Food Resources and their Transformation - Food Culture and Health in Pre-Modern Islamic Societies - page 168

fits of arāb muskir , although they warned
against its possible addictive qualities or
even shorter term dangers.
This brief survey of operations in the
domestic kitchens of the urban leisure
classes has covered the period from about
the 3rd/9th to 8th/14th centuries. The
major innovation of this “high cooking
tradition” was in the collection, transfor-
mation, elaboration of and experimenta-
tion with hundreds of traditional, local,
regional dishes within a dynamic cosmo-
politan context. Although the culinary
manuals are a rich resource for the study
of this aspect of domestic life, they still do
not yield answers to all a historian's ques-
tions. While the names of two cooks, one
male the other female, are known to have
held honourable positions in Abbāsid
court circles, one would like to know
much more about those who performed
the myriad operations in this, the most
important space of the domestic house-
hold, the kitchen.

in the Arabian peninsula. A cool, refresh-
ing drink is also made from yoghourt and
water ( ayran in Turkish; dū in Persian;
lassi in India). Yoghourt figures exten-
sively in Middle Eastern eating practices,
both in cooked dishes and mixed with
vegetables such as cucumber (the māst-
iyār of Persian cuisine).

(C.E. Bosworth)

Clarified Butter

Al-Samn (Ar.) is butter, made from
cows', goats' and ewes' milk, heated over
the fire to extract its impurities, and hence
called clarified butter (as distinct from
zubd which is butter made from churned
milk). Mediaeval dietetic texts state a
preference for clarified butter made from
cows' milk over goats' milk. Its medicinal
benefits were as an antidote against poi-
sons and snake bites, if ingested alone or
mixed with honey, and as an ointment for
the cure of boils and abscesses, including
haemorrhoids. Samn was also used in the
kitchen and, according to the anonymous
Kanz al-fawāid , its use (at least in the urban
milieu reflected by the culinary manuals)
was almost exclusively limited to the prep-
aration of egg dishes, such as omelettes,
and sweet dishes made with flour; in the
latter case, samn was often mixed with
sesame oil ( īra ).

(D. Waines)

Yoghurt

Yourt (T.) from older Turkish
yuur- , Ottoman yourma/yoǧurmak “ to
knead” [dough, etc.], yoghourt, a prepa-
ration of soured milk made in the pas-
toralist, more temperate northern tier of
the Middle East, Central Asia and the
Balkans. It seems to have been used for
therapeutic purposes by the pre-Islamic
Uyur Turks.
Partially skimmed milk is reduced over
a slow heat, and after cooling, a quantity
of a previous fermentation is introduced
and then the whole left slowly to cool and
become more solid. The product is called
māst in Persia; laban in Syrian and Pales-
tinian Arabic; zabādī in Egyptian Arabic;
liban in Irāī Arabic; rāib, laban, labne , etc.

( J. Ruska, revised by D. Waines)

ays

ays (Ar.; noun of unity, aysa ) is an
Arab dish made from dates (of the variety
called barnī) crushed and then kneaded
with some preserved butter; to this is
added skimmed, dried and crumbly cam-
els' milk cheese, or some flour, or even