sweets
Old and New – Modern Middle Eastern Cuisine
Practical and technical innovations in households large and small
Eating at table
Modern preservation techniques
Changes in gastronomy
First restaurants
Modern restaurants
Your Food – Our Food:
The Role of Politics and Economics
Politics and economics
Culinary identities
Dolma in Iraq
The dispute over hummus and falafel
Chefs for Peace
Other conflicts over the origins of foods
New forms of gardening