Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
easily obtain
ubz arabī
prepared and
presented as in ancient times. Also, in the
countryside the tradition is still alive.
in works on botany, pharmacognostics,
medicine, knowledge of commodities,
encyclopaedias and other writings. A list
which is, to a certain extent, represen-
tative for the 4th/10th century, is to be
found in al-Masūdī,
Murū
, containing
25 main kinds of spices: 1.
sunbul
spike-
nard, 2.
aranful
clove, 3.
andal
sandal-
wood, 4.
awzbuwwā
nutmeg, 5.
ward
rose, 6.
salīa
cassia, 7.
zarnab
(meaning
doubtful ), 8.
irfa,
cinnamon, 9.
arnuwa
(a kind of sonchus?), 10.
āulla
carda-
mom, 11.
kubāba
cubeb, 12.
hālbuwwā
small
cardamom, 13.
manim
carpobalsam,
14.
fāīra
xanthoxylum, 15.
malab
morello, 15.
wars
Flemmingia rhodocarpa,
17.
us
costus, 18.
afār
(
al-īb
), Strombus
lentiginosus, 19.
birank
Embelia Ribes, 20.
arw
lentisk gum, 21.
lāan
ladanum, 22.
maya
aromatic gum of the storax tree, 23.
anbīl
Mallotus philippinensis, 24.
aab
al-arīra
calamus, 25.
zabāda
civet.—
Notable is the fact that one of the oldest
and most utilised spices, pepper (
fulful
),
with its
ca.
700 different kinds, does not
appear in this inventory.
In the section on knowledge of com-
modities in his handbook on mercan-
tile science, ay Abu 'l-Fal afar
al-Dimaī (probably 6th/12th century)
enumerates, under the term
saa
(plur.
asā,
strictly speaking “refuse”), a list of
spices which is quite different from that
of al-Masūdī: under the “small spices”
(
al-saa al-aīr
) he mentions only the rhu-
barb (
rāwand
) and leaves the others out as
being less important, but under the “great
spices” (
al-saa al-kabīr
) he reckons: 1.
nīl
indigo, 2.
baam
sapanwood, 3.
fulful
pep-
per, 4.
lubān
frankincense, 5.
maakā
gum
mastic, 6.
dārīnī al-aām
food-cinnamon,
7.
āl
yellow ginger, 8.
zanabīl
ginger,
9.
zurunbād
redowary-root, 10.
ūlanān
galingale, 11.
us
costus, 12.
lāan
lada-
num, 13.
ihlīlaāt
, kinds of myrobalan.
Scattered or unsystematically-arranged
material for the knowledge of spices is
(Ch. Pellat)
3. Spices, Seasonings, and
other Ingredients
Spices
Afāwīh
(Ar. pl. of
afwāh
, sing.
fūh
) are
aromatic substances, which are added to
food and beverages in order to increase
pleasant flavour and promote digestion.
In general they are vegetable products
which are active through their contents
of volatile oils or pungent substances.
The classification according to the indi-
vidual constituents of plants (fruits and
seeds, blossoms and buds, peel, roots,
etc.), in use at present, does not seem
to have been in practice realised any-
where. It is possible that Abū anīfa
al-Dīnawarī (end 3rd/9th century) has
this in mind when he says that
al-afwāh
fall under various classes and types (
anāf
wa-anwā)
, and then quotes a verse each of
u 'l-Rumma and of amīl [al-Urī],
according to which there is a distinction
between
afwāh al-nawr
and
afwāh al-buūl
.
An unsystematic list of food spices, among
which are included the most common like
salt (
mil
), is to be found in Ibn utayba
under the heading
maāli al-aām
, where
maāli
must have the plain meaning of
“spices, food-flavourings”. In Arabic the
meaning of
afāwīh
is not sharply marked
off from
ir, īb
“scents”, and
aār
(plur.
aāīr, uār
), “drugs”. The lexicographers
call
al-afwāh
what is added to scents, and
al-tawābil
what is added to food.
Specific monographs on
al-afāwīh
do
not seem to be known. These substances
are treated in their appropriate places
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